In the midst of the turbulent period of the Scottish witch trials, Janet Unes, a 50-year-old woman from the parish of Middleton in Edinburgh, found herself ensnared in the net of accusations that swept through the region with fervent intensity. The records, sparse yet telling, place Janet in a scenario that was not uncommon for women of her time and might reflect the broader social anxieties of early modern Scotland. Janet, married and residing in the locality of Middleton, was one of eight individuals implicated on November 20, 1628, in the fetid whirlpool of witchcraft allegations. Pertinently, among the accused was also her own daughter, reflecting the often familial tenor of these accusations where entire households could be brought under suspicion through webs of accusation or mere association.
Janet's case, documented under C/EGD/1034, offers a glimpse into the fraught atmosphere that surrounded those accused of witchcraft during the early 17th century. Though specific details of Janet's trial proceedings remain absent—the trial notes withheld or perhaps lost to history—a significant piece of information is recorded: her confession, dated on the same fateful day as the accusation. Such confessions were frequently obtained under duress, through a combination of psychological stress or the physical coercion that was all too common in the witch trials of that era. Nonetheless, what exactly she confessed to, or the circumstances surrounding this avowal, remain elusive within the available historical accounts.
Janet's narrative, albeit fragmentary in the records, falls within a broader context of societal unrest and suspicion. Though little more about her life and the outcome of her trial has been preserved, Janet Unes serves as a somber reminder of the sweeping and often indiscriminate nature of witchcraft accusations. Her story echoes the plight of many others who faced similar charges during this period—enmeshed in a system fraught with fear and uncertainty—and it underscores the human dimension behind the chilling statistics of the Scottish witch trials.