Janet Cock, a forty-nine-year-old married woman from Dalkeith, lived under the shadow of a witchcraft reputation for twenty-four years before she was finally brought to trial in 1661. Her legal entanglement began in the Tolbooth on June 26, 1661, where a confession was recorded against her. Janet’s name frequently surfaced in the testimonies of other women accused of witchcraft, including Margaret Grintoun, Christiane Wilsone, and Katherine Casse, who identified her as an accomplice, while others, such as Kathrin Huntar, pointed to her as a known practitioner. The charges against her were grounded in persistent local disputes, with accusations spanning from the damage of personal estates to the bewitching of animals.
The legal process for Janet was marked by an unusual and calculated shift in judicial composition. During her first trial in Edinburgh on September 10, 1661, the jury—comprised of men from Edinburgh, Canongate, and Dalkeith—found her not guilty. Despite this acquittal, she was not granted her freedom. When she petitioned for release, the Privy Council instead mandated a second trial on new charges. This second proceeding, held on November 11, 1661, saw a deliberate restructuring of the jury: by replacing a single member, the influence of the Dalkeith contingent was strengthened to provide a deciding swing vote, and the role of chancellor was passed from an Edinburgh man to one from Dalkeith. This shift resulted in a conviction, and on November 26, 1661, the sentence was carried out; Janet was strangled and burned.