In the summer of 1661, the legal machinery of Restoration-era Scotland drew its focus toward Johne Ramsay, an "indweller" of Niddry, a village located within the parish of Liberton, near Edinburgh. As a man of middling socioeconomic status, Johne occupied a position in the community that typically implied a degree of local stability and integration. However, on the 28th of June 1661, his status shifted when he was formally recorded in the legal registers concerning a charge of witchcraft, marking the beginning of his encounter with the judicial authorities of the time.
The case against Johne (C/EGD/1591) followed a formal trajectory that led to his appearance before the court. His involvement in the legal proceedings is substantiated by the record of his trial (T/JO/1653), which situates him within the broader framework of the Scottish witch trials. Although the specific nature of the allegations brought against him remains unstated in the extant records, the formal processing of Johne reflects the rigorous administrative scrutiny applied to those accused of maleficium during this period in the Lothians.