Broadside entitled 'Trials'

Commentary

This summary of court proceedings begins: 'Yesterday, the Justiciary Court was opened here by Lords Meadowbank and Mackenzie, when it proceeded with the trial of Duncan M'Arthur, Margaret Love, and Catherine Fitzgerald, charged with stealing a trunk, containing a great many articles of wearing apparel, belonging to Lord Strathallan.' The publisher was William Carse of Glasgow.

The majority of hearings at this circuit court were cases of theft, which resulted in sentences of transportation or imprisonment. One of the shortest but most interesting entries is that of George Campbell, who was proved to be insane and confined for life. Campbell was originally accused of the sectarian-motivated murder of Peter O'Niel in Bridgeton. The National Library of Scotland holds another broadside giving details of the crime just after it had been committed.

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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