It was once commonly believed that a witch's power could be nullified by blooding or by burning her blood, hence the practice of burning at the stake. This was by far the most well-known punishment for witches, a fate also shared by heretics. The burning of a witch was usually a great public occasion. The execution took place shortly after sentencing, just long enough to hire an executioner, construct the site and gather fuel.
In Scotland, a witch burning was preceded by days of fasting and solemn preaching. The witch was strangled first, and then her corpse -- or sometimes her unconscious or semi-conscious body - was tied to a stake or dumped into a tar barrel and set on fire. If the witch was not dead and managed to get out of the flames, onlookers shoved her back in.
