On December 16, 1649, Agnes Donaldson, a resident of the town of Kelso in Roxburgh, became the subject of a formal legal proceeding regarding the charge of witchcraft. Her case, documented under reference number C/JO/3141, unfolded during a period of heightened judicial activity surrounding allegations of maleficium and diabolical pacts in the Scottish Borders. As was customary for the era, Agnes was brought before the authorities to answer for these grave accusations, setting in motion the administrative processes that characterized the Scottish witch trials of the mid-seventeenth century.
The subsequent trial, recorded under reference T/JO/1643, serves as the primary archival testament to the legal entanglement of Agnes. Following the initial documentation of her arrest and the framing of the charges in Kelso, the judicial machinery proceeded to evaluate the claims levied against her. While the records provide a clear framework of the date and location of these events, they preserve the gravity of the legal encounter, marking Agnes as one of the many individuals whose lives intersected with the intense religious and legal scrutiny of 1649.