Broadside entitled 'Execution'

Commentary

This crime report begins: 'An account of the Behaviour and Execution of ANDREW STEWART and EDWARD KELLY, who were both Executed at Glasgow, on Wednesday Morning, in the presence of an immense multitude, for the daring crime of Street Robbery.' This sheet is dated 1st November 1826 and was published in Glasgow by John Muir.

John Muir specialised in reports about criminals, their activities and trials. The two men here were convicted of mugging Fillipa Testi of personal effects. It is curious to note that those featured are accompanied by the their country of origin and religion. A list of those executed in Glasgow for the sixty years previous has also been included. This would have been marketing ploy to make the purchase seem like an especially good bargain.

Reports recounting dark and salacious deeds were popular with the public, and, like today's sensationalist tabloids, sold in large numbers. Crimes could generate sequences of sheets covering descriptive accounts, court proceedings, last words, lamentations and executions as they occurred. As competition was fierce, immediacy was paramount, and these occasions provided an opportunity for printers and patterers to maximise sales.

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