Witchcraft in Orkney possibly has its roots in the settlement of Norsemen on the archipelago from the eighth century onwards. Until the early modern period magical powers were accepted as part of the general lifestyle, but witch-hunts began on the mainland of Scotland in about 1550.
Account of a series of English witch trials that took place on 18–19 August 1612, commonly known as the Lancashire witch trials.
Three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury – Jane Southworth, Jennet Bierley, and Ellen Bierley – accused by a 14-year-old girl, Grace Sowerbutts, of practising witchcraft. Their trial at Lancaster Assizes in England on 19 August 1612 was one in a series of witch trials held there over two days. All three women were acquitted.
Convicted witch who escaped the death penalty because she had caused no harm to anyone.
The 1594 trial of alleged witch Allison Balfour is one of the most frequently cited Scottish witchcraft cases.
Cunning man who is alleged to have practised witchcraft at Cleworth Hall in Lancashire
Home of Elizabeth Southerns, also known as Demdike, and her granddaughter Alizon Device, two of the chief protagonists in the Lancashire witch trials of 1612.
Scottish woman accused of witchcraft in 1662 and probably executed, whose detailed testimony provides one of the most comprehensive insights into European witchcraft folklore at the end of the era of witch-hunts.
Five Scottish women accused of witchcraft in the small fishing village of Pittenweem in Fife on the east coast of Scotland in 1704.
Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft and deceiving islanders by pretending she was mute.