In the summer of 1662, the judicial authorities in Inverness turned their attention to Issobell Duff, an indweller of the burgh whose social standing placed her within the middling ranks of the community. As recorded in the Register of the Privy Council, Issobell’s encounter with the Scottish legal system began in June, initiating a formal process that would see her case move from its initial registration on the 26th of that month toward a full trial under the reference number T/JO/983.
The judicial proceedings against Issobell culminated in a recorded confession, also dated to June 1662. While the precise details of her testimony remain contained within the administrative brevity of the legal archives, the existence of this confession marked a critical turning point in the legal scrutiny she faced. As an indweller of Inverness, her case serves as a point of intersection between the rigorous juridical framework of the late seventeenth century and the lived experience of those caught within the mechanisms of the witch trials.