In the spring of 1591, a man identified only as Nesbitt found himself embroiled in the volatile political and occult anxieties of King James VI’s court. As a servant to the servitor of Francis Stewart, the Earl of Bothwell, Nesbitt occupied a precarious position within the lower rungs of the household of one of the most powerful and contentious figures in Scotland. By late May of that year, his name was recorded in the formal legal registers—specifically case file C/LA/2696—as a man sought by the Crown for the grave and interconnected charges of witchcraft and treason.
The path to these accusations likely stemmed from the heightened state of suspicion surrounding the Earl of Bothwell, whose own relationship with the monarch was disintegrating into open hostility. On March 6, 1591, Nesbitt and his master were ordered to appear personally before King James VI at Holyrood Palace to answer for these allegations. However, the historical record indicates that both men failed to present themselves. By choosing not to appear, Nesbitt disappeared from the documented legal process, leaving behind no trial record or evidence of his ultimate fate, but cementing his place in the turbulent annals of early modern Scottish statecraft and superstition.