In the mid-17th century, Barbara Drummond, a resident of the tenendry of Kilbryde in Stirling, found herself ensnared in the web of Scotland's witch trials. As an accused woman, Barbara became the focus of a drawn-out legal process that saw her repeatedly incarcerated without resolution. Her case, noted as C/EGD/573, documents the challenges she faced in the quest for either justice or liberation. Throughout 1666 and into 1667, the Privy Council recorded multiple pleas from Barbara to either hasten her trial or order her release. Despite these efforts, no trial occurred for extended periods, prompting the Privy Council to question the commission responsible for her case about the delays.
Barbara's entanglement with the judicial process saw her moved to Edinburgh, where her trial proceedings, recorded as T/LA/1107, took a turn on December 20, 1664. During this session, the diet was deserted by the order of the Privy Council, and she was returned to her place of origin for trial. It was not until May 7, 1667, that Barbara was finally released from her prolonged incarceration under the condition that she would attend her trial whenever summoned. Her narrative highlights the procedural complexities and bureaucratic stagnation that characterized many such witchcraft cases, as well as the personal toll on those entangled within the judicial system of the time.