In the winter of 1650, the legal machinery of the Scottish state focused its attention upon Jeanat Mountgomerie, a resident of Renfrew. According to the extant judicial records, cataloged under case reference C/EGD/1362, Jeanat was brought into the sphere of the courts on 26 February 1650. During this period, the legal procedures surrounding allegations of witchcraft were rigorous and formally documented, necessitating the transition from an initial accusation to the structured environment of a trial.
The subsequent proceedings, documented under trial reference T/LA/1098, formalised the transition of Jeanat’s case from the local community in Renfrew to the high court. As was customary in mid-seventeenth-century Scotland, the documentation of these events serves as a testament to the complex intersection of ecclesiastical discipline and civil law. By tracing her path through these specific references, the historical record preserves the timeline of Jeanat’s legal experience, marking a moment in the history of Renfrew’s judicial administration.