Isobel Gowdie facts for kids
Isobel Gowdie was a Scottish woman who said she was a witch in a village called Auldearn, near Nairn, in 1662. We don't know much about her age or her life before this. Even though people accused of witchcraft were usually executed, it's not certain if this happened to her. She might have gone back to her quiet life as a cottar's wife (a farmer's wife who rented a small piece of land).
Isobel's detailed confessions were very important. They seemed to be given without her being hurt. Her story gives us one of the best looks into what people believed about witchcraft in Europe, right at the end of the time when many witch-hunts were happening.
Over six weeks, Isobel made four confessions. She talked about magic spells and rhymes. She claimed she was part of a group of witches, called a coven, who served the Devil. She also said she met the fairy queen and king. She even described strange meetings with the Devil. These stories mixed beliefs about demons and fairies.
Today, experts see Isobel Gowdie as a great storyteller with a strong imagination. She couldn't read or write and was not from a high social class. It's not clear why she came forward or was arrested. She might have been sick with something called ergotism. Her confessions were written down by Robert Pitcairn and first shared in 1833. Historians still find her story amazing and continue to discuss it today.
Outside of history books, Isobel Gowdie is remembered in songs, books, plays, and radio shows. A famous piece of music called The Confession of Isobel Gowdie was written for an orchestra by James MacMillan in 1990. He wrote it as a special tribute to her.
Witchcraft in Scotland
The time period known as the early modern period saw many witchcraft trials in Scotland. Witch hunts began around 1550. In 1563, the Scottish Parliament passed a law that made witchcraft a crime punishable by death.
King James, who was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, wrote a book called Daemonologie in 1597. He wrote it after being involved in the North Berwick witch trials in 1590 and a big witch hunt across Scotland in 1597.
Like other European witch trials, major witch hunts in Scotland happened in waves. Historians have different ideas why this happened. But they often agree that wars, political problems, or money troubles played a part. Local ministers and landowners also pushed for people to be found guilty.
Scotland had been under strict religious rules for almost a century. But some northern areas still strongly believed in fairy tales and old traditions. The Laird of Park, who owned the land where Isobel lived, was a very religious man. He did not believe in old superstitions. He had been involved in earlier witchcraft trials. His father, uncle, and grandfather were even said to have died because of witchcraft.
Bad weather led to poor harvests from 1649 to 1653. King Charles I was executed in 1649, and a large witch hunt began that year. Charles II became king of Scotland in 1660. Most historians connect the Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1661–62, which was the last and most serious wave of trials, with Charles II becoming king.
A historian named Emma Wilby says that Isobel Gowdie was one of about seven witches tried in Auldearn during this witch hunt.
Isobel's Life
We don't have much information about Isobel Gowdie before she married John Gilbert. Her husband was not involved in the witchcraft case. Historians think she grew up in the Auldearn area because she mentioned places there in her stories.
Isobel and her husband lived near Loch Loy, about two miles north of Auldearn. In the 1600s, this sea loch was bigger than it is now. It was surrounded by woods, hills, and sand dunes. Isobel's husband worked on a farm, probably as a cottar. He would have been given a small cottage and some land to use in return for his work.
Isobel couldn't read or write. But she had a good imagination and could speak very well. Her daily life involved basic chores like milking cows, making bread, weaving yarn, or weeding.
Her Confessions
Isobel Gowdie made four confessions over six weeks. The first one was on April 13, 1662, in Auldearn. It's not clear why she came forward. One historian, John Callow, suggests it was because she was involved in a plan to bother the local minister, Harry Forbes. He was a very strict man who feared witchcraft. Forbes was present at all four of Isobel's interviews.
People probably talked about Isobel being a witch for a long time before she confessed. She would have been held alone, probably in the local jail in Auldearn, during the six weeks of her confessions.
Her first confession described meeting the Devil at night in the church at Auldearn. She named others who were there, like Janet Breadhead and Margret Brodie. She said she gave up her baptism (a Christian ceremony). Then, she claimed the Devil put his mark on her shoulder and sucked blood from it. Other meetings happened in places like Nairn and Inshoch.
She said the Devil had feet like a fork and a split hoof, sometimes covered by shoes. She gave details about taking a child's body from a grave and ruining crops. She also talked about covens and where they danced. She explained that she would put brooms next to her husband in his bed so he wouldn't notice she was gone.
