In 1595, a woman named Janot Loquhour appeared in the records of Pittenweem, a coastal burgh in Fife known for its concentrated judicial activity during this period. Identified in the registers under the variant spellings of Lochequoir and Laquhor, Janot was likely connected by kinship to another woman named Eupham Lochoir, who also appears in the surviving archives of the witch trials. These records denote a family presence within the complex legal landscape of late sixteenth-century Fife, where accusations of witchcraft frequently involved localized networks of social and familial association.
The administrative trail left by Janot consists of two primary entries: her initial case file (C/EGD/2503) and the record of her subsequent trial (T/JO/1685). While the specific depositions, testimonies, and outcomes of the proceedings have not survived in detail, the existence of these formal papers places Janot firmly within the judicial machinery of 1595. Her case remains a significant fragment of the historical evidence concerning the Scottish witch trials, illustrating how the legal system in Pittenweem engaged with individuals like Janot as part of a broader, state-sanctioned movement to identify and prosecute those suspected of maleficium.