Margaret Finlasoun, a 35-year-old married woman of Renfrew, occupied a position of moderate prosperity within her community. Her household was sufficiently established to require the labour of two servants, and she participated regularly in the social and economic rhythms of local life, frequenting hiring fairs and managing a domestic sphere that included a kale yard and cows. Her everyday concerns—such as the commissioning of a mutch from a seamstress and the contemplation of purchasing hose—reflect the lifestyle of a middling-status resident, one whose responsibilities extended to the care of her ten-year-old son.
However, in the early months of 1650, Margaret’s life was abruptly altered when she became the subject of intense judicial scrutiny. Following a denunciation by the kirk session of Renfrew on February 26, 1650, she provided a formal confession on that same date. Her case, officially registered under C/EGD/1364, linked her to the clandestine activities of a witches’ meeting, a charge corroborated by the testimonies of several others, including Thomas Lich, Jeanat Mountgomerie, Jeane Craufurd, and Andrew Robisoun. The allegations against her were not confined to spiritual matters; she was further implicated in the destruction of property, specifically involving damage to boats and livestock. The legal proceedings concluded with her trial, recorded as T/LA/1096, which drew her into the broader pattern of witch-hunting that defined mid-seventeenth-century Renfrew.
