In the late autumn of 1649, Janet Broun, a married woman residing in Nethervrile within the parish of Stobo, Peebles, found herself ensnared in the legal machinery of the Scottish witch trials. Her case, documented under the identifier C/EGD/1999, was formally recorded on November 6th of that year. Amidst a period of intense ecclesiastical and judicial scrutiny concerning matters of witchcraft, Janet was brought before the authorities to answer for allegations that would ultimately lead to two separate trial proceedings, indexed as T/JO/587 and T/LA/2024.
Little remains of the specific evidence presented against Janet beyond these formal judicial markers, though the archival fragments offer a curious glimpse into her domestic standing. Contemporary records note that her husband was colloquially referred to by the moniker "alias my lord," a detail that suggests a distinct social positioning or local reputation within their community in Stobo. As the legal process unfolded through these multiple trial records, Janet remained at the center of a formal inquiry that reflected the prevailing anxieties and administrative rigor of mid-seventeenth-century Scotland.