In October 1699, the judicial machinery of the Scottish legal system turned toward Mary Nicinnarich, a resident of Fortrose in Ross. Following her initial identification in local records, the proceedings moved to Edinburgh, where she faced a formal trial recorded under the reference T/LA/2233. The transition from the rural setting of Ross to the capital reflects the gravity with which the authorities regarded accusations brought against individuals under the prevailing witchcraft statutes of the late seventeenth century.
The specific indictment leveled against Mary centered on allegations of property damage, more precisely concerning the harm or destruction of animals. Such charges were a recurring feature in the witch trials of the period, reflecting the deep anxieties of agrarian communities regarding the health and security of their livestock. While the surviving record of Case C/EGD/2477 remains brief, it serves as a stark testament to the intersection of communal suspicion and the formalized, bureaucratic process of the Scottish state as it navigated the complexities of witchcraft prosecution at the turn of the eighteenth century.