Commentary
This report begins: 'A full and particular account of the trial of DONALD RANKINE who was tried at the High Court of Justiciary on Monday the 3d December, and was found guilty of the crime of robbery for which he was condemned to be executed at Inverary on Friday the 18th of January 1822. Also an account of the trial of Donald M'Kenzie who was sentenced to fourteen years transportation.' The sheet was published by William Cameron of Edinburgh. Donald Rankine had already been convicted of robbery but here it is reported that there was an error in recording the date of the verdict and where he should be tried and punished. Apparently he is to be tried again in Inverary. Donald McKenzie was convicted of stealing a gold ring and seal from a man, Lawrence Scotland, in Edinburgh. He was sentenced to 14 years' transportation. 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.
View Transcription | Download PDF Facsimile
|
 |
Date of publication:
1822 shelfmark: L.C.Fol.74(074)
View larger image
|
