In the summer of 1628, the coastal burgh of Prestonpans in Haddington became the site of a legal inquiry involving a married woman named Janet Strauchane. On August 8, 1628, Janet was formally brought before the authorities under the charge of witchcraft, a legal process that positioned her within the intensifying administrative efforts of the early modern Scottish state to identify and prosecute those accused of supernatural transgressions. The records of this case, catalogued under reference C/EGD/1026, document the progression of her legal ordeal as it moved through the machinery of the Scottish judicial system.
Following her arrest, the proceedings against Janet culminated in a formal trial, recorded in the archives as T/LA/499. Central to this process was the procurement of a confession; the archival evidence confirms that Janet provided a statement to the authorities in 1628. This recorded confession served as a pivotal component of the case file, reflecting the standard legal requirements of the era for establishing the evidentiary basis upon which a verdict of witchcraft could be pursued. Through these surviving documents, the life of Janet Strauchane remains marked by this specific, documented intersection with the Haddingtonshire courts.