In November 1679, the judicial machinery of seventeenth-century Scotland turned its attention toward Grissel Croudie, an indweller in the bustling port town of Bo’ness, Linlithgow. Recorded in the legal archives under case reference C/LA/3073, Grissel was brought before the authorities during a period when the prosecution of witchcraft remained a significant feature of the Scottish legal landscape. The records situate her firmly within the local community of Bo’ness, identifying her as an inhabitant whose presence was formally noted by the officials presiding over the jurisdiction of Linlithgow.
On the 24th of November, the formal proceedings against Grissel progressed to the trial stage, designated as T/LA/1464. As was customary for the era, the transition from an initial case registration to a trial indicates that her circumstances had been brought under the scrutiny of the courts for the adjudication of serious allegations. While the surviving documentation focuses on these procedural milestones, Grissel remains a figure defined by the specific intersection of her residence in Bo’ness and the rigid legal framework that governed her final days in the autumn of 1679.