In the small Scottish burgh of Lauder, located in Berwickshire, lived Isobell Robeson, a married woman whose life intersected with one of the most tumultuous periods in Scotland's social history: the witch trials. On the 16th of September, 1679, Isobell found herself entangled in the judicial machinery that sought to purge supposed witchcraft from communities throughout Scotland. Her case was recorded under the reference C/LA/3091, indicating that she was summoned to stand trial before the circuit court at Berwick.
That same day, Isobell's trial unfolded under the shadow of suspicion pervasive in that era. The records, sparse in their detail, note her appearance as a "delinquent," a term indicative of the grave accusations leveled against her. However, the unfolding of her trial remains obscure in the historical record, providing no note of conviction or exoneration. The stern word "dead" annotated beside her name in the delinquents’ porteous roll serves as a stark reminder of the possible outcomes of such charges—a fate faced by many caught in the labyrinthine proceedings of witchcraft accusations. While it is unclear whether death occurred as a direct consequence of the trial or due to unrelated circumstances, Isobell Robeson’s story is etched as a poignant reflection of the era's often tragic intersection of fear, societal pressure, and judicial process.