In the spring of 1661, the ecclesiastical and civil authorities in Elgin focused their attention on Margaret Murray, a resident of the parish of St Giles. On the 5th of March, legal proceedings were initiated against her under the reference number C/JO/3061. The records of her trial, cataloged as T/JO/1437, document the specific nature of the allegations brought before the court, which centered on charges of property damage.
The prosecution against Margaret focused exclusively on the destruction of dairy assets, an accusation that carried significant weight in a seventeenth-century agrarian community where the stability of food production was paramount. As the proceedings unfolded, the court examined the evidence related to these specific losses. Margaret remained at the center of this judicial inquiry, a process that reflects the broader legislative and social climate of Scotland during this era of intensive witch-hunting.