Swimming a Witch

Common belief held that a witch could not drown. To determine the fate of the person, she was thrown in a local lake or river with hands and feet tied together. If she floated and survived the attempted drowning, she affirmed the test that unmasked her evil. Led from the water to the gallows, her inevitable demise came quickly. If, however, the accused person did indeed drown, she succeeded in keeping her good name, with the promise of a holy afterlife, but lost her life nonetheless. "Swimming a Witch" produced a victim in either case.