In 1649, the judicial machinery of early modern Scotland turned its attention toward Isobel Thompson, a resident of Stow in the vicinity of Edinburgh. During this period of heightened religious and social anxiety, the accusation of witchcraft—recorded under case file C/EGD/2395—placed Isobel within the complex legal framework of the mid-seventeenth century. While the specific nature of the charges brought against her remains unelaborated in the extant documentation, her inclusion in the criminal records reflects the prevailing concerns of the Kirk sessions and local magistrates regarding the perceived influence of the demonic in everyday life.
The historical record for Isobel is notably sparse, preserved primarily as an entry within the broader administrative catalog of the era’s witch trials. Although subsequent scholarly investigation—such as the reference noted by historian Christina Larner—has acknowledged the existence of this case, the specific depositions and procedural details that defined her experience remain obscured by time. As such, Isobel serves as a poignant representative of the many individuals whose lives were caught in the rigorous legal scrutiny of the 1649 period, marking her place in the somber history of Scotland’s judicial response to the phenomenon of witchcraft.