Crime & punishment > Whinny Park murder

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himself, however, that the peculiar neatness and orna¬
mental appearance of the place was owing. He sur¬
rounded it on the north by a wall and hedge, with a
beautiful semicircle of laburnums, which both ornament
and shelter the enclosure: on the south it happens to
be bounded by a part of the fine belt of planting which
surrounds Melville Park. It contains somewhat less
than an acre, and, from the number of fruit trees, has
much the appearance of an orchard. In summer when
the laburnums are in flower, and the apple and pear
trees covered with blossom, there is not a sweeter spot
in existence. The dwelling-house and work-shop stand
together, fronting the south, and are neat substantial
buildings. At the western corner is a small bleaching
green, with the stream we have mentioned running
through it on one side, and a small moss-covered well on
the other : it was in the pathway leading to this well that
the corpse was laid by the murderer; and the grave is
within a few paces of the brink of the well. Millie had
a particular pride in the neat and tidy appearance of the
place, and had lately rebuilt both the dwelling-house
and work-shop. His attachment to the place was en¬
thusiastic, and almost superstitious: after selling to Lord
Leven a spot from one of the corners, for the purpose of
making an entrance gate to Melville Park, (the ground
sold might almost have been covered with a large table¬
cloth,) he regretted the transaction, and wished it re¬
called for his whole life.
Mr Millie, we have saifl, was born about 1783: one
of his schoolfellows, a gentleman of the medical profes¬
sion, and whose fate it was to be present at the disinter¬
ment of his friend’s corpse, has mentioned to us some
traits of his early life, which shew that he had then the
same sensitiveness of feeling, and the same retired man¬
ners, which continued to accompany him through life.
He went through the usual education of a country
school, and had at one time begun to acquire a know¬
ledge of French; but seems to have neglected it irrafter
life. His first venture into the world was about the age
of 17 ; at which time he went to Pathhead to acquire an
experience in some kinds of weaving which he had not