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

Commentary

This account begins 'Glasgow Trials / Account, of the Trials and Sentences of the various Prisoners who have stood before the Circuit Court of Justiciary since its opening on Monday last.' It was published in Glasgow, on 15th September 1828, by William Carse.

This document reports over 20 cases which were heard at the court. Only two people, Thomas Connar and Isobella or Bell McMenemy were sentenced to death, and the National Library of Scotland holds broadsides giving accounts of their executions. The remainder were, in the main, sentenced to transportation or hard labour. One girl, Janet Black, was banished for 7 years for stealing clothes, and for 'habit and repute' . She was only 10 years old!

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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