In the summer of 1662, the legal machinery of the Isle of Bute turned its attention toward a married woman identified in the court records as Mary Frissell, though she was also known by the name Marion. Her formal examination was entered into the judicial register on June 23, 1662, under the reference number C/JO/3270. This transition from a resident of Bute to a subject of intense legal scrutiny marked the beginning of her documented involvement with the contemporary justice system regarding the crime of witchcraft.
Following this initial recording, Mary was subjected to the formal process of a trial, indexed under the reference T/JO/1928. While the specific testimony and the nature of the allegations brought against her remain preserved only within these brief archival notations, the case stands as a representative entry in the broader landscape of early modern Scottish judicial proceedings. These records serve as the primary testament to the lived experience of Mary during the intense period of witch-hunting that defined much of the seventeenth century in Scotland.