In the spring of 1649, the judicial machinery of Dumfries turned its attention toward Janet McKendrig, a resident whose name appears in the legal records under case reference C/EGD/2403. On the 4th of April, Janet was formally brought before the authorities to face an accusation of witchcraft, a charge that carried grave implications within the religious and social climate of mid-seventeenth-century Scotland. At this time, the nation was experiencing a period of heightened anxiety regarding the supernatural, leading to an intensification of inquisitorial activity that frequently drew individuals into the scrutiny of the courts.
While the archival evidence regarding Janet remains brief, the documentation captures a definitive moment in her interaction with the legal system. As the proceedings unfolded in Dumfries, the case serves as a point of intersection between the personal life of the accused and the formal protocols of the Scottish judicial process during the mid-1600s. Though the specific nature of the allegations brought against Janet is not preserved in the surviving entry, her inclusion in the criminal records marks her experience as part of the broader, documented history of witch trials that sought to regulate the perceived spiritual and social boundaries of the community.