In the autumn of 1629, Isabel Dryburgh, a resident of Penicuik, Edinburgh, found herself ensnared within the mechanisms of the Scottish judicial system during a period of heightened concern regarding witchcraft. On September 17, 1629, her name was formally recorded in a legal entry alongside two other individuals, marking the commencement of a process that would ultimately bring her before the courts in Edinburgh.
The surviving documentation regarding the trial of Isabel remains notably sparse, offering little insight into the specific allegations brought against her or the nature of the proceedings themselves. Beyond the administrative records that link her to this case, the historical trail concludes with the trial held in Edinburgh later that same year. Consequently, while the archival evidence confirms that Isabel was subjected to the formal legal scrutiny of the early modern state, the details of her testimony and the eventual outcome of her case remain obscured by the passage of time.