In November 1661, the ecclesiastical and civil authorities of Queensferry turned their scrutiny toward Elspeth Grinlaw, a resident of the town’s west end. The legal proceedings against her were initiated on the 19th of that month under case reference C/EGD/1387. The historical record indicates that the inquiry moved swiftly, as Elspeth provided a formal confession to the authorities during the same month.
While the specific nature of the accusations brought against her—or the exact details of the testimony she provided—have not survived in the surviving trial notes (T/JO/805), the documentation confirms that Elspeth was fully processed within the judicial framework of the period. Her case remains a distinct entry in the records of the 1661 witch hunts, representing the intersection of local suspicion and formalised legal procedure in Linlithgow during the mid-seventeenth century.