In the late 17th century, within the bustling confines of Port Glasgow, Kilmacolm, a woman named Agnes Supp found herself ensnared in the perilous web of witchcraft accusations. Agnes, a married servant laboring under the modest employ of a maltman, faced severe allegation and social torment that would forever mark her existence. She lived in a time and place where economic hardship was commonplace, and her work in service came to an abrupt end when her employer dismissed her amidst rumors of her involvement in witchcraft. These rumors were fueled by the tormented claims of Margaret Laird, along with Margaret Murdoch, that witches plagued their lives. The girls, seemingly in the throes of distress, labeled various community members as witches during their public fits in the towns of Paisley and Govan.
Agnes was specifically denounced by Laird, and her accusations reverberated across the communal ties binding the parish. Most of the testimonies against Agnes, and others accused alongside her, were collected from Paisley and Glasgow during the spring of 1699. Witnesses came forward to recount Laird's fits and the supposed manifestations of witchery that led to the denunciations. However, formal legal proceedings against Agnes were subject to the tumult of changing court schedules and bureaucratic necessities. Initially set to be tried in Glasgow in May 1699, the session did not transpire, and it wasn't until March of the following year that Agnes stood trial in Edinburgh. On the day of her hearing, after the assembly of witness statements and examination of evidence, the court pursued no further legal action against her. Agnes was ultimately released—a verdict perhaps as common as it was inconclusive during this turbulent epoch of Scottish witch trials. Her life, nonetheless, remained indelibly altered by the ordeal.