In 1661, the judicial records of Forfar formalised the case of Ketheren Portour, a woman whose life became entangled in the judicial machinery of the Scottish witch trials. During this period, the burgh of Forfar served as a significant site of inquisitorial activity, and Ketheren was brought before the authorities under the heavy suspicion of witchcraft. Her inclusion in the legal register, designated as case C/EGD/2420, underscores the systematic scrutiny applied to individuals by local magistrates and kirk sessions during this wave of prosecutions.
The documentation surrounding Ketheren remains focused on her formal indictment, marking a moment of profound disruption within her community. While specific details regarding the accusations brought against her are sparse in the surviving record, the archival evidence confirms that Ketheren was subjected to the rigorous legal protocols characteristic of mid-seventeenth-century Scotland. Her case serves as a singular, recorded point of interaction between a resident of Forfar and the state’s apparatus for investigating the supernatural, reflecting the broader social and legal tensions of the era.