In June 1604, the legal machinery of the Scottish kirk and state turned its attention toward Dorathie Oliphant, a resident of the coastal burgh of Kirkcaldy in Fife. As documented in case file C/EGD/2187, Dorathie was formally brought before the authorities on the 6th of June. This period in Fife was one of heightened sensitivity regarding perceived supernatural interventions, and the proceedings against her represent a specific instance of the judicial scrutiny that characterized early modern Scottish social regulation.
While the surviving record remains brief, it serves as a stark administrative marker of Dorathie’s involvement in the judicial processes of the era. The documentation confirms her identity, her home in the bustling port town of Kirkcaldy, and the precise date of her appearance. Following the historiographical conventions established by researchers such as Christina Larner, this entry provides a verifiable point of reference for an individual caught within the extensive system of witch trials that sought to define the moral and spiritual boundaries of seventeenth-century Scottish life.