In the spring of 1650, the life of Jonet McBirnie, a resident of the parish of Crawford—also historically identified as Craufurddouglas—was brought under the formal scrutiny of the Scottish legal system. On March 27, 1650, Jonet was processed under case number C/JO/2928, marking the commencement of a legal trajectory that would lead to her trial, recorded under T/JO/1114. During these proceedings, the gravity of the accusations against her began to manifest through both specific allegations of damage and the testimony of those within her community.
Central to the case against Jonet were formal allegations concerning the destruction of property, specifically involving the harm of animals. These accusations were further complicated by the inclusion of her name in the legal proceedings of others; she was explicitly mentioned in the trial of Jonet Coutts. While the records provide a clear outline of the legal events surrounding Jonet, they preserve only the fragments of the suspicions that brought her to the attention of the courts in Lanark during that period of intense judicial focus on witchcraft.