Maggie Dickson's Ale House - Grassmarket, Edinburgh
by Yvonne Johnstone
Title
Maggie Dickson's Ale House - Grassmarket, Edinburgh
Artist
Yvonne Johnstone
Medium
Photograph - Digitally Enhanced Photograph
Description
Maggie Dickson's Ale House in the Grassmarket, Edinburgh,Scotland.
Margaret Dickson was born in Musselburgh just outside Edinburgh, around 1702.
She was a former fish-wife and married to a fisherman until he deserted her in 1723.
Left on her own and needing to find a way of supporting herself, history shows her as a lonely soul wandering through the streets of Edinburgh selling salt and somehow making her way to Kelso in the Scottish Borders.
She soon found herself working in an Inn and becoming close to the landlord’s son.
Within twelve months, Margaret had given birth to a baby boy.
Accounts seem to agree that Maggie Dickson, aged 23 concealed the birth of her infant son. There is some doubt as to whether her son was born alive or died some days later, but Margaret kept quiet about the birth, worried that she’d lose her position at the Inn.
Anxious as to what steps to take next, Maggie tried to conceal the birth, and subsequent death of her child by carefully wrapping up his lifeless body and placing him on the banks of the River Tweed.
The body was discovered a few days later, washed up on a river bank further downstream at Maxwellheugh. Maggie was arrested, taken back to Edinburgh and placed in either Edinburgh Gaol or the Tollbooth to await her trial.
It is thought that she was tried under the Concealment of Pregnancy Act, although this is not known for certain.
An inquest was carried out on her son’s body to try to determine whether or not he’d been born alive. The surgeon involved made the usual experiments, trying to see if the child’s lungs had drawn breath before they’d reached the water.
Despite this test being unreliable, and despite Maggie protesting her innocence, the jury found her guilty and sentenced her to death.
Maggie’s unusual nickname (Half Hangit Maggie) comes from her remarkable recovery after being hanged on the gallows in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket on 2 September 1724.
Maggie was jostled back to life in the back of a cart on her way to Musselburgh to be buried. This was deemed an act of God and would eventually give Maggie her freedom.
She went on to live a full and happy life for another 40 years after making a full recovery.
Uploaded
December 1st, 2021
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