Trial of Deacon Brodie :: APPENDIX I.

APPENDIX I.

Notes on the Trial of Deacon Brodie in the Contemporary Reports by Morrison and Creech.

This unhappy man was tried for sheep stealing in the year 1782, and condemned to be hanged. He afterwards received His Majesty’s pardon conditionally that he should be transported for life. Government having adopted no plan for the transporting of felons from Scotland since the loss of America, he has, owing to that circumstance, been detained so long in prison; and I am sorry to add that he is not the only sufferer from the same cause.—Morrison.

Note 2, page 93.

It is said that Mr. Learmonth very properly wrote immediately to the Sheriff-Clerk’s office, and the intelligence was from thence sent to the Procurator-Fiscal, who at the time was in the playhouse. He immediately went out and set off with Mr. Williamson, the messenger, to Geddes’s house in Mid-Calder, twelve miles from Edinburgh, and brought him in on Sunday morning with the letters.—Creech.

Note 3, page 99.

On taking the precognition at the Sheriff-Clerk’s chamber; a curious circumstance occurred respecting this black dog. Smith, the prisoner, was under examination, and the above witness, Kinnear, was also present. Kinnear had said to the Sheriff that he was at such a distance that he would not know the men, but he would know the dog, having been at one time near him. Soon after, a dog was making a noise and scraping at the door, which being opened, the above witness said, “There is the dog,” and it ran and fawned upon Smith.—Creech.

Note 4, page 104.

This witness was much affected on coming into Court. On passing her husband, the prisoner at the bar, she looked at him with much seeming agitation. He stretched out his hands, and, in a loud whisper, entreated her not to answer a word to any question that should be put to her.—Creech.

Note 5, pages 108 and 109.

A discrepancy here appears betwixt the above witness and a following witness, James Murray, who, with Middleton, accompanied the prisoner Smith to the place. Murray said at the foot of Allan’s Close, below the Royal Exchange; and Warriston’s Close is above the Exchange, or west, the other east. Since the trial, we were at pains to have an explanation of this inconsistency, and went with Middleton to the spot. He conducted us down Warriston’s Close; and at the bottom of the steps at the foot of it, in the wall, immediately on the right hand, or to the east, and not three feet from the steps, he pointed out the hole where the iron crow and other instruments were found. He was asked how he and Murray came to disagree. He said it was true they went by Allan’s Close, turned into Mary King’s Close, and then went to the hole then, pointed out. In short, the one witness, Murray, describes it by the road they took, the other, Middleton, by the real situation of the place. Middleton acknowledged that he was wrong in saying Smith put in his hand and drew out the instruments. He was handcuffed, and could not stretch his arm. He only put his fingers to the mouth of the hole, to point it out, and Murray put in his arm as he immediately recollected after he left the Court. Both Middleton and Murray agree that the hole is the same where they found the iron crow, &c., and it is directly at the foot of Warriston’s Close.—Creech.

Note 6, page 110.

The further particulars of Mr. Williamson’s search for Mr. Brodie are curious, and, having been favoured with them from Mr. Williamson himself, we here subjoin them:—

On Monday, the 10th of March, Mr. Williamson began his search at Mr. Brodie’s dwelling-house, out-houses, &c. He searched several of Brodie’s haunts in Edinburgh and Leith. He searched all the inclosed tombs in the Greyfriars Churchyard. The reason for this was that, some years ago, Brodie assisted one Hay, accused of a capital crime in making his escape from the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, and concealed him eight or ten days in one of these tombs till the hue and cry was over. Hay by this means got off, and has never since been heard of. When it was known, on Wednesday, that Brodie had gone off to London on the morning of Sunday, the 9th, Mr. Williamson was despatched after him. At Dunbar he learned that Brodie had passed there about four o’clock in the afternoon of Sunday, and traced him to Newcastle, where he took the “Flying Mercury” light coach for York and London. From the coachman he learned that a man answering Brodie’s description had been set down at the end of Old Street, Moorfields, and did not proceed to the Bull and Mouth Inn, where the coach stops. Some persons of Brodie’s acquaintance were examined, and from the declarations of some of them there was reason to believe that Brodie had gone to the Continent. Mr. Williamson went to Margate, Deal, and Dover, but got no intelligence of him.

On Mr. Williamson’s return to London, he learned from Sir Sampson Wright’s people that Brodie had been seen about Bedfordbury. Mr. Williamson repaired to the billiard tables, hazard tables, cock-pits, tennis courts, &c., &c. As no house could be searched without making oath to his being there, Mr. Williamson left the management to Sir Sampson’s people, and returned, after eighteen days’ search in London, to Edinburgh.—Creech.]

