In the spring of 1630, the legal machinery of the Scottish state focused its attention upon Jonet Ker, a woman residing in the parish of Gordon in Berwick. On the 11th of March, her name was formally entered into the judicial register under case number C/EGD/1191, marking the commencement of an inquiry that would eventually lead to a trial. At this time, the judicial landscape was heavily influenced by the Witchcraft Act of 1563, which placed the pursuit of such cases under the jurisdiction of both secular courts and local presbyteries.
Following the initial registration of her case, the legal process moved toward a formal hearing under record T/LA/748. As the proceedings unfolded, the focus remained squarely on the documentation of the charges brought against Jonet. While the extant records are concise, they represent a significant moment in the social and legal history of Berwick, illustrating the rigid procedures that governed the lives of those caught within the mechanisms of the seventeenth-century Scottish justice system.