Case file · Witch trials
Janet Horne, Dornoch
Janet Horne was burned at Dornoch, Sutherland, in 1727, the last person legally executed for witchcraft in the British Isles. Neighbours said she had turned her daughter into a pony and had her shod by the Devil.
1727 CE · 57.88, -4.03 · status: official
The account
The daughter had a deformity of the hands and feet. Horne, probably confused by dementia, was said to have warmed herself at the fire meant to burn her. A stone in Dornoch marks the spot.
The sceptical view
The date has been questioned (some sources give 1722), and the story was written down later; the execution itself is accepted.