Broadside entitled 'Genuine and latest account of the excution of John Campbell'.

Commentary

This broadside account begins: 'Genuine and latest account of the excution [sic] of John Campbell who suffered at Stirling ?'. There are no details of a date or place of publication.

Campbell, a persistent thief, escaped Stirling Jail while awaiting trial for housebreaking, but was captured just in time to face trial. Here we read a rather gruesome account of his execution. By seizing hold of the rope he prolonged his agony. In another account we read how a doctor tried to revive him by bleeding both temples and the jugular vein but to no avail.

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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