Commentary
This trial report begins: 'An account of the trial and Sentence of Andrew Ewart, for the murder of Henry Pennycook, in the Church yard of Libberton on the 4th December last and who is to be executed at Edinburgh on the 19th day of March next.' No publication details have been included on this sheet. The National Library of Scotland's collection includes a number of other broadsides detailing the trial and sentence of Andrew Ewart. It is possible the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Henry Pennycook (or Pennycuick) sparked a lot of interest amongst the broadside readership. Ewart appears to have mistaken his friend, Pennycook, for a body-snatcher, whilst on watch in a Liberton churchyard, and fired a fatal shot. 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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Date of publication:
1828 shelfmark: Ry.III.a.2(82)
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