Marjorie Durie, also recorded in the archives as Marion, was a woman of middling socioeconomic status residing in the burgh of Inverkeithing, Fife. Her standing in the local community was defined in part by her marriage to a bailie, a position of civic authority that placed the couple firmly within the town’s social hierarchy. On September 13, 1649, she became the subject of a formal legal case (C/EGD/2613) regarding allegations of witchcraft, a period during which Inverkeithing saw multiple individuals caught up in the judicial intensity of the era.
The records indicate that Marjorie was included in a general commission issued by the Scottish Parliament in 1649, a broad directive that encompassed several residents of her burgh. The documentation of her experience reveals the harsh conditions of her detention, noting that she was subjected to the use of stocks while in custody. Although the specific nature of other methods applied during her confinement remains unknown, the surviving trial records (T/JO/1174 and T/LA/1545) serve as a testament to the rigorous legal proceedings she faced during the height of the 1649 witch-hunt.