In the spring of 1658, the judicial machinery of Ayrshire turned its focus toward a group of individuals associated with the village of Dunlop. Among those identified in the legal proceedings was Margaret Cumyngham, a widow whose life intersected with the heightened scrutiny of the period. On 6 April 1658, Margaret was formally listed in the records of the Ayr Court alongside other local inhabitants collectively identified in the historical documentation as the "Dunlop witches."
The legal process against Margaret moved with urgency, supported by two separate porteous rolls—the indictments used to summon the accused to face justice. One of these documents, dated 31 March 1658, mandated that the entire group appear before the court to answer for their alleged crimes. However, when the court convened on 6 April, Margaret was not present. Her status in the trial record was explicitly marked as "fugitive," indicating that she could not be found to stand trial. Consequently, the narrative of her legal struggle remains anchored in her flight from the courtroom, leaving her fate obscured by her absence from the reach of the 1658 proceedings.