Adamson's enemies said the cure was witchcraft and she was imprisoned in St Andrews Castle, from where he helped her escape. In 1588 she was convicted and burned at Edinburgh. The historian Louise Yeoman notes that Pearson described losing the power in her left side, a detail common in witch confessions and in religious trance accounts. Her case is one of the best known sources for belief in fairies in Scotland and is why she appears in studies of Scottish fairy lore.
The confession was made under trial conditions, so the fairy court is the accused woman's account as recorded by her judges. The pin is on Boarhills, which is approximate.
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