Balfour, Alison (d. 1596)

views updated

Balfour, Alison (d. 1596)

Scottish woman accused of witchcraft. Lived in Ireland, a village in Orkney; burned at Gallow Hill in Kirkwall, Orkney, Dec 16, 1596.

Accused of witchcraft in the reign of James VI (1594), was held for 2 days in "cashielaws," an iron vice for the leg to which fire was applied (June 1596); was required to watch as her son was placed in an iron boot and received 57 blows, her 7-year-old daughter was put in thumbscrews, and her 81-year-old husband was crushed to death; finally confessed, but was burned anyway, protesting her innocence just before she died.