In the spring of 1662, the legal mechanisms of the Scottish witch trials reached the parish of Fossoway and Tullibole, specifically the settlement of Crook of Devon. Among those caught within this judicial sweep was Bessie Hendersone. On April 3, 1662, official records logged under case reference C/EGD/1482 formally registered the proceedings initiated against her. At this time, the region was experiencing a period of intense scrutiny regarding witchcraft, with local courts and kirk sessions actively documenting and processing accusations against women within their communities.
The documentation regarding Bessie remains anchored to this specific date in early April. While the archival entry notes that secondary research, including references cited by the historian Christina Larner, were not fully cross-referenced during the specific project survey, the record serves as a stark testament to the administrative reality of her case. For Bessie, this registration marked the transition from a private inhabitant of Perthshire into the formal and often precarious oversight of the Scottish criminal justice system during the mid-seventeenth century.