Jonett Fentoun lived in the town of Dunfermline, situated within the historic county of Fife in Scotland. During the 17th century, this area, like many parts of Scotland, was steeped in religious tension and rigorous moral scrutiny, which often led to accusations of witchcraft against women such as Jonett. According to the sparse historical record indexed under the case entry (C/EGD/2290), Jonett was subjected to such an accusation on 20th June 1643. The record does not specify the details of the allegations against her or the proceedings that followed, only that her case became part of a broader collection of witchcraft accusations catalogued for contemporaneous analysis and further research.
The reference to Larner in the case notes hints at the involvement of Christina Larner, a prominent historian on Scottish witchcraft, whose work has provided substantial insight into the social and gender dynamics of the period. However, this particular entry in Jonett’s case notes indicates that the project compiling these records did not verify Larner’s secondary sources at the time of their documentation. Consequently, while Jonett’s case is noted, it remains an example of how the landscape of witchcraft trials involved layers of documentation, verification, and often, silences in terms of individual narratives. Despite the brevity of the record, Jonett Fentoun’s case remains a vital fragment of the complex tapestry that was the early modern Scottish witch trials.