Janet Bishop, hailing from Penicuik in the vicinity of Edinburgh, became one of many caught in the fervent climate of witch trials that gripped Scotland from the mid-16th to the early 18th century. The historical records surrounding Janet are sparse, providing few personal details about her life before her entanglement with the witchcraft accusations that would ultimately lead to her execution in December of 1629. Her case appears in the records of the Privy Council—an indication of the gravity with which such accusations were treated—and although initially mentioned alongside one other accused individual, the record denotes that she was executed alongside two others, suggesting a broader scope of accusations or condemnations not entirely clear from the surviving documents.
The trial of Janet Bishop, held in Edinburgh, is shrouded in obscurity, with no specific details about the proceedings available in the extant records. However, the outcome was grimly clear. The sentence was execution by burning, a common method employed to deal with those convicted of witchcraft, perceived at the time as a means of purifying the community from the supposed malevolent influences of the condemned. Despite the absence of trial notes that could provide insight into the nature or content of the accusations against her, Janet, like many others during this period, faced a fate sealed by fear and superstition—factors that intertwined with societal, religious, and legal elements of the era, contributing to a prolonged and tragic chapter in Scottish history.