In April 1568, the legal machinery of the Scottish burgh of Forfar turned toward Jonet Newton, a woman whose origins were linked to the locality of Carmylie or Carniylis. Her encounter with the judicial system is preserved in the archival records of the period under case file C/LA/3387. At a time when the state and the kirk were increasingly formalizing their response to perceived supernatural transgression, Jonet was identified as a subject of inquiry, leading to the initiation of formal proceedings against her.
The records concerning Jonet are concentrated within the specific trial entry T/LA/2255. While the administrative documentation remains stark and brief, it situates her within the broader wave of witch trials that characterized the mid-sixteenth century in Scotland. For historians, these documents serve as a vital, if fragmentary, window into the legal processes of Forfar, marking the moment when Jonet was brought before the court to answer for charges that would have carried profound social and existential consequences within her community.