In the heart of early 17th-century Scotland, amidst the religious and social upheavals of the time, Katherine Hill, a resident of Dalmeny in Linlithgow, found herself at the center of a witchcraft accusation. On July 20, 1615, Katherine was named in a case that would thrust her into the public eye and set the stage for an ordeal that was all too common in that period. Dalmeny, the jurisdiction from which her case arose, is noteworthy for its history; during Katherine's time, it encompassed what is now known as Queensferry, which did not become a separate parish until 1635. This detail situates Katherine within a region that bore witness to the ebbs and flows of witch trials—an era characterized by a rigid enforcement of law amid prevailing suspicion and societal tensions.
Katherine's trial was swiftly arranged, taking place merely a day after she was accused, on July 21, 1615, in Linlithgow. The presbytery documented the proceedings, calling upon its members—the "brethren"—to attend, underscoring the gravity and communal interest in the trial. Such gatherings not only served as judicial processes but were also spectacles that reflected the intensity of belief in supernatural influences at the time. Although the records provide scant detail on the specific accusations or the outcomes of Katherine's trial, the prompt assembly of the presbytery and the documented proceedings highlight the procedural rigor and the weight such trials carried in the societal and ecclesiastical fabric of early modern Scotland. Katherine Hill's story, though partially obscured by the passage of time, encapsulates the precarious nature of life for those who lived under the shadow of suspicion in a period fraught with fear and the need for order.