In the spring of 1697, amidst the heightened atmosphere of the Renfrewshire witch trials, Thomas Govan, a vagabond of lower socioeconomic status residing in Renfrew, found himself drawn into the judicial machinery of the period. On April 15, 1697, Thomas was apprehended as part of the broader legal activity occurring in the region. Although his arrest coincided with the well-documented Renfrewshire cases involving Christian Shaw and others, the historical records indicate that Thomas was neither indicted nor formally tried alongside that group.
Official documentation from his case (C/LA/2967) notes that there were no known accusations linking Thomas to the specific witchcraft activities investigated in the surrounding trials. However, the legal record explicitly mentions that there were "pregnant presumptions" regarding his status as a witch. While the specific nature of these suspicions remains absent from the archival evidence, these presumptions were sufficient to bring him to the attention of the authorities. Ultimately, Thomas remains a figure defined by these unresolved, unelaborated suspicions within the volatile judicial landscape of late seventeenth-century Scotland.