Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society Who Was The Witch Queen of Scotland?
Mar 3, 2026
Mary Craig, historian of Scottish witchcraft and author, explores Isobel Gowdie, whose sensational 1662 confessions shocked Europe. The conversation covers Scotland’s witch panic, royal and printed influences, local beliefs versus Kirk doctrine, interrogation methods that produced lurid testimony, and why no trial record survives. Short, vivid, and haunting.
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Why Scotland Became A Witch Hunt Hotspot
- Scotland's Reformation and royal influence intensified witch persecutions beyond England's levels.
- Rapid Calvinist change, James VI's North Berwick trials and his Demonology spread panic and legitimised hunts across Scotland.
Fairy Magic Was Recast As Diabolism
- Local belief framed witches as Christian healers who drew power from fairies, not the devil.
- The Kirk reinterpreted that fairy-based power as diabolical, converting communal healers into enemies of God.
Psychological Coercion Replaced Official Torture
- Formal torture was being restricted in 1662, but psychological pressure and abusive interrogation produced confessions.
- Isolation, repeated shouting by multiple men and fear of execution acted as effective psychological torture.
