In the late 16th century, the river of accusations in Scotland's witch trials touched many lives, including that of Jonet Stewart, a resident of the Canongate in Edinburgh. Historical records from November 1597 document that Jonet was accused of participating in a clandestine witches' meeting, a charge that often led to severe repercussions due to prevalent fears and suspicions surrounding witchcraft. The climate of the time was deeply infused with anxiety over witchcraft, partly influenced by King James VI’s interest in the subject, his personal involvement in witch trials, and his writings on demonology.
Jonet's trial took place in Edinburgh on the same day the charges were recorded—November 12, 1597. She stood accused of participating in activities suspiciously regarded as involvement with the occult—a witches' meeting. In this period, such assemblies were feared as gatherings where individuals supposedly consorted with the devil. The trial culminated in a guilty verdict, and the sentence meted out to Jonet was the severe punishment typical of the era: execution. On Castle Hill, she met her end by a method that was both brutal and emblematic of the time's fervent approach to eradicating witchcraft—strangulation followed by burning.
Jonet Stewart’s name also surfaces in the narratives of other trials during the same period, specifically through mentions by Michael Clark and John Damiet, who pointed to her as an accomplice. The interconnections between those accused in witchcraft trials often reflect a broader network of associations that might have been as much about community ties as about actual involvement in the supernatural. Her story is a poignant reminder of the perilous intersection of fear, rumor, and the legal apparatus that so starkly defined the witch trials of early modern Scotland.