On 16 September 1679, Issobell Gotterson, a married woman residing in Lauder, was summoned to appear before the circuit court at Berwick. Her case, documented under the reference C/LA/3089, saw her identified as a delinquent amidst the broader context of the Scottish witch trials. The legal proceedings initiated that day necessitated that Issobell remain under the jurisdiction of the court, with formal instructions that she was to appear again whenever called upon by the authorities.
The subsequent administrative tracking of her case offers a stark conclusion to these legal proceedings. Within the delinquents’ porteous roll—a register used by the circuit courts to record the names of those charged with crimes—a brief annotation appears next to her entry. Beside the name of Issobell, the record simply notes that she was "dead," a status that formally concluded her involvement in the judicial process before further appearances could be mandated.