Some reports state that she uttered curses during certain disputes, after which several women claimed to have suffered harm and loss.

"[4] For historian Anna Cordey "the fact that Leslie had been Acheson’s midwife did not make them trust and respect her once the relationship had failed; rather, it caused further unease because they were aware of her abilities.

The accusation was that two girls who had angered Leslie were killed by using witchcraft to cause the roof of a coal pit to collapse on them.

The written records mention the two girls only bled when Leslie was made to touch their corpses.

Firstly, her confession to a 'demonic pact', albeit as a result of her torture, and the fact she was tried as part of a group of women during a year when a great many witches were prosecuted.

[1] The nightmares experienced by Acheson and Young may be further evidence of the effect of the frightening symptoms of sleep paralysis on early modern witchcraft.

Cordey also records that with Leslie's ordeal:"This leads on to the issue of ‘charmers’ in the sense of people who offered their services as healers and diviners.

For most people, the local healer or charmer offered the only medical attention they could ever hope to receive.