In the late summer of 1631, the legal records of Perth document the initiation of formal proceedings against a woman named Jonnet Elder. On August 22, the judicial machinery of the era began to process her case, identified in the archival registers as C/LA/3251. As a resident of Perth, Jonnet found herself caught within the rigorous administrative and religious framework that characterized the early modern Scottish response to perceived manifestations of witchcraft.
Following this initial legal action, the record transitions to the subsequent trial, cataloged as T/LA/1877. This phase represents the culmination of the proceedings against Jonnet, marking the point at which her case moved from preliminary accusation into the sphere of formal judgment. While the brief entries provide little detail regarding the specific charges leveled against her, they reflect the stark reality of the era’s judicial climate, wherein individuals were subjected to the methodical scrutiny of local courts. For Jonnet, these dates—late August of 1631—stand as the defining temporal markers of her involvement with the Scottish legal system during a period of heightened sensitivity toward the supernatural.