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

Commentary

The report begins: 'Trial and Sentence of all the various prisoners who have appeared at the Bar of the Circuit Court of Justiciary in Glasgow, since its commencement on Wednesday 2nd May, 1827.' This sheet was published the same day, by William Carse of Glasgow.

The report lists the names of the accused, their supposed crimes and the verdict. Most have been found guilty and were sentenced to transportation. There is an interesting aside at the bottom of the sheet. James Austen, a condemned horse-thief, was, unusually, granted a reprieve on account of his penitent behaviour in jail. On hearing these glad tidings, however, Austen returned the bible and prayer book to his former captors saying he had no further use for them!

Broadsides are single sheets of paper, printed on one side, to be read unfolded. They carried public information such as proclamations as well as ballads and news of the day. Cheaply available, they were sold on the streets by pedlars and chapmen. Broadsides offer a valuable insight into many aspects of the society they were published in, and the National Library of Scotland holds over 250,000 of them.

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