In the spring of 1597, the records of Aberdeen document the legal proceedings against Caterein Gib. On the 28th of April, Caterein was brought before the authorities to face an official inquiry as part of the broader series of witch trials that swept through the region during that period. The archival reference C/JO/3032 captures the administrative documentation of her case, marking a point of intersection between the lived reality of an Aberdeen resident and the stringent judicial mechanisms of late sixteenth-century Scotland.
The subsequent trial, recorded under T/JO/1304, formalised the charges brought against Caterein. During this era, such proceedings were characterized by meticulous, albeit rigorous, legal scrutiny as the court examined the evidence presented against the accused. As Caterein navigated these formal inquiries, her experience became a matter of public record, preserving the specific details of her confrontation with the judiciary amidst the heightened tensions of the 1597 witch hunts.