In late December 1628, the legal machinery of the Scottish Kirk and state converged upon Bessie Carrilie, a resident of the parish of Twynholm in Kirkcudbright. Her case, formally indexed under reference C/EGD/1073, reached a critical juncture on the 23rd of December, 1628. This period marked a time when local kirk sessions and the central judiciary were increasingly rigorous in investigating reports of maleficium and communion with the diabolical, often prompted by the anxieties of neighbors and the scrutiny of local elders.
Following the initial proceedings, Bessie was committed to the judicial process under the trial reference T/JO/1873. The records document her transition from a private resident of Twynholm into the formal custody of the courts during a year characterized by heightened vigilance across the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. Through these surviving administrative fragments, Bessie remains a recorded participant in the expansive and systematic pursuit of those accused of witchcraft during the seventeenth century.