Alesoun Balfour, a married woman of Irish origin residing in Stenness, Orkney, found herself at the centre of a severe judicial process in December 1594. The legal proceedings extended beyond Alesoun herself to encompass her entire family; her husband—noted in the records as being approximately ninety-one years of age—along with their son and daughter, were all subjected to state-sanctioned torture. During this period, the family endured the use of the stocks and the *cashielaws*, a painful iron apparatus designed to compress the legs, as investigators sought to secure testimony.
The progression of the case reflects the intense pressures exerted upon the accused. In December 1594, Alesoun provided an initial confession, which she subsequently retracted. Despite this attempt to withdraw her testimony, the trial records indicate that a second confession was recorded on 16 December 1594. Found guilty of the charges brought against her, Alesoun was sentenced to death. She was executed by burning at the Hedding-hill on 15 December 1594, marking the conclusion of a case that remains a harrowing testament to the judicial methods employed during the witch trials of the late sixteenth century.