The historical records pertaining to the case of Donald McCartour, a resident of Bute, offer a stark glimpse into the judicial climate of mid-seventeenth-century Scotland. On 28 January 1662, Donald was brought under the scrutiny of the legal authorities, as documented in the records of the Justiciary Office (C/JO/3252). In an era defined by a heightened legal and social anxiety regarding the supernatural, the initiation of these proceedings marked a significant disruption to his life within the island community.
Following the initial entry, the proceedings moved into the trial phase, identified in the archives as T/JO/1903. While the documentation provides a formal framework for his appearance before the court, it remains a sombre testament to the bureaucratic processes that governed such accusations. The records for Donald serve as a focused point of study for historians examining the regional application of witchcraft statutes, illustrating how the legal machinery of the post-Restoration period addressed individual cases brought forth within the jurisdictional boundaries of Bute.