In the spring of 1624, the legal machinery of the Scottish state focused its attention on Issobell Cootis, a resident of the port town of Barrowstouness, or Bo’ness, in Linlithgow. On March 30, 1624, Issobell was formally processed under the legal proceedings catalogued as C/EGD/959. Her case represents a distinct moment in the landscape of early modern Scottish justice, situated within the broader context of the witch trials that permeated the social and judicial fabric of the seventeenth century.
The progression of her case moved from the local jurisdiction of Bo’ness to the broader authority of the trial proceedings held in the royal burgh of Linlithgow, designated as T/LA/79. Central to the surviving documentation of her ordeal is the existence of a formal confession. While the specific nature of the allegations remains contained within the laconic entries of the judicial record, the presence of this confession marks the culmination of the legal process against her, documenting the testimony that ultimately shaped her history in the court records of Linlithgow.