In the autumn of 1577, the legal machinery of the Scottish courts turned its attention toward a woman named Moira Neyne Yrascht. A resident of Tain in Sutherland, her case—recorded under the reference C/JO/3355—marks a notable moment in the early history of formal proceedings against witchcraft in the region. While the specific etymology of her surname remains a subject of academic debate, it is widely considered a potential variant of *Ersche*, suggesting a connection to the Gaelic-speaking communities of the era, which in contemporary records was often synonymous with "Irish" or Highland origins.
The formal process against Moira moved swiftly from the initial documentation of her case in October to the proceedings of her trial, T/JO/2148. On the 25th of that month, the court convened to address the charges brought against her. Though the surviving records provide the precise dates and administrative framework of her prosecution within the jurisdictional climate of late 16th-century Tain, they remain silent on the specific nature of the allegations presented before the magistrates. Moira stands in the archives as a singular figure, preserved through these brief but definitive notations that capture the intersection of local life and the judicial oversight that defined the witch trials of the period.