In June 1662, Malie Jonstoun, a resident of Roxburgh, was drawn into the judicial machinery of the Scottish witch trials. Her case, documented under reference C/EGD/1564, emerged during a period when local courts and commissioners were actively processing allegations of maleficium across the Scottish Borders. While the specific nature of the charges brought against her remains obscured by the limitations of the surviving archive, the legal proceedings culminated in a formal confession, which was recorded later that same month.
The trial notes associated with her case, cataloged as T/JO/960, contain no descriptive detail regarding the testimony or the specific acts of which Malie was accused. Despite this lack of surviving narrative evidence, the existence of a recorded confession indicates that the judicial process reached a critical juncture in June 1662. Malie’s experience serves as a testament to the administrative rigor of the period’s legal system, which meticulously documented the interrogation and subsequent admission of those brought before the court in Roxburgh.