Note 7, page 111.

On the journey from London to Edinburgh, Mr. Brodie was in good spirits, and told many things that had happened to him in Holland. He met with a Scots woman at Amsterdam, who asked him if he had been long from Scotland. She said that there was one Brodie, a citizen of Edinburgh, accused of robbing the Excise Office, and a great reward was offered for apprehending him. She little knew who she was speaking to, said Mr. Brodie. At Amsterdam, he fell in with the man who had committed a forgery on the Bank of Scotland. He (Brodie) said he was a very ingenious fellow. If he had not been apprehended he would have been master of the process in a week.

Mr. Brodie further told Mr. Williamson that the guide who had accompanied him and Mr. Groves from Amsterdam to Helvoetsluys had a fine repeating gold watch, which he (Mr. Brodie) said he could easily have possessed himself of at the time the man was taking leave of him, as he was then in liquor, and said he had often since regretted that he had allowed the fellow to go back with it.—Creech.]

Note 8, page 118.

Grahame Campbell said they all came back to Smith’s.—Creech.]

Note 9, page 119.

This evening, Friday, Brown gave information, and Smith Ainslie, Mrs. Smith, and Grahame Campbell were taken into custody. The reason of Brown’s giving the information is said to have been that he had seen the advertisement from the Secretary of State’s Office that evening promising a reward and a pardon to the person who should discover the robbery of Inglis & Horner’s shop. Brown was under sentence of transportation in England, and in daily fear of apprehension. The reward and pardon were too powerful to be resisted, and he foresaw that it would be necessary for the prosecutor to obtain his pardon for his offence in England before he could be admitted as a witness. No wonder that the Lord Justice-Clerk said to him, after his examination, that he was a clever fellow.—Creech.]

Note 10, page 133.

The witness seemed to be well acquainted with Macheath, but not with the “Beggar’s Opera.” The song is by Mat o’ the Mint:—

“Let us take the road.
Hark! I hear the sound of coaches!
The hour of attack approaches;
To your arms, brave boys, and load!

“See the ball I hold!
Let the chemists toil like asses;
Our fire their fire surpasses,
And turns our lead to gold.”

—Creech.

Note 11, page 135.

It was clearly proved in the course of this trial, and I had otherwise occasion to know, that there was no information given against Mr. Brodie until Monday, the 10th, when the unfortunate Smith was examined. A warrant was immediately issued for apprehending him, and a search made, but it was too late; he had gone for London the preceding day.—Morrison.

Brown did not mention Brodie on the first information he gave, nor, indeed, till he had returned from England, where he had gone in pursuit of the goods robbed from Inglis & Horner’s shop. It is supposed, by concealing Brodie, that he meant to have exacted money from him on his return to keep his secret. But Brodie was gone, and he then spoke out.—Creech.

Note 12, page 152.

This is what is called flash language, and means swore to me.—Creech.

Note 13, page 153.

This means the description of him which was inserted in all the Edinburgh and London newspapers, and was very minute and particular.—Creech.

Note 14, page 154.

This is another specimen of the flash language, or slang. “And glimed the scrive” means “burned the letter.”—Creech.

Note page 161.

As Brown, Ainslie, and Smith’s maid all concur that Mr. Brodie was in Smith’s house on the afternoon of the 5th March, it might appear a contradiction to this evidence; but Brown has fixed that it was very early in the afternoon, some time after two o’clock, but could not say that it was after three, so that it is evident the meeting in Smith’s which they alluded to was between two and three o’clock, and before this witness came to dine with Mr. Brodie. Vide Brown’s evidence.—Creech.

Note 16, page 161.

From Mr. Brodie’s house in Brodie’s Close, Lawnmarket, to Bunker’s Hill, is above half-a-mile, and Mr. Sheriff was home some minutes before eight o’clock.—Creech.

Note 17, page 161.

Peggy Giles, Jean Watt’s servant, said Mr. Brodie was in her mistress’s house on Thursday afternoon; but this may have been between two and three o’clock, which she called afternoon, in the same way as Smith’s maid said that the first meeting in her master’s was on the Wednesday afternoon, which, by Brown’s evidence, is fixed to have been before three o’clock.—Creech.

Note 18, page 161.

A report having been circulated that Mr. Brodie was married to this witness in prison—which, if true, would have disqualified her from being a witness—it seems to have been the object of the Lord Advocate’s questions to ascertain the fact.—Creech.

