In 1683, the name of Jean Gray appeared upon an Edinburgh porteous roll, a formal record listing individuals summoned to answer charges before the circuit courts. At the time of this legal action, Jean was a married woman residing in the capital. The inclusion of her name on such a roll indicates that her case was part of the rigorous judicial machinery that facilitated the prosecution of serious offenses, including those related to witchcraft, across Scotland during the late seventeenth century.
The specific nature of the allegations brought against Jean remains elusive in the surviving archival record. While scholar Christina Larner identified her entry, the original court documents associated with the case number C/EGD/716 have not been fully recovered, and researchers have noted that records from this period sometimes distinguish between accusations of formal witchcraft and those of "charming"—the practice of using folk remedies or incantations. Consequently, Jean’s legal journey stands as a reflection of the administrative intersection between local suspicions and the authority of the central courts, serving as a documented instance of how the legal apparatus of 1683 engaged with those accused of illicit spiritual practices.