23. Allison Balfour of the Orkney Isles was strangled and burned in 1594 after being promised clemency
Patrick Stewart, the Earl of Orkney, feared that his brothers were trying to kill him. When he found one of his younger brother’s servants carrying poison, his suspicions were confirmed. After 11 days of torture, the servant confessed to hiring a coven of witches on Orkney to help him. One of these, Allison Balfour, had the misfortune of working as a local healer. Inevitably, extreme torture of Allison and her family produced her confession. The interrogator, Henry Colville, also promised to spare her life in exchange for a confession. He lied: Allison was strangled then burned in Kirkwall in 1594.
