In the spring of 1659, the legal machinery of the Scottish state focused its attention upon Isable Bennet, a resident of Roxburgh. On the 8th of April, she was formally inscribed within the Roxburgh Roll, a procedural step that marked the commencement of her prosecution. The gravity of her situation was underscored by the nature of the proceedings, as the case against her—archived as C/EGD/320—was pursued directly by the Advocate General, representing the highest legal authority in the realm.
The surviving records of trial T/LA/1618 confirm that this process was initiated on the same day as her inclusion in the roll. For Isable, the 8th of April represented a point of intersection between her life in Roxburgh and the rigorous judicial oversight that characterized the period. Though the documentation provides no further insight into the specific allegations or the eventual outcome of the trial, it stands as a precise testament to the formal mechanisms employed by the Scottish courts during this era of intensive witch-hunting.