I Confess: The Power of Confession: Episode 3 (Radio 3)

I Confess: The Power of the Confession looks at the history of confessions, which links the legal world of Cicero to our own. In Episode three, witchcraft scholar Dr Emma Wilby of Exeter University investigates one of the most famous cases of all. In 1662, in Auldearn, Scotland, peasant woman Isobel Gowdie was interrogated for witchcraft. Her confessions, made over six weeks, were studded with startling revelations of the fairy world, shot through with folklore, charms and well-told anecdotes. They have inspired writers, scholars and artists ever since. They even gave birth to one of Scotland's best-known orchestral pieces: James Macmillan's 'The Confession of Isobel Gowdie'. But for Dr Wilby, the most remarkable thing about the confessions is the way Isobel's own voice comes through. We see the alchemy behind these unique confessions, and meet Isobel herself, who appears for us through her own words, read by Gerda Stevenson.