In the winter of 1673, twenty-five-year-old Molphrie Porteous was brought before the authorities in Shetland to face accusations of witchcraft. Her case, documented under the record C/EGD/1738, serves as a brief but significant entry in the annals of late seventeenth-century Scottish judicial proceedings. While the archival trail regarding her specific trial (T/JO/638) remains sparse and lacks granular detail concerning the nature of the charges brought against her, the administrative records offer a glimpse into the social fabric surrounding her life.
Molphrie appears to have been part of a distinct familial network implicated in the legal scrutiny of the period. Historical registers suggest that she was likely the daughter of Marget Bigland, a woman whose own lineage connected her to Suna Voe (Vaus). Indeed, the estimated age provided at the time of Molphrie’s case was derived from information supplied by her mother, illustrating the intergenerational proximity of these women during the legal inquiries that swept through the islands. Though the Privy Council records concerning this specific group of accused women are characterized by complexity, Molphrie’s inclusion reflects the recurring pattern of localized investigations that defined the Scottish witch trials during this era.