Near the summit of Gallow Hill is the Drowning Pond. During the reign of the Covenanters in Scotland in the mid-17th Century, the punishments inflicted on convicted criminals were harsh. Confessions were often extracted by instruments of torture or tests of faith. The Drowning Pond was used to determine the guilt or innocence of those accused of witchcraft. Prolonged ducking of the victims usually resulted in death but those who survived were deemed to be guilty. Drowning was also the usual sentence for those convicted of arson.

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