In the spring of 1613, the judicial machinery of the Scottish kirk and state turned its attention toward Jonet Listar, a married woman of lower socioeconomic standing residing in the parish of Innerwick, Haddington. Her husband, who earned his living as a gardener, found his household suddenly thrust into the center of a legal process that would see Jonet summoned before the authorities. On the 2nd of March, her case (C/EGD/854) was formally initiated, marking the commencement of the legal proceedings that would culminate in her trial under the reference number T/LA/214.
The records for Jonet offer only the skeletal framework of her experience within the early modern legal system. As the judicial process unfolded, the specific charges levied against her were documented in the trial register, detailing the transition from her initial accusation to the formal courtroom setting. While the archival trail remains sparse regarding the testimony provided against her or the final verdict rendered, the existence of these entries highlights the vulnerability of women in local communities during this period of intensified scrutiny, where the precarious nature of domestic life was often subject to the scrutiny of local magistrates and ecclesiastical oversight.