In 1662, the small settlement of Crook of Devon, located within the parish of Fossoway and Tullibole, became the site of a legal inquiry involving a resident named Janet Hird. During this period, the Scottish legal system maintained a rigorous process for addressing allegations of witchcraft, and Janet’s case was formally registered under the identifier C/EGD/1707. The records confirm her presence in the region during a time when local kirk sessions and civil authorities were actively engaged in the examination of individuals suspected of maleficium or diabolical association.
As an inhabitant of this Perthshire community, Janet found her life intersected by the mechanisms of the state’s judicial scrutiny. While the specifics of the accusations brought against her remain limited in the surviving documentation, the case of Janet represents a significant archival trace of the broader patterns of witch-hunting that permeated early modern Scotland. Her inclusion in the historical record serves as an enduring testament to the social and legal pressures exerted upon women living in the rural Lowlands during the mid-seventeenth century.