In September 1662, Donald McClean, a resident of Inverness, became a subject of judicial scrutiny during a period of heightened concern regarding witchcraft in Scotland. Recorded under case number C/EGD/1673, the administrative proceedings against him commenced on the fourth of that month. At this time, the Scottish legal system was actively processing accusations of maleficium, and Donald was drawn into this formal apparatus, marking his transition from a member of the Inverness community to a defendant within the national framework of the witch trials.
While the administrative record confirms his identity and the date of his case, the subsequent judicial files—catalogued under trial notes T/JO/985—contain no surviving details regarding the specific allegations or the eventual outcome of his trial. Consequently, the precise nature of the charges brought against Donald remains absent from the historical archive. His experience serves as a testament to the extensive reach of the early modern courts, capturing a moment in time where individuals were documented, processed, and then, in many instances, lost to the brevity of surviving legal records.