In November of 1671, a woman by the name of Janet Lyon from the parish of Inverkip in Renfrew faced accusations of witchcraft. Her case is documented in historical records cited by W. M. Metcalfe in his work "History of the County of Renfrew," published in 1905. This brief notation of Janet's involvement in the witch trials offers a glimpse into the fraught atmosphere of 17th-century Scotland, when fear and superstition often fuelled legal actions against those suspected of consorting with the devil, a crime taken very seriously at the time.
Janet's residence in Inverkip placed her within a broader regional context where such accusations were not uncommon. The socio-political climate of the period saw various individuals, often marginalized or living at the fringes of society, become entangled in the web of witch trials that proliferated in early modern Scotland. While detailed proceedings of Janet Lyon's trial or its outcome are not contained within the surviving record cited by Metcalfe, her mention echoes the lived reality of many, revealing how these historical events touched the lives of ordinary people, leaving an indelible mark on their communities.