Agnes Stewart, a widow residing in the burgh of Bo’ness in Linlithgow, found herself drawn into a sprawling web of accusations during the final months of 1679. By late November, Agnes was held within the town’s Tolbooth, where she provided a formal confession. While the specific nature of the interrogations she underwent remains unrecorded, the legal documents confirm that she was subjected to torture during this period. Like many of her contemporaries caught in the machinery of the witch trials, Agnes eventually retracted the testimony she had given under duress, though the legal proceedings against her continued into the following spring.
The case against Agnes (C/EGD/705) was deeply interconnected with a wider circle of individuals within the community. Her name frequently appeared in the depositions of other accused persons, including Margaret Hammilton, Bessie Gibb, and Jonet Colquhone, who identified her as an accomplice in their alleged activities. This network extended to encompass a significant number of residents in the region, such as Annaple Thomson, William Craw, and Grissel Croudie, among many others. By March 27, 1680, the formal charge of participating in a witches' meeting had been levied against Agnes, marking her as a central figure in the extensive judicial inquiries occurring in Linlithgow at that time.
