In the spring of 1597, the judicial machinery of Aberdeen turned its attention to Christane Hendersoune, a woman of very poor socioeconomic status residing in the parish of Foveran. As a henwife, Christane occupied a marginal position within her rural community, living in circumstances that rendered her uniquely vulnerable to the social and legal pressures of the late sixteenth century. On 21 April 1597, her life was irrevocably altered when her name was entered into the formal records of the Scottish witch trials under case number C/JO/3029.
Following the initial registration of her case, Christane was subjected to the formal process of the Scottish criminal justice system. Her status as a henwife did not shield her from the rigours of the courts; instead, she was processed through the official mechanism identified as trial T/JO/1297. While the surviving documentation remains sparse regarding the specific testimony presented against her, the transition from an initial case filing to a formal trial record underscores the gravity with which the authorities in Aberdeen viewed such accusations during this period of heightened scrutiny.