On the 28th of January 1662, the legal machinery of seventeenth-century Scotland turned toward Kelspoge on the Isle of Bute, documenting the case of the daughter of Alexander McIllmartin. Recorded in the judicial archives under reference C/EGD/1539, the documentation identifies the young woman primarily through her paternal lineage, a common convention of the era that situates her identity within the social and geographical fabric of her local community. Her appearance in the records marks the commencement of a formal judicial process during a period when concerns regarding maleficium and spiritual transgression were frequently translated into the language of the court.
Following the initial registration of her case, the daughter of Alexander McIllmartin faced the rigors of a formal trial, cataloged as T/JO/1932. As she stood before the authorities, the proceedings became part of the broader pattern of witch trials that characterized this turbulent chapter of Scottish history. While the specific nature of the accusations levied against her remains held within the austere summary of the judicial register, her story survives as a testament to the intersection of private life and public statute in the mid-seventeenth century, illustrating the gravity with which the contemporary legal system addressed those brought to the bar under suspicion of witchcraft.