Pastyme With Good Companye

Post details: Unreformed Or So They Say.....

10/22/07

01:28:32 am, by

, 195 words

Categories: Murder & Mayhem

Unreformed Or So They Say.....

In 1728 Maggie Dickson of Musselburgh, in Scotland was accused of murdering a child. Although she claimed to be innocent the fact that she had been having an affair while her husband was at sea was used against her. Apparently it was her character that counted against her as opposed to any hard evidence, and that was not really unusual in that time period.

Maggie was tried in Edinburgh, and hanged in Leith. However that is not where her story, nor life ends.

Friends of Maggie cut her down, and were taking her back to Musselburgh to be buried when she awoke! Needless to say her friends were in a bit of a shock. They took her to a nearby inn in Pepper Mill, and she was able to walk home the following day.

It was decided that since she did not die, God must have thought she was innocent so they did not try to hang her again. However, a contemporary account reads that the hanging had not reformed her: "She became mistress of an alehouse, and lived, and died again in profligacy."

Source: The Strange Laws Of Old England by Nigel Cawthorne

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Welcome to the blog of amateur historians Matthew James Didier and Sue Darroch. Partners in life and in crime, we endeavor to entertain you with snippets from our combined historical research. Past time with good company indeed, as we shall introduce you to Kings and Knaves, Queens and Mistresses, Cons and Heroes, from our collective past......from events well known to those perhaps all but forgotten, we will do our best to bring you interesting historical factoids from around the globe. It is our belief that through understanding our past we will all gain a better perspective on our future.