In June 1704, Margaret Jack, a resident of the coastal burgh of Pittenweem, became caught in the volatile atmosphere of a community-wide panic centered on the alleged torment of sixteen-year-old Patrick Morton. The son of a local smith, Morton’s condition was categorized by town officials as a case of possession, a diagnosis that spurred a legal response of unusual scale. Seeking legitimacy for their proceedings, Pittenweem’s authorities invoked the recent, highly publicized precedent of the Bargarran case in the west of Scotland. Their appeal to central authority was successful, and the Privy Council granted a commission for trial, signaling the seriousness with which the state viewed the situation in Fife.
In an effort to ensure the legal process remained under central supervision, the Privy Council appointed Her Majesty’s Advocate, Sir James Stewart, to conduct the prosecution. Reflecting the perceived gravity of the accusations, the Council took the extraordinary step of funding the proceedings directly from the national treasury. Margaret, alongside a group of six other individuals, was formally charged with inflicting the torments upon Morton. Under the directive of the Privy Council, the legal proceedings were to be conducted locally, placing Margaret at the center of a judicial inquiry directed by the highest law officer in the kingdom.