In the summer of 1629, Janet Henriesdochter, a widowed woman residing in Caithness, was formally drawn into the machinery of the Scottish judicial system regarding allegations of witchcraft. The legal documentation cataloged under reference C/EGD/672 marks the commencement of her case on July 2, 1629, a period when the Scottish state and local kirk sessions were increasingly active in identifying and prosecuting those suspected of maleficium. As a widow, Janet occupied a vulnerable position within the social structure of the seventeenth-century Highlands, often leaving her exposed to community suspicion during times of misfortune or unexplained hardship.
Following the initial proceedings in Caithness, the matter was transferred to Edinburgh, where trial T/LA/729 was convened. The relocation to the capital signifies the gravity with which the authorities viewed the accusations brought against her, as the central courts frequently oversaw the most serious capital trials of the era. Within the framework of the Scottish witch trials, Janet’s journey from the northern reaches of the country to the high court in Edinburgh reflects the standard legal trajectory for those accused of such grave spiritual and civil transgressions, placing her directly within the documented history of the Great Scottish Witch Hunt.