In the winter of 1629, the legal records of Lanark mark the beginning of a formal proceeding against a woman named Janet Miller. On the 3rd of December, Janet was formally processed under case number C/EGD/1158, bringing her into the structured machinery of the Scottish judicial system during a period of intense focus on perceived maleficium. As a resident of the royal burgh of Lanark, she lived in a community where the convergence of religious anxiety and local tensions frequently precipitated such legal interventions.
Following the initial registration of her case, Janet was subjected to the formal judicial process under trial reference T/LA/650. While the surviving documentation remains brief, it serves as a testament to the administrative rigor with which authorities in Lanark handled accusations of witchcraft. The trail of these records—from the initial charge in December to the subsequent proceedings—reflects the sober, procedural approach taken by the local courts of the early seventeenth century in their efforts to address the alleged transgressions of those brought before them.