Note 19, page 162.

The Tron Church is near a quarter of a mile from the Parliament Close.—Creech.

Note 20, page 163.

This is inconsistent with Jean Watt’s evidence, as she said that Mr. Brodie was not in her house at all on Thursday, and not till Saturday.—Creech.

Note 21, page 178.

This doctrine, which had been suppressed in Scotland for above a century, was revived in the course of the memorable trial of Carnegie of Finhaven by the late Lord Arniston, the illustrious grandfather of the present Mr. Solicitor Dundas. Mr. Arnot, speaking of his address to the jury on that occasion, says, “He told them with a manly confidence, which conscious right inspired, that they must not be startled at the interlocutor of the Court.” And they were not startled; for although the facts found relevant to infer a capital punishment were clearly proved, the jury returned a verdict finding the pannel not guilty, because they were of opinion that the interlocutor pronounced by the Court on the relevancy was erroneous.—Morrison.

Note 22, page 182.

Old Norval’s speech in “Douglas.”—Creech.

Note 23, page 183.

The particulars of this story are as follows:—Major had won a considerable sum of money the night before, and insuch a manner as to lead to suspicion; two gentlemen, therefore, were determined to watch him, and for this purpose planted themselves the next night on each side of his chair, when, taking a proper opportunity, one of them seized his hand with the dice in it; he grasped it close, and would not part with them; the other, seeing this, knocked him down, and in the fall the Major drew with him the first gentleman, who, however, would not let go his hold till he wrested the dice from him.

He then presented them to the company, who instantly saw and acknowledged the deceit. The Major was attempting some apology; the company would hear nothing, but turned him out of the room with every mark of disgrace and reprobation.

The dice were afterwards presented to the Jockey Club, in order to come to some resolution upon this transaction; but the President said, as their meeting referred more immediately to the turf, they could do nothing in it, but determined for themselves not to let such a man in future mix with them in any company. This resolution has been since followed in all the reputable gaming clubs.

Such is the story; the reflection that arises from it is very obvious, which is, that though this degraded man was so unfortunate for himself as to be detected, where is the public gaming table that is not surrounded with such? And where is the man, without a fortune of his own, that can spend from one thousand to two thousand pounds a year—as most of them do—without having some superiority, some dexterity, over the generality of those who play with them?

If the independent men who play at public tables and at public watering-places, therefore, were to look sharp, independently of the consideration of rank, title, or fortune, they would constantly find out more majors of this kind; but if they would do better, they would avoid all those places which are subject to the contamination of such men.—Creech.

Note 24, page 201.

The using the word “pannel” in place of prisoner is peculiar to Scotland. It is believed it took its rise from the niche or place where the criminal was placed at the bar, which was called the pannel.—Creech.

Note 25, page 210.

During the whole time of this trial the Court was uncommonly crowded, notwithstanding the fees of admission were raised so high as three, four, and five shillings. The heat was for a great part of the time intolerable; and the noise and tumult occasioned by orders given by the Court to clear certain parts of the house frequently interrupted the business of the trial. But the audience, who had paid for their places, were determined not to be turned out of them, and therefore maintained their ground, although the soldiers’ bayonets were two or three times mentioned. The Court’s being occasionally subjected to such inconvenience proceeds from the doorkeepers being allowed to extort money for admission—a practice directly contrary to the statute law of the land, and derogatory to the dignity of the High Court.

The doorkeepers not only demand money, but they claim the privilege of determining who shall and who shall not be admitted. They even presume to exclude, when they think proper, a great proportion of the members of the Court. Many of the agents during this trial were compelled to pay a crown for their places, and others were refused admittance upon any terms. When it is considered that the practice of the criminal law of Scotland cannot be acquired from books, nor by any one man in the course of his own experience, and that the agents are often charged with the conduct of trials, upon the issue of which the lives and fortunes of their fellow-citizens depend, it seems highly inexpedient, not to say unjust, to deny them the privilege of admission to the Court, where alone they can have an opportunity of acquiring that knowledge which it is highly necessary they should be possessed of. The Court, however, seem to think differently, for upon a late occasion, when an agent complained to them of being excluded by the doorkeepers, they gave him no redress.

I have only to add that if it is still thought proper to allow the doorkeeper to take money, a fare should be established for admission to each of the different parts of the house, in proportion to the accommodation they afford, that all His Majesty’s lieges may be upon as equal a footing there as in other public places.—Morrison.

Clyx.com