In February 1662, Margret Wishart, an indweller of the parish of Collesie in Fife, became the subject of a legal proceeding concerning allegations of witchcraft. Occupying a middling socioeconomic status within her community, Margret was identified in the records of the Register of the Privy Council not merely as a resident, but as an established inhabitant of the area. Her case, documented under reference C/EGD/1449, moved swiftly through the judicial processes of the time, culminating in a recorded confession later that same month.
While the specific trial notes indexed under T/JO/865 have not survived to detail the precise nature of the accusations or the character of her testimony, the existence of a formal confession confirms that Margret’s involvement with the court reached a definitive resolution within the ecclesiastical and civil frameworks of the seventeenth century. Her transition from an indweller of Collesie to a figure captured in the judicial archives of the Scottish witch trials highlights the precarious nature of life for a woman of her standing during a period of intense legal scrutiny.