In the spring of 1629, the legal authorities of Dunbarton turned their attention to Janet Donald, a married woman of middling socioeconomic status residing within the royal burgh. As the wife of a local burgess, Janet occupied a position of relative stability and social standing within the community. Her life, however, was fundamentally altered on April 10, 1629, when she was brought before the authorities to face the serious legal proceedings cataloged under case reference C/EGD/1092.
The records concerning the trial, held in Dunbarton on that same date (T/LA/643), document the formal encounter between Janet and the judicial system of the period. While the specific nature of the allegations brought against her remains confined to the administrative registers, the event stands as a definitive moment in her history. These records provide a precise account of the date and location of her appearance, marking the intersection of Janet’s life with the broader framework of the Scottish witch trials.