In September 1662, Margret McClean, a resident of Inverness, appeared before the court to answer charges of witchcraft. While the surviving legal records of her trial, catalogued as T/JO/596 and T/JO/987, contain no surviving testimonies or specific indictments detailing the nature of the allegations brought against her, the broader context of her case is documented in the chilling procedural notes of her treatment in custody.
The records indicate that during the month of June 1662, prior to the final trial proceedings in September, Margret was subjected to a rigorous regimen of extrajudicial physical interrogation. To secure evidence or testimony, she was bound with ropes and deprived of sleep. Furthermore, her physical suffering was exacerbated by the application of the whip, the burning of her feet, and the agonizing process of being suspended by her thumbs. These methods, documented in the archive under case C/EGD/1671, reflect the severe judicial practices employed during this period to extract confessions from those accused of maleficium.