In the spring of 1699, Mary McKinnie, a married woman of middling socioeconomic status residing in Lanark, found herself caught within the gravity of a broader witch-hunt centered upon the claims of Margaret Murdoch. Margaret, the daughter of John Murdoch of Craigtown in the parish of Govan, had publicly alleged that she was being tormented by witches, a claim that prompted intensive scrutiny from a panel of ministers and a physician. As Margaret’s accusations swept through the region, she named a wide array of individuals as her persecutors, drawing Mary into the unsettling nexus of the investigation.
Despite the gravity of the accusations, the legal trajectory of Mary’s case remains obscure within the surviving documentation. On 22 April 1699, in Glasgow, a group consisting of one man and three women provided testimony against her. Yet, while Mary was clearly suspected and formally implicated through these witness accounts, there is no evidence of a trial or subsequent formal proceedings. While she was marked by the allegations of those around her, the historical record provides no further clarity on the eventual resolution or the final outcome of her ordeal.