Issobell Gowdie

Isobel Gowdie was a Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft at Auldearn near Nairn in 1662. Scant information is available about her age or life, and although she was probably executed in line with the usual practice, it is uncertain whether this was the case or if she was allowed to return to the obscurity of her former life as a cottar’s wife. Her detailed testimony, apparently achieved without the use of violent torture, provides one of the most comprehensive insights into European witchcraft folklore at the end of the era of witch-hunts.