In February 1662, the legal machinery of the Scottish witch trials turned toward Elizabeth Soutar, a resident of Oathlaw in the county of Forfar. Her case, filed under reference C/EGD/1448, proceeded rapidly through the judicial system of the seventeenth century. Within the same month that her records first appear in the administrative files, Elizabeth was brought before the authorities to provide a formal testimony.
On February 2, 1662, Elizabeth provided a confession that was duly recorded by the court officials. While the extant trial notes in document T/JO/866 provide no further commentary on the proceedings, this confession remains the central primary evidence of her encounter with the law. By documenting these events, the records of Oathlaw capture a fleeting moment in the judicial history of the region, preserving the name of a woman whose life was irrevocably altered by the legal processes of the era.