In the autumn of 1649, legal proceedings were initiated against John Sibbald, a resident of Ladieude in the county of Peebles. Recorded under case file C/EGD/2009, the administrative process against John began on November 6th of that year. During a period characterized by heightened judicial scrutiny regarding supernatural allegations in Scotland, he was identified by the local authorities as a subject of formal inquiry.
The judicial process culminated in a trial, indexed as T/LA/2019, which addressed the charges brought against him. As with many cases of this era, the transition from the initial documentation of the case to the courtroom proceedings reflects the established legal mechanisms through which local grievances and suspicions were adjudicated in mid-seventeenth-century Scotland. Throughout the course of these events, John remained the singular focus of the court's attention as they navigated the statutes governing the alleged crime of witchcraft.