In April 1617, Andro Turnbull, a resident of the settlement of Hilhous in the county of Linlithgow, found himself at the centre of a formal legal proceeding. The records preserved under reference C/EGD/886 document the initiation of his case on the 22nd of that month, marking the beginning of a process that would subject him to the rigorous machinery of early modern Scottish justice. As a male accused in an era when witchcraft prosecutions often disproportionately targeted women, Andro’s experience highlights the breadth of the judicial net cast during this period of heightened anxiety regarding maleficium and covenanting with supernatural forces.
Following the formal registration of his case, the matter moved to the High Court of Justiciary, as noted in the trial records categorized under T/LA/241. While the archival fragments preserve the procedural framework of Andro’s appearance—detailing the date and his place of origin—they provide a sobering glimpse into the administrative reality of the 1617 trials. Within the context of early seventeenth-century Linlithgow, Andro’s case remains a documented entry in the broader historical narrative of the Scottish witch trials, illustrating the specific legal scrutiny applied to those brought before the bench during this intense chapter of judicial history.