*We have updated this episode as of 9.12.25*
We’re back with a fresh take on one of our classic episodes! Shoobie and Brittany are diving once again into the lives of two legendary women: Isobel Gowdie, whose haunting confessions in 17th-century Scotland painted vivid pictures of witchcraft, and Biddy Early, the Irish “wise woman” whose cures and charms made her both beloved and feared. Together, their stories weave folklore, superstition, and mystery into tales that still spark fascination centuries later.
https://www.shca.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches/person.php?name=Isobel+Gowdie&source=3777Pitcairn, Ancient Criminal Trials in Scotland (1833)—printed text of the confessions: https://archive.org/stream/ancientcrim43pt203pitcuoft/ancientcrim43pt203pitcuoft_djvu.txtLiv Høgh Willumsen review of Emma Wilby, The Visions of Isobel Gowdie (2010) https://www.livhelenewillumsen.no/res/Review%20Gowdie_Willumsen.20.6.11%5B3%5D.pdfBoosey & Hawkes, MacMillan’s The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (composer note): https://www.boosey.com/cr/music/James-MacMillan-The-Confession-of-Isobel-Gowdie/3115Wikipedia: The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (work): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Confession_of_Isobel_GowdieInverness Courier (Auldearn mural, 2021): https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/extraordinary-witch-features-in-new-mural-257239/Smithsonian Magazine (Scotland’s 2022 apology): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scotland-issues-formal-apology-to-thousands-accused-of-witchcraft-180979869/The Guardian (text/reportage on the apology): https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/08/nicola-sturgeon-issues-apology-for-historical-injustice-of-witch-hunts(Notes: Many details in the narrative—marriage to John Gilbert; residence around Loch Loy; dates and sequence of the four confessions; the Queen of Elphame, elf-arrows, Read Reiver; the July 1662 commission; and the uncertainty of Gowdie’s ultimate fate—are drawn from the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft case file and the Wikipedia article’s underlying citations, which synthesize Pitcairn’s printed text and modern scholarship.)
Irish Times, “Irish Lives: Biddy Early” (encyclopedic overview): https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/irish-lives-1.1286579History Ireland, “Feakle’s Biddy Early: a victim of ‘moral panic’?” https://historyireland.com/feakles-biddy-early-a-victim-of-moral-panic/ historyireland.comWikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biddy_Early WikipediaLady Gregory, Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/vbwi/vbwi11.htm Internet Sacred Text ArchiveDúchas (National Folklore Collection), Schools’ Collection—Biddy Early bottle lore (two versions): • https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922349/4872900/5072452 • https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922348/4872795/5074512 duchas.ie+1RTÉ Archives: • https://www.rte.ie/archives/2021/0629/1232043-biddy-early-and-the-changeling/ • https://www.rte.ie/archives/2015/0208/678387-biddy-early-wise-woman-or-witch/ RTE+1Clare County Library—People of Clare: Biddy Early (local biography & context): https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/biddy.htm Clare LibrariesLimerick’s Life (local historian compendium of sources & dates): https://limerickslife.com/biddy-early-the-witch-of-the-west/ Limerick's LifeNotes on sources: Where dates differ slightly across popular retellings, I favored the more conservative or scholarly references (History Ireland; Irish Times; Lady Gregory’s collected narratives and the Dúchas Schools’ Collection for folklore). The Dictionary of Irish Biography maintains an entry on Biddy Early but requires JavaScript to view; it also affirms the 1865 Ennis case and the broad outline of her life. See: https://www.dib.ie/biography/early-biddy-a2870
