In the winter of 1649, legal records from the Dumfries presbytery identify Catharine Bowie, a resident of Quarrellwood, as a subject of judicial scrutiny. On December 4th, her case—formally archived as C/EGD/2068—entered the local ecclesiastical and legal machinery that characterized the Scottish witch trials of the mid-seventeenth century. At this time, Quarrellwood and the surrounding regions were deeply embedded in a period of heightened sensitivity toward suspected maleficium, and the administrative recording of Catharine’s name marks the initiation of the proceedings against her.
Following this initial registration, the matter progressed to a formal trial, documented under reference T/LA/2060. The transition from her preliminary identification to the judicial phase signifies the seriousness with which the local authorities treated the allegations brought against Catharine. While the specific nature of the charges remains restricted to these archival notations, the existence of a distinct trial record confirms that she was subjected to the full weight of the Scottish judicial process as it existed in the post-Reformation era.