In the winter of 1643, the legal machinery of early modern Scotland converged upon Agnes Grant, a resident of the parish of St Giles in Elgin. Following a formal process initiated within the jurisdiction of Moray, Agnes was brought to trial to answer for the grave charge of witchcraft. The proceedings culminated in a verdict of guilty, marking a significant moment in the local administration of justice during a period of intense preoccupation with the perceived influence of malefic magic.
The archival trace of this case remains notably sparse, existing primarily as a brief administrative note recorded by the Privy Council of Scotland on January 31, 1643. This document, titled *the report of the processe of a witche in Murray to be advysit*, indicates that the local authorities had sought the Council’s guidance regarding the appropriate sentencing for Agnes. While the records confirm the court's conviction, the subsequent advice provided by the Privy Council—and the eventual fate that befell her—remain absent from the historical record, leaving Agnes’s final encounter with the law preserved only in this moment of formal deliberation.