In June 1629, the judicial records of Peebles document the formal inclusion of Agnes Chalmers among a group of twenty-six individuals facing accusations of witchcraft. While the surviving documentation, specifically case reference C/EGD/661, does not elaborate on the nature of the alleged activities or the specific testimony brought against her, the scale of this proceeding suggests a collective legal action occurring within the burgh. In the administrative climate of seventeenth-century Scotland, such mass accusations were often punctuated by periods of intense local scrutiny, placing Agnes at the center of a significant judicial event within her community.
The subsequent trial, recorded under reference T/JO/551, offers little insight into the legal arguments or the ultimate resolution of the case against Agnes. The sparse nature of the archives reflects the often-fragmentary state of early modern Scottish legal records, leaving the specifics of the proceedings against her to historical conjecture. As an inhabitant of Peebles during this volatile period, Agnes remains a name preserved in the court registers, marking her involvement in a process that defined the intersection of local governance, religious anxiety, and criminal justice in 1629.