Talk:Isobel Gowdie

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I just heard an Interview with James Macmillan (see article) on BBC Radio 3 on 28 Feb 2010 in which he said she was tortured and that the torture may have driven her mad - hence the confessions. He then said she was strangled and burnt as described below. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.163.12.63 (talk) 17:15, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

I am a direct descendent of Isobel Gowdie. My grandmother Margaret Gow Taylor Prattis told me Isobel confessed to being a witch in order to be granted a less painful death. Her confession was not voluntary. She confessed in order to be killed whilst the fire was low. Grandmother told me that her confession was that she gathered up faggots and made them into a broomstick and rode it through the sky. She had to "prove" she was a witch in order for them to accept her story and grant her a less painful death. Grandmother also said they made her children watch her death and she was disembowelled before being burnt at the stake.

Helen Gow Nolan email: rumpolette@pnc.com.au


 * It had been my understanding that she volunteered to give a confession to begin with, that she had not been accused, at least formally, at the time she gave it. If this is a misconception, that belongs in the article.  Please, get yourself a username and a login so that you can have a talk page here, and welcome to the Wikipedia.  -- Smerdis of Tlön 02:00, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC)


 * It is my understanding that witches in Scotland were not actually 'burned to death' as is the common perception. The usual sentence recorded in the trial documents is for the witch to be tied to a stake, strangled, and her body burnt until it was ashes.  This would seem to conflict with this story.  Although of course I welcome the 1st posters input, and it is certainly interesting to hear the story as passed down through the generations of the family. --172.141.72.242 (talk) 23:01, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

The paragraph that states: "What draws attention to her remarkable case is the fact that her admission of witchcraft sounds very much like the actual shamanic practices that are still in use today. She did not pander to the distorted beliefs of the Christian church about witches and the worship of Satan. There is no record of her ever being executed." may be entirely accurate. However it sounds like an opinion piece or a personal religious point of view.

Perhaps it could be re-written more in keeping with the tone of an encyclopedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Philip72 (talk • contribs) 20:44, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

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The nice image by robert ingpen was removed, and will most likely be removed from wikimedia commons, as its still under copyright.75.61.135.200 (talk) 01:23, 20 November 2011 (UTC)