In the mid-17th century, during a turbulent era fraught with suspicion and fears of witchcraft, John McKie, a resident of Craigie, Ayr, stood accused of engaging in witchcraft. As the records from Ayr show, McKie's encounter with the legal system began on the 31st of March 1658, when a porteous roll—essentially a legal summons—was issued. This roll demanded that he, along with others from the 1658 group of accused, present themselves for trial on the 6th of April.
On the day of the trial, the case of John McKie was part of the Ayr Court's proceedings. The historical documents, noted as case number C/EGD/264, and trial document T/LA/1579, placed McKie in a lineup of individuals against whom charges of witchcraft were levied. The record is a stark reminder of the period's fraught attitude towards such accusations, although specifics of the outcomes or the details of his alleged witchcraft activities remain lost to history.
The documents from the time paint only a partial picture, lacking detailed evidence or testimonies presented in court. However, they unequivocally highlight the societal tensions of 1658 and the anxiety surrounding the concepts of witchcraft in Ayr. Throughout this period, communities struggled to distinguish superstition from reality, a struggle that ensnared John McKie in its hold, placing him before the mercurial justice of the 17th-century Scottish court system.