The Witch's Stone

The Witch's Stone
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In the last garden in Carnaig Street, in the Littletown area of Dornoch, there stands the Witch's Stone, which commemorates where the last execution for witchcraft in Scotland took place. The stone is marked with the year 1722, which is incorrect, as it was 1727 that Janet Horne perished on this spot.

Though she was old and confused, her neighbors had accused her of using witchcraft to turn her daughter into a pony to ride to the Devil, where she had been shod by him. It is possible that Janet's daughter having a deformed hand, may have been the only reason why people accused her of witchcraft.

The two women were imprisoned in Dornoch jail. The trial was conducted very quickly, and the sheriff had both of them judged guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to be burned at the stake, but the daughter managed to escape. The day after sentencing, Janet was stripped and rolled in tar, then placed in a barrel and taken in a procession to what is now Carnaig Street, where she was burned alive in 1727.What a horrible way to die!

 Nine years later, the witchcraft acts were repealed in Scotland and made illegal.

I hope you enjoyed reading about The Witch's Stone!

Gwyn