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Isobel Gowdie was a Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft at Auldearn near Nairn during 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.
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Margaret Duchill was a Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft at Alloa during the year 1658. She was implicated by others and she named other women. She was executed on 1 June 1658.
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Marioun Twedy or Marion Tweedy was accused of witchcraft in Peebles in the Scottish Borders in 1649. She was accused of causing the death of a woman and her child and of using charms to cure animals. She refused to confess to these accusations. However, the witchpricker condemned her for finding 'the devil's mark' on her.
References
- ↑ Mary Craig, Borders Witch Hunt (Edinburgh, Luath Press, 2020), p. 95.
- ↑ John Croft, 'Expence of Burning a Witch, 1649', Excerpta Antiqua (London, 1797), p. 40: J. Sands, Sketches of Tranent in the Olden Time (Edinburgh, 1881), pp. 46-9.
- ↑ 'Brod', Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue
- ↑ John Croft, 'Expence of Burning a Witch, 1649', Excerpta Historica (London, 1797), p. 40