In the spring of 1697, the Renfrewshire witch trials reached a fever pitch, ensnaring a young boy named James Lindsay. A resident of Blackhall in Erskine and the brother of a youth from Bargarrane, James was initially caught within the machinery of the judicial proceedings that saw a large group indicted on 13 April. Despite the gravity of the accusations brought against him and the existence of a recorded confession, James occupied a precarious position within the legal framework of the time. Unlike the seven individuals who stood formal trial on 12 May, James was never indicted for the crime of witchcraft.
The distinction in his case stemmed from the assessment of his age and legal capacity. At fourteen years old, the authorities deemed James too young to have entered into a viable or binding pact with the Devil, a prerequisite for criminal culpability in such matters. Consequently, his role in the proceedings shifted; he was excluded from the formal indictments and served instead as a witness during the closing arguments of the final group trial. James’s experience serves as a testament to the complex intersection of ecclesiastical law and judicial scrutiny that characterized the late seventeenth-century Scottish trials, where the threshold of maturity significantly dictated the course of one’s involvement in the courtroom.