Gowdie,Issobell

Devil Present	Yes
Communal Sex	Yes
Devil Worship	No
Food and Drink	No
Dancing	Yes
Singing	No

Notes: At Nairn she claimed that she and two others raised an unchristened child and used it to make a potion (see folk culture section for details). She talked about covens and claimed to have 13 people in her coven. Her coven danced on a hill with another coven. At one meeting she yoked a plough of paddocks (toads). They used this to take the fruit of the land. The officer of her coven was man. They often stole food from people. She described taking grain and animals and leaving empty husks (later developed in fairylore). Described flying on straw (corn straw, wild straw). They did a ritual with a thread with three knots in a dye-house, they took away the dye and turned it all black. She said that each coven of 13 had an officer (who is male) and a maiden (who is female). The Devil took the maiden over the dyk.

Meeting Places

Place	Location	Inversion
Kirk	The Kirk of Auldearn	No
Kirk	Kirk of Nairn	No
Hilltop	Hill of Earlfeat	No
Dye-House	Auldearn	No

She met the Devil in the Kirk of Auldearn. He was at the reader's desk with a black book in his hand. He baptised her with blood he sucked out of her Devil's mark, spouted it in her hand and sprinkled it over her head. His nature was cold. She said that each witch had a spirit to wait on them. One woman's was named 'swein' and was clothed in grass-green. The text has detailed descriptions of people's spirits. Her spirit was called 'The read reiver' and was dressed in black. The Devil baptised her as 'Janet'. The Devil's member was great and long. She said that younger women had greater pleasure in sex with the Devil than with their own husbands. The Devil beat them at meetings. The Devil gave them money that turned into horse dung.

Type	Text
Anti-baptism
Head and foot
Devil's Mark	shoulder
Sex
New name	Janet

Devil Appearances

Type	Text
Male	with cloven feet
Male	meikle black roch man
Animal Devil	deer
Female Fairy	Queen dressed in white and brown
Male Fairy	King, a braw, well favored man with a broad face.
Spirit	to wait upon each witch

Notes: She confessed to mixing the body of an unchristened child with nail trimmings, grain and cole-wort and chopping it all up very small and used it to take away the fruit of a man's corn. Described night flight and flying on straw and a broom. Said she used shot to send a soul to heaven but the body remained on earth. She met the Queen of Fairy in the downie-hill and was given meat. In the fairy hill she saw elf-bulls. Took away milk using a tether (could restore milk by cutting the tether). Did all this in the Devil's name. She made an image of the Laird of Park to destroy his children (with others). Detailed description of how the image was made. Nearly the same description given by Janet Braidheid of the wax image! She confessed to shape-changing with others- she was a kea (jackdaw) and the others were a cat and a hare. They tied a thread with three knots and did something widdershins. They raised the wind with a wet cloth and a beetle and specific words. Their spirits can raise the wind. She linked the elves and the Devil by saying that the Devil gave elves instructions on how to use and make elfshot and that they fire the shot in the Devil's name. Special ritual described for shape-changing. Had different words for each animal (cat, hare, crow, horse. She lists different verbal charms to use for healing various ailments (bone-shaw, fevers). For her first 'voyage' she went to the plough lands and shot a man and they made a potion by boiling ingredients and saying words they learned from the Devil.

Elf/Fairy Elements

• Elfshot
• Queen of Fairy
• King of Fairy
• Fairy hill
• Green

Shape Changing

Type	Details
Animal	cat
Animal	hare
Animal	Jackdaw (Kea)

Ritual Objects

• Corpse
• Nail trimmings
• Grain
• Herb
• Wax/clay images
• Thread
• Water
• Beetle
• Toad
• Flesh
• Liver
• Cloth

Religious Motifs

• Three
• Trinity
• Saints

Disease Notes: She took away cow's milk by using a tether. She also took away ale. Words used o cure boneshaw and fevers,

Other Maleficia Notes: Raised the wind with a wet cloth wet and a beetle in water.

Property Damage Types

• Crops
• Dairy
• Ale
• Fishing

Weather Modification Types

• Wind

• Lammas
• Yule
• Easter
• Candlemas

Name	Title	Involvement	Notes
Alexander Brodie	of Leathin	Investigator
Hugh Campbell	Sir of Cawdor	Commissioner
Robert Cumming	of Altyre	Commissioner
William Dallas	of Cantray	Commissioner
William Dallas	of Cantray	Investigator
James Dunbar	apparand of Both	Investigator
Alexander Dunbar	of Both	Investigator
William Dunbar	of Cluny	Investigator
Alexander Dunbar	of Both	Commissioner
David Dunbar	of Dunphail	Commissioner
Thomas Dunbar	of Grange	Commissioner
Thomas Dunbar	of Grange	Investigator
Harry Forbes	Mr	Investigator
Hugh Hay	of Newton	Investigator
Alexander Hay	of Brightmanney	Investigator
Hugh Rose	of Kilravock	Commissioner
David Smith		Investigator
John Stewart		Commissioner
William Sutherland	of Kinstuir	Commissioner
John Weir		Investigator

Source	Reference	Notes
RPC	3rd series, vol 1, p 243.
Pitcairn	III, p. 602-15