In February 1645, the legal machinery of the Scottish kirk and state turned toward Drochdool in the parish of Old Luce, Wigtown, focusing its scrutiny upon Marion Shenan. As a married woman residing within this rural community, Marion became the subject of a formal judicial inquiry recorded under case file C/EGD/1301. The proceedings, initiated on the 25th of that month, reflect the specific jurisdictional concerns of the mid-seventeenth century, a period during which the prosecution of witchcraft intensified across the Lowlands.
Following the initial documentation of the case, Marion was brought to trial under the reference T/LA/1092. The records from this period illustrate the structured approach the local authorities took in addressing allegations of malefice. By examining these proceedings, we gain insight into the administrative processes that governed the lives of women like Marion during the tumultuous years of the Covenanter era, when community tensions and religious anxieties frequently coalesced into formal legal accusations.