The coven ate and drank the best food at houses they reached by flying through the air on magic horses. They entered through windows. She said the Queen of the Fairies, also called the Queen of Elphame, entertained them in her home at Downie Hill. This place was filled with water bulls that scared her.
Isobel claimed she made clay figures of the Laird of Park's sons to make them sick or die. She also said she turned into a jackdaw (a type of bird). Other coven members turned into animals like cats and hares. They visited the house of Alexander Cumings. Some parts of her story were cut short by the people writing them down. This happened when the details seemed unimportant or didn't fit what the questioners wanted to hear. Or maybe the writers just couldn't keep up with how fast Isobel was talking.
A little over two weeks later, on May 3, 1662, Isobel's second confession was written down. She gave more details about the coven. She provided nicknames for its members and names of the spirits that served them. Her own servant spirit, dressed in black, was called the Read Reiver.
She claimed she could turn into animals. She even gave the special chants she used to turn into a cat, horse, or other animals. Over all her confessions, she gave a total of twenty-seven chants, more than in any other British witchcraft case.
Isobel said the Devil made elf arrows by hand. Small, rough-speaking "elf-boys" then made them stronger. The Devil gave arrows to each coven member. He told them to fire the arrows in his name. No bows were given, so the arrows were flicked with a thumb. The witches weren't always accurate. But if the arrow touched the target, whether a person or an animal, she claimed they would die, even if they wore armor. She also described spells used to make the minister, Harry Forbes, sick and suffer.
On May 15, 1662, Isobel Gowdie was questioned for a third time. Like her first two confessions, this one began by describing her agreement with the Devil. She said she met him and agreed to meet him at Auldearn church.
Taking her earlier information about elf arrows further, she named those she had killed. She expressed regret for the deaths she caused. She also named other coven members and who they had murdered. She told a story about the Devil sending her on an errand to Auldearn while she was disguised as a hare.
Her story continued, describing how she was chased by dogs while in hare form. She escaped by running from house to house. Finally, she had a chance to say the chant to turn back into a human. She added that sometimes dogs could bite a witch when she was a hare. The dogs couldn't kill the shapeshifter, but the bite marks would still be visible when she turned back into a human.
She also described eating with the Devil and how he would beat coven members. She told how they reacted to this. She continued the story from her first confession about how they tried to kill the Laird of Park's sons. She even shared the verse the Devil taught them to chant while burning the clay figures.
The fourth and final confession was on May 27, 1662. According to Robert Pitcairn, who first published her stories, this confession mostly confirmed the first three. It also tried to get more information about the coven members so they could be charged. As a result of statements from Isobel and her friend Janet Breadhead, forty-one people were arrested.
What Happened Next
The people questioning Isobel felt they had enough proof to find her guilty. They asked the Scottish government in Edinburgh for permission to hold a local trial. Some or all of Isobel's confessions, along with Janet Breadhead's confession, were sent with this request.
It's likely the confessions reached Edinburgh around mid-June 1662. Records show that in July, the government told Sir Hew Campbell, the local sheriff, and others to arrange local trials for both women.
A note on the back of Isobel's second confession, dated July 10, 1662, says the document was reviewed and found important. It also said, "Take care of this paper."
There is no record of Isobel Gowdie being executed. This is common, as the outcome is unknown in 90 percent of Scottish witchcraft cases because local records no longer exist. However, most historians believe she was likely found guilty and executed.
Some historians have suggested that she might have been found innocent due to mental health issues. They think she might have been freed and allowed to return to her "quiet obscurity."
Isobel in Culture
Isobel Gowdie and her story have been remembered in many books and musical works. She appears as a character in the books The Devil's Mistress by J. W. Brodie-Innes, Isobel by Jane Parkhurst, and the fantasy novel Night Plague by Graham Masterton. In recent years, her story has inspired plays, radio shows, and talks.
The Confession of Isobel Gowdie is a piece for a symphony orchestra by Scottish composer James MacMillan. He believed Isobel's confession was forced and that she was burned for witchcraft. In a 2010 radio broadcast, he called his music a special tribute to her. The band The Sensational Alex Harvey Band also has a song called 'Isobel Goudie'.
The folk singer Fay Hield set some of Isobel Gowdie's transformation chants to music in her song 'Hare Spell' from her 2020 album Wrackline.
The American heavy metal band King 810 uses Isobel Gowdie's alleged chant in their song 'Isobel'.
See also
- Cunning folk in Britain
