In December of 1644, Jonet Lockie, a resident of the small parish of Carnwath in Lanark, found herself at the heart of social upheaval that characterized much of 17th-century Scotland. The records indicate that Jonet was accused of witchcraft, as noted in a case registered with the notation C/EGD/1306 on the final day of that year. Her community, like many others across Scotland, was not immune to the hysteria that had permeated much of Europe. Such accusations were often a mixture of personal vendettas and genuine fear, which saw individuals like Jonet, typically women, drawn into legal maelstroms with life-threatening consequences.
Jonet’s trial, referenced under T/LA/1083, forms part of an extensive archive of proceedings during a period when legal and social frameworks were governed by a fear of the occult. These trials were held under an intense atmosphere, driven by both religious and societal pressures that melded to form the Scottish witch hunts. In Lanarkshire, as elsewhere, these events were marked by rigorous examinations and the interpretation of evidence that, by contemporary standards, was often thin yet given weight by communal anxiety. Jonet's story, encapsulated in the terse, unembellished language of legal documents, offers a glimpse into the lives caught up in the sweeping judgements of early modern Scotland's justice system, a testament to the real human cost of this historical epoch.