In 1586, Tibbie Smart, a resident living under the jurisdiction of the Lord of Clovay, became the subject of a legal proceeding that would span several decades of her life. While little remains of the specific allegations against her, the administrative records indicate that her community—comprising neighbors in Carralstoun and residents of Watterstoun—became embroiled in the formal accusations brought against her. Following an initial trial in 1586, Tibbie was found guilty and sentenced to banishment, a common legal remedy in early modern Scottish judicial practice for those deemed disruptive or dangerous to the social order.
However, the legal scrutiny surrounding Tibbie did not conclude with her first exile. A later indictment was drawn up which explicitly incorporated her 1586 guilty verdict as the eighth item of the new case (C/EGD/33). By the time of her final recorded trial (T/LA/1640), the court’s judgment resulted in a more severe physical penalty: she was burned on the cheek before being sentenced to banishment once more. Following this final expulsion, records indicate that Tibbie never returned to the lands of Clovay, effectively ending her documented history within that jurisdiction.