In the year 1586, in the labyrinthine heart of Scotland's witch trial era, a woman named Tibbie Smart found herself enmeshed in tragic judicial proceedings. Residing under the jurisdiction of the Lord of Clovay, Tibbie was part of a community that extended between Carralstoun and Watterstoun. Her case, recorded as C/EGD/33, marks a significant episode in the fraught history of early modern Scottish witch trials. Accusations of witchcraft were notoriously arbitrary and often rooted in local disputes, fears, or misfortunes, and Tibbie's unfortunate embroilment in such a case underscores the perilous nature of these times.
Tibbie's trial in 1640, detailed in record T/LA/1640, resulted in a grim verdict: she was found guilty of witchcraft. As punishment, she was subjected to the brutal and humiliating sentence of being physically marked, burned gruesomely on the cheek, and subsequently banished from her community. The records tell us that she never returned to her former home, a consequence likely steeped in both fear and the practical impossibility of reintegrating into a society that had condemned her. Tibbie Smart's case serves as a poignant reminder of the perilous intricacies and harsh consequences faced by those entangled in the fabric of 16th- and 17th-century Scottish witch trials.