In the late summer of 1679, the witch trials of Scotland reached the small fishing community of Fisherrow, within the parish of Inveresk, Edinburgh. It was in this quiet village by the sea that Marion Robertson, a married woman whose life had been woven into the daily rhythms of the shore, found herself swept into the tide of accusations sweeping the nation. The charges against her were severe, as documented in the records of her trial on September 8, 1679. Marion was accused in the typical language of the era: witchcraft, sorcery, and necromancy—crimes which echoed with the heightened fears of a society seeking scapegoats for misfortune.
The case against Marion, indexed under the Edinburgh porteous roll of delinquent dittays, exemplified the standard accusations of the time. The documents allege that Marion had renounced her baptism, presumed to have metaphorically dedicated her body and soul to malevolent forces. Such charges were common, reflecting the theological anxieties and social upheavals of 17th-century Scotland. Marion's listing on this porteous roll meant that her case was considered sufficiently grave to merit a formal trial in the city of Edinburgh, the epicenter of legal proceedings in Scotland.
Marion's experience illustrates the precarious position of many women accused of witchcraft during this period, often caught in a web woven from fear, superstition, and the communal impulse to find blame. Her trial took place against the backdrop of a Scotland where societal tensions could easily transform into legal condemnations. The specific outcome for Marion Robertson has not been preserved in the extant records, leaving her fate, like that of many others, to linger as a poignant reminder of the era's complex history.