In 1698, the legal records of Berwickshire formally identified Jean Hart, a resident of Coldingham, as a subject of judicial scrutiny regarding the charge of witchcraft. Her case, documented under the reference C/EGD/1942, occurred during a period when the Scottish criminal justice system remained deeply preoccupied with the perceived manifestations of maleficium and the involvement of the supernatural within local communities. As a woman residing in the parish of Coldingham, Jean was drawn into a legal process that sought to categorize her actions through the lens of early modern ecclesiastical and civil statutes.
While the specific depositions detailing the allegations against Jean remain subjects of ongoing historical archival study, her inclusion in the records marks her as a significant figure in the administrative history of late seventeenth-century Scottish witch trials. The classification of her case underscores the persistence of such proceedings toward the close of the century, reflecting the broader socio-legal tensions of the era. Through the limited documentation provided, Jean survives in the historical record as an individual whose life and conduct were subjected to the rigorous, often fatal, interrogative protocols of the Scottish courts.