In the summer of 1705, the presbytery records of Caerlaverock in Dumfries identified Bessie Heslope as a subject of formal concern amidst a wider wave of local allegations. On June 26, 1705, legal proceedings were initiated against her under the reference C/JO/2898. While the historical documentation confirms that Bessie was one of several individuals targeted during this period of judicial scrutiny, she remains uniquely significant to the archival record as the only person explicitly named within the relevant presbytery documents associated with the cluster of accusations cataloged under C/JO/2899.
Following these initial proceedings, Bessie’s case moved through the established legal channels of the time, eventually resulting in the trial documented under reference T/JO/967. The records confirm her position as a central figure in this specific legal action in Dumfries. Although her name stands alone in the extant presbytery narrative, the context of her case highlights the broader communal and ecclesiastical pressures present in Caerlaverock during the early eighteenth century, marking her experience as a distinct point of inquiry within the records of the Scottish witch trials.