Broadside concerning the proceedings of the Circuit Court of Justiciary, Glasgow

Commentary

This public information notice begins: 'A particular account of the proceedings of the Circuit Court Justiciary which was opened at Glasgow on Tuesday the 9th Day of April 1793, with the sentence of the criminals then tried.'

Agnes McAllum, Hannah Main and Ann or Agnes Watt were all called at this session for child-murder. Robert Mitchell was called for murder and James and John McKenzie were tried for robbery and murder. An interesting feature of this style of general report is the ancillary details which can be gleaned about eighteenth century life, such as possessions, trades and movement of people.

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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