In the turbulent year of 1649, amidst the backdrop of the political upheaval gripping Scotland, Margaret Tullie found herself embroiled in the harrowing witch trials that swept the nation. Residing from Haddington, Margaret was not alone in this ordeal, being accused alongside two other women. The specifics of their accusations were somewhat obscured, with historical records indicating a charge related to a "witches' meeting," yet the parish or settlement to which they allegedly belonged remains unspecified, further complicating their narrative. The record suggests that Margaret and her co-accused might not have been under the jurisdiction of local ministers or the presbytery, hinting at a possible outsider status in the community where the accusations arose.
On July 11, 1649, Margaret's first recorded confession took place, an event that likely marked the beginning of a series of interrogations and a process that sought to extract acknowledgments of witchcraft through means that remain unspecified in the records. Just a fortnight later, on July 25, another confession was documented, though the contents of these confessions are not detailed in the surviving documents. These confessions suggest a compliance to the pressures exerted by authorities, a common occurrence in the witch trials of this period. Sadly, there are no trial notes available to shed light on the proceedings that followed, leaving the outcome of Margaret's trial lost to history. The fragmentary nature of these records speaks to the often hasty and undocumented handling of such cases, where many accused individuals, like Margaret Tullie, were swept away by the tide of fear and superstition that characterized this dark chapter of Scottish history.