The Last Execution in Dornoch

The last execution for witchcraft in Scotland took place in the village of Dornoch in 1727. Janet Horne was accused of having transformed her daughter into a pony, riding her through the village at night, and having got the Devil to shoe her. Janet's daughter had some small deformity of her hands and feet: apparent proof that she had recently sported hooves. Alas for poor Janet, it is reckoned that she suffered from senile dementia, and for this reason could not recall the Lord's Prayer in Gaelic. This was enough to secure her guilt, and she was burned in a barrel of oil. The spot is marked by the Witch's Stone, which confusingly bears the wrong date (1722). Janet's ghost reputedly still haunts the area. It is doubtful whether she could turn you into a pony, but you never know.

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