Survey of Scottish Witchcraft, 1563 - 1736

Trial Details

associated trials
trial reference	accused	trial type	trial year	trial place
no recorded trials

commissions
commission body	type	date	seal	notes
Privy Council	Investigation	18/12/1628	None	Her son James Smith was ordered to bring her to Edinburgh for examination on 13/1/1629
Privy Council	Justiciary	13/1/1629	None	None

previous commissions
commission body	date
no recorded prior commission

appeals
central authority	reason	appeal date
no recorded appeals

complaints
type	date of complaint	lodged at	appeal date	complainent	involvement
no recorded complaints

move to higher legal authority
moved to	date of move
Presbytery	22/4/1624

denunciations
denuncation date	dated
22 April 1624	Depositions taken at Dunbar Presbytery
27 January 1619	Deposition from a healer given at Duns

imprisonments
incarceration date	central trial imprison	prison	location	moving
13/2/1629	yes	Tolbooth	Edinburgh	no

tortures
date of torture	torture type
no recorded tortures

ordeals
date of ordeal	ordeal type
no recorded ordeals

confessions
central trial confession	date	location	notes
no recorded confessions

Pre-trial notes: A healer, Alexander Fortune, testified before the session at Duns about a strange wound she had that would not heal on 17 January 1619. Her case was examined in front of the Dunbar Presbytery 22-29 April 1624, five years before her trial. 11 January 1629 the Tyninghame minister was assisting Mr. John Home, minister of Dunbar with Isobell's case. She was interrogated on 26 Jan 1629 by members of her commission.
watched?: no
watch date: no information
arrested?: no
arrest date: no information
fled?: no
date absconded: no information
action dropped?: no
action dropped date: no information
action dropped by: no information
trial action body: no information
confronting suspects?: no

verdict: Guilty
defence: yes
female accusers: 13
male accusers: 25
recorded as high status?: yes
order for central judiciary trial: yes
judiciary trial date: no information
circuit court (mixed central and local): no
circuit name: no information
local court with central representatives: no
trial notes: Very complicated defence pleadings. Case carried over to next day. I found another order for central justiciary trial dated 13/2/1629. On 22 Jan 1629 the trial date was set for 15 days.

persons associated with the trial
name	title	office	occupation	involvement	witchpricker?	notes
Livius	None	None	None	Cited authority	no	I (LEM) think this is Livy the Latin historian cited in 1629.
Thomas Smith	None	None	None	Defence	no	Involved in trial in 1629.
David Prymrois	Mr	None	advocate	Defence advocate	no	Involved in cases and trials in 1628-9, 1632 and 1639. Name might also be spelled Primrose.
Laurence MacGill	Mr	None	advocate	Defence advocate	no	Involved in trials in 1629 and 1634.
Aristotle	None	None	None	Cited authority	no	Used to argue about the laws of nature in 1629.
Durand	None	None	Author	Cited authority	no	Author of De Questionibus, which was cited in Isobel Young's trial in 1629.
Jean Bodin	None	None	Author	Demonologist	no	Noted political writer who wrote a much used book on demonology. Cited in 1629 and 1645.
Robert Muir	None	None	None	Chancellor of Assize	no	Involved in trial in 1629. Name also spelt Mure. Place of residence may have been Papple?
Thomas Hope	Sir of Craighall	Lord's Advocate	advocate	Prosecutor	no	Involved in cases and trials in 1628-34, 1643 and 1645.
George Fletcher	Mr	Lord Advocate's substitute	Advocate	Prosecutor	no	Involved in trials in 1629 and 1661.
John Smith	None	None	None	Defence	no	Involved in trial in 1629.
James Smith	None	None	None	Defence	no	Involved in trial in 1629.

sentence: Execution
executed?: yes
execution date: no information
execution place: Castle Hill
execution method: Strangle & Burn
post trial notes: She was ordered to be executed, don't have a record of the execution

mentioned as a witch
type	name	mention date	fate	linked trialdate	trial link	notes
no mentions