Allison Balfour

Patie discovered poison in the possession of one of John's servants, Thomas Paplay, who after being tortured for eleven days confessed and implicated Balfour among his co-conspirators.

Just as Paplay had done, Balfour retracted her confession immediately before her execution on 16 December 1594, publicly proclaiming her innocence and detailing the tortures carried out on her and members of her family.

She was executed at Gallow Ha' in Kirkwall on 16 December 1594.The islanders of Orkney had a long tradition of belief in forms of witchcraft, sorcery and supernatural creatures.

[16] Only sparse information is available on witch trials in Orkney before 1612,[9] but details of Balfour's conviction have been described by Julian Goodare[17] as "one of Scotland's most frequently-cited witchcraft cases.

[18] A natural healer of some repute,[18] she had been asked for advice on how best to cast a spell on Black Patie by his brothers and their friends, who were plotting to kill him.

[23] Her legs were enclosed in a contraption called caschielawes, a device made of iron that could be heated by a furnace[3] until the victim's flesh started to burn.

[24] Marwick describes them as being fetters[3] but historian Sigurd Towrie[25] characterises them as a method of pressing by placing 700 pounds (320 kg) of stones on the victim's body.

[31] Before the strangulation she was required to make a declaration in front of the gathered crowd and five ministers, including Colville, for the notary public; instead she proclaimed her innocence and detailed the tortures carried out against her and her family.

[19] Immediately prior to Balfour's sentence being enacted, attempts were made to have her implicate the Laird of Stenhouse, Patrick Bellenden, in the conspiracy by questioning her about a piece of wax he had given her.

[19] Stewart, together with a group of his friends who for a variety of reasons also despised Colville, sailed from Montrose to Shetland, replenishing supplies en route at Orkney.

[35][36] It is uncertain which member of the group "maist schamefullie, crewallie and unmercifullie slew him"[35] in July 1596, but on 14 October that year Stewart was tried for the murder and once again acquitted.