In the autumn of 1577, the judicial machinery of early modern Scotland turned toward the parish of Logie Easter in Sutherland to address the case of Helen Neyne Alexander McConnachie. Recorded under case file C/JO/3358, Helen was brought before the authorities on October 25, 1577, to answer for allegations of witchcraft. At a time when the Scottish Reformation was still consolidating its influence over local jurisdictions, such accusations were increasingly handled through the lens of both civil and ecclesiastical scrutiny, placing Helen at the center of a formal legal inquiry.
Following the initial proceedings, the records indicate that Helen faced a trial under the designation T/JO/2151. This process represented the culmination of the legal steps taken against her, moving from the initial accusation to the structured examination required by the courts of the era. By examining the documentation surrounding Helen, one gains a brief but significant insight into the administrative rigor applied to witchcraft allegations during the sixteenth century, as the state sought to reconcile local disruptions with the prevailing legal standards of the period.