Many readers will already know something of the Porteous Riots in 1736.
They started at the public execution of a tradesman called Andrew Wilson, who had been found guilty of burgling the Pittenweem customs house and had subsequently helped his partner in crime to escape with the help of the Edinburgh mob.
There were fears that Wilson himself would be liberated before justice could be done, for which reason the Town Guard, under Captain John Porteous’s command, were on particularly twitchy form on the day of execution.
Allan Ramsay, who attended, described what happened next in the Lawnmarket:
All was hush, Psalms sung, prayers put for a long hour and upwards and the man hang’d with all decency & quietnes. After he was cut down and the guard drawing up to go off, some unlucky boys threw a stone or two at the hangman, which is very common, on which the brutal Porteous (who it seems had ordered his party to load their guns with ball) let drive first himself amongst the innocent mob and commanded his men to follow his example which quickly cleansed the street but left three men, a boy and a woman dead upon the spot, besides several others wounded, some of whom are dead since. After this first fire he took it in his head when half up the Bow to order annother voly & kill’d a taylor in a window three storys high, a young gentleman & a son of Mr Matheson the minister’s and several more were dangerously wounded and all this from no more provocation than what I told you before, the throwing of a stone or two that hurt nobody.
(Those new to the tale can find out what befell Porteous later here. It’ s not pleasant.)
Less well known, at least to this correspondent, is that two of the innocent rioters injured were from these parts.
In the edition of the Caledonian Mercury published on 26 April (about two weeks later), it was remarked:
We have to add to the List of the Wounded at the Execution on the 14th Instant, viz.
17. James Kid, Servant to John Kirk Brewer in Canon-mills, shot below the Shoulder with two cut Slug; but as ’tis thought these Slug had done Execution before, his Wounds are not mortal.
18. Alexander Nicol, Servant to John Martin Weaver in Canon-mills, received several small Leads in his Hand, whereby ’tis thought he will lose some of the Fingers.
Broughton residents continue to take a lively interest in justice today.
[Image top-right: Kim Traynor, Creative commons; image bottom-right is James Skene's 'The Porteous Riot', painted in 1818]
#/media/File:Edinburgh_Town_Guard_uniform.JPG){kind=link}