On 22nd of September 1692 the last eight people were hanged for witchcraft in the US. Nineteen were hanged overall, with six other deaths during the Salem witch trials.

Examination of a witch, painting inspired by the Salem witch trials
Original by Ridpath? Restoration by Equazcion., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

One man  Giles Corey, died under torture after refusing to enter a plea, and at least five people died in the disease-ridden jails.

Giles Corey being pressed to death with large stones
Original by Ridpath? Restoration by Equazcion., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 Between February 1692 and May 1693 more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft in  colonial Massachusetts . Thirty were found guilty.

The last person in Scotland  to be tried and executed for witchcraft was Janet Horne. In 1727 she and her daughter were arrested and jailed in Dornoch.

The stone that marks the site of Janet Horne’s burning can still be seen in Littletown, although the date on the stone — 1722 — is wrong, it should read 1727. Nine years after her death the Witchcraft Acts were repealed in Scotland and England and it became unlawful to execute anyone for alleged witchcraft.

the place of execution for all condemned in Orkney where the gallows stood

The Orkney News has several articles relating to the witch trials which occurred in the islands.

 The last person to be prosecuted in Britain under the Witchcraft Act of 1735 was Helen Duncan in 1944. A bronze bust of Helen Duncan, originally presented to the town of Callander, is now on display in  the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum.

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