In the spring of 1658, the judicial machinery of the Scottish state focused its attention on Jonnet Symson, a resident of Craigie in the shire of Ayr. Her legal journey began in the final days of March, when a porteous roll was issued summoning her and a wider group of accused individuals to appear before the court. This administrative process culminated on April 6, 1658, when Jonnet appeared on the Ayr court list to face the formal proceedings recorded under case reference C/EGD/262.
The records for Jonnet provide a precise window into the procedural conduct of the Ayr circuit courts during this period. The documentation confirms that her trial was part of a coordinated legal effort, as indicated by the existence of two distinct porteous rolls linked to the 1658 group. On that day in April, Jonnet was processed alongside her peers under the jurisdiction of the local bench, marking her inclusion in the broader history of the witch trials that characterized mid-seventeenth-century Scotland.