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Exploring the History and Cultural Representation of Capital Punishment in Scotland

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Exploring the History and Cultural Representation of Capital Punishment in Scotland Exploring the History and Cultural Representation of Capital Punishment in Scotland Simon McFadden A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Edinburgh Napier University, for the award of Master by Research. September 2020 Table of Contents Acknowledgements __________________________________________________ 4 Abstract ___________________________________________________________ 5 Introduction ___________________________________________________ 6 Chapter 1: Literature Review _____________________________________ 8 The History of Capital Punishment in Great Britain __________________________ 8 The Significance of Cultural Representations of Capital Punishment ____________ 10 The Cultural Representation of Capital Punishment in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Britain ___________________________________________________________ 14 The Cultural Representation of Capital Punishment in Scotland in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries ________________________________________________ 20 Women and Capital Punishment _______________________________________ 24 Theories of Crime in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries ________________ 29 Religion and Capital Punishment _______________________________________ 33 The Historical Significance of Capital Punishment in Scotland _________________ 35 Chapter Conclusion _________________________________________________ 36 Chapter 2: Analysis of Scottish Execution Broadsides _______________ 38 Chapter Introduction ________________________________________________ 38 Broadsides in Scottish History: Theoretical and Methodological Frameworks _____ 38 The Format of Execution Broadsides ____________________________________ 40 Language_________________________________________________________ 44 Abolitionist/Retentionist Perspective ____________________________________ 47 Warnings – The Voice of the Law ______________________________________ 48 Religious Attitudes – The Voice of God __________________________________ 50 The Voice of the Convict _____________________________________________ 54 Young Convicts ____________________________________________________ 55 Broadsides Regarding Female Executions _______________________________ 57 Nationality and Religious Background of the Condemned ____________________ 60 Theories of Crime and Execution Broadsides _____________________________ 64 Chapter Conclusion _________________________________________________ 67 Chapter 3: Case Study Analysis of Mary McKinnon and William Burke _ 68 Chapter Introduction ________________________________________________ 68 Case Study 1: The Life, Trial and Execution of Mary McKinnon ________________ 68 Case Study 2: The Life, Trial and Execution of William Burke _________________ 80 Chapter Conclusion _________________________________________________ 88 Chapter 4: Analysing the Representation of Capital Punishment in Contemporary Scotland ________________________________________ 92 2 | P a g e Chapter Introduction ________________________________________________ 92 Edinburgh and Dark Tourism: Overview of Critical Approaches ________________ 92 Methodology ______________________________________________________ 96 Sandeman’s Free Walking Tour ________________________________________ 97 Edinburgh’s Dark Side Walking Tour: Mysteries, Murders and Legends _________ 99 Mercat’s “Doomed, Dead and Buried” Ghost Tour _________________________ 102 Mercat’s “Evening of Ghosts and Ghouls” Tour ___________________________ 104 The Edinburgh Dungeon Tour ________________________________________ 107 Chapter Conclusion ________________________________________________ 110 Conclusion _________________________________________________ 114 Reference List _______________________________________________ 116 Figures Table 1: Crimes Punishable by Execution in Scotland ________________________ 9 Image 1: Broadside: The Execution of Wild Robert _________________________ 18 Image 2: William Hogarth The Idle “PRENTICE” ___________________________ 19 Image 3: NLS “word on the street” collection categories _____________________ 40 Image 4: Broadside Regarding Elizabeth McNeil ‘Elizabeth McNeil afraid of the Hangman’s Fa _____________________________________________________ 43 Image 5: Sketches of Gilmerton Murderers _______________________________ 65 Image 6: Broadside “Lines Written the Day before Mrs McKinnon’s Execution” ____ 73 Image 7: Broadside entitled “Mary McKinnon’s Lament” _____________________ 74 Image 8: Broadside entitled “The Trial of Mary McKinnon” ____________________ 77 Image 9: Broadside entitled “William Burke’s Execution” _____________________ 83 Image 10: Aberdeen’s Peoples Journal (1864) Abstract _____________________ 84 Table 2: McKinnon vs. Burke Representations Comparison___________________ 90 Image 11: Stone’s Dark Tourism Spectrum _______________________________ 94 Image 12: The Edinburgh Dungeon Souvenir Guidebook ___________________ 108 Word Count: 30,980 3 | P a g e Acknowledgements I would like to thank everyone who has helped me in completing this research project. In particular, I wish to express my gratitude to my three supervisors: Professor Anne Schwan, Dr. Katrina Morrison and Dr. Scott Lyall for their continued support and supervision whilst completing this study. Each of whom have taught me a great deal and have inspired me to work to the very best of my ability. I would also like to directly acknowledge the cooperation and participation of Edinburgh tour providers (Merlin Entertainments, Mercat Tours and Sandeman’s walking tours) for their valuable contribution to this study. I wish to acknowledge the staff at the National Library of Scotland for their assistance in organising an event in January, for the presentation of my findings. 4 | P a g e Abstract Scotland’s historic and contemporary representation of capital punishment remains relatively unexplored in existing scholarship. This study aims to determine how capital punishment was presented to Scots in eighteenth and nineteenth century press publications. This research explores the representation and function of execution broadsheets from the National Library of Scotland’s collection through thematic analysis. Furthermore, in applying a case study approach this study analyses the press representation of two notorious capital convicts in the early nineteenth century, namely William Burke and Mary McKinnon. In addition, through analytical research this study aims to understand how Scotland’s legacy of capital punishment is presented to contemporary audiences on Edinburgh walking tours. This study supports existing scholarship which suggests that execution broadsides are complex representations, containing contradictory discourses. However, in adding to existing scholarship, this study finds that the degree of complexity in representation is subject to variation depending on the identity and crime of the convict in focus. Henceforth, this study posits that several factors relating to the convicts’ identity and circumstances factored into representation, including: gender, nationality, age and offence. Findings demonstrate that whilst execution was generally reported on as an accepted consequence for committing crime, certain convicts were depicted more sympathetically and favourably than others. In addition, findings establish that stories of execution are found to contribute significantly to the content presented on Edinburgh walking tours. Sensationalism is marked as a recurring theme in historic and contemporary representations of capital punishment in Scotland, indicating that stories of execution in Scotland have consistently served to entertain as well as to inform audiences. This study finds that cultural and societal shifts have impacted representations of capital punishment and presents an argument that factors such as time, scale and culpability impact contemporary representations of capital punishment, ultimately distinguishing sites of execution from other dark tourist sites. 5 | P a g e Introduction Existing scholarship signifies the importance of cultural representations of capital punishment in shaping public opinion on the matter and in serving several didactic functions. Scotland practiced capital punishment as a method of justice up until 1963. However, existing literature is predominantly focused on representations of capital punishment in England, as opposed to Scotland. Scotland maintained a degree of autonomy and a distinct legal system throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; therefore experiences of capital punishment were very different to that of the rest of Britain. Thus, Scotland’s cultural representation of capital punishment has to be distinguished from the rest of Britain. This study aims to address this evident gap in scholarship. This research considers the medium of execution broadsides, single, one penny sheets distributed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as a key source in keeping sections of the Scottish population informed about the events of execution in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This thesis contains thematic analysis of the 147 Scottish execution broadsides which have been preserved by the National Library of Scotland (NLS), as a means of insight into historic representations of capital punishment in Scotland. This study’s findings support existing scholarship which indicates that execution broadsides are complex writings which contain contradictory discourses. However, adding to existing scholarship, this study puts forward an argument that the degree of complexity
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