Broadside entitled 'Account of the Trial and Sentence of John Miller and William Storrier . . . Also of William Robertson'

Commentary

This crime report begins: 'A Full and Particular Account of the Trial and Sentence of JOHN MILLAR and WILLIAM STORRIER, accused of an Assault and Rape on a Girl, 14 years of age, . . . . ; as also, of WILLIAM ROBERTSON, for committing a similar crime.'

John Millar and William Storrier were convicted of holding down and raping a 14-year-old girl in the woods near Glammis, Angus, for which they were sentenced to be publicly whipped in Dundee and transported for 14 years. William Robertson was convicted of assaulting, wounding and raping a woman near Fife. He was sentenced to execution for the crime. Neither of the women in the cases were named, due to social attitudes and the stigma attached to rape victims at the time.

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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