On October 25, 1577, the judicial machinery of early modern Scotland turned its attention to Margaret Bawden, a woman residing in the region of Ross. Her appearance before the authorities was formally documented under case file C/JO/3352, marking the commencement of a legal process that would eventually lead to trial T/JO/2145. At this time, the prosecution of witchcraft was gaining momentum across the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands, with local courts increasingly empowered to investigate those suspected of invoking malevolent occult influence within their communities.
As Margaret was brought forward under the prevailing legal framework of the period, the transition from the initial registration of her case to the subsequent proceedings reflected the systematic nature of the era’s witch trials. While the specific nature of the allegations remains confined to the administrative records of the time, the formal documentation of her trial underscores the gravity with which the Scottish judicial system treated such accusations. Margaret remains a figure defined by these extant legal papers, which serve as the singular preserved account of her entanglement with the state during the sixteenth-century crackdown on alleged sorcery.