In April 1626, the legal machinery of early modern Scotland turned its attention toward Helene Dryburghe, a resident of the parish of Wemyss in Fife. The procedural documentation concerning her case, catalogued under reference C/EGD/971, highlights the gravity of the scrutiny she faced within the local judicial landscape. Her encounter with the law progressed from an initial accusation to a formal trial, indexed in the records as T/LA/440.
The proceedings against Helene culminated in a confession, a central element in the judicial handling of such cases during this era. While the specific nature of the allegations remains contained within the archival shorthand of the seventeenth-century court, the existence of a recorded confession marks a definitive moment in the legal process. Through these surviving documents, the history of Helene remains preserved as a formal intersection between a resident of Fife and the inquisitorial practices of the Scottish witch trials.