In May 1683, the legal machinery of the Scottish judiciary turned its attention toward a married woman identified in the records only as Hopkin, a resident of Kilbride in the county of Ayr. Her circumstances were formalised within the judicial system under case reference C/EGD/708, which marked the initiation of proceedings against her. During this era of heightened scrutiny regarding perceived maleficium, the transition from local suspicion to a formal legal appearance was a significant and often perilous progression for any subject.
The documentation surrounding the trial (T/LA/1791) indicates that Hopkin was processed via a porteous roll, a list of individuals indicted for crimes to be tried by the circuit courts. Despite the gravity typically associated with such an appearance before the court in that month of 1683, the judicial proceedings reached a definitive conclusion. Following the examination of the charges brought against her, the court recorded a verdict of not guilty, securing Hopkin’s acquittal and closure to her case within the historical record.