William & James Stevenson, foxhunters

TO THE PUBLIC.

WILLIAM and JAMES STEVENSON, FOXHUNTERS, and JAMES KENNEDY, their SERVANT, being lately imprisoned, on a charge of having fired from a Wood upon a party of Officers of Excise, while escorting a seizure of smuggled goods down the Glen of Clova, in Angus-shire, on the 11th of February last - they, individually, think it proper publicly to state and assert, in the most solemn manner:

1.  That they had no concern with the smuggled goods in question, and are not engaged in smuggling in any way whatever.

2.  That they had no previous knowledge of the assault, said to have been committed upon the Officers of Excise, and were not accessory to the same in any way, and have no knowledge whatever of any person or persons guilty of, or concerned in, that assault.

And they entreat their Employers, and the Public, to disregard the charge which has been brought against them, and suspend judgement, until the issue of their trial.  [Illegible]

Published in the Aberdeen Journal, Wednesday 19th May 1819.

Court cases to be heard at Inverness

The following persons have been indicted to stand trial at the ensuing Spring Circuits at Inverness, viz;- -  James Chisholm and Roderick Cameron, assaulting and deforcing revenue officers. - Barbara McKay, housebreaking and theft.  - John Strachan, theft.  William Fraser, alias McKenzie, and Simon Fraser, theft and reset of theft.  - Robert Dempster, assault. - John Ross, sheep-stealing. - Helen Stewart, theft and reset of theft.

Published in the Aberdeen Journal, Wednesday 16th April 1817.

Alexander Gibson sentenced

On Monday last, Alexander Gibson was convicted before the Sheriff, in a prosecution at the instance of the Procurator Fiscal, of having, in the month of June last, committed a very aggravated assault on Elizabeth Jaffray, wife of Alexander Park, in Millhill of Crimond, by striking and wounding her on the head with a stick, to the effusion of her blood.  The Sheriff, after expressing in the strongest terms, his disapprobabion of the outrageous and unmanly conduct of the prisoner, in assaulting a defenceless woman, in the manner that had been clearly proved against him, sentenced him to confinement and hard labour in Bridewell, for the space of Six Calendar Months.

Published in the Aberdeen Journal, Wednesday 9th October 1816.

Prison sentences for violent assault

For several successive days in January last, a number of idle and disorderly persons, consisting partly of boys, and partly of sailors, apprentice tradesmen, and others, assembled in the neighbourhood of Old Aberdeen, trespassing on the fields, throwing stones, annoying passengers, and otherwise disturbing the public peace.  Several of them were apprehended; and on Wednesday last, Alexander McLean and John Solomon, sailors, and William Forbes, apprentice cork-cutter, were convicted before the Sheriff, on the complaint of the Procurator Fiscal, of having been actively engaged in these riotous proceedings: and also of having committed a violent assault on James Anderson, gardener in Old Aberdeen, at whom they had taken offence, on account of his endeavouring to drive the mob off his grounds.  McLean was sentenced to confinement and hard labour in Bridewell for three months, and Solomon and Forbes for two months.  It is hoped, this example will operate as a salutory check to similar practices in time coming.

Published in the Aberdeen Journal, Wednesday 13th March 1816.

James Diack, William Strath, John Mowat

A complaint by the Procurator Fiscal, was lately brought before the Justices of the Peace, against James Diack, in Warthill, parish of Rayne, and William Strath and John Mowat, in the parish of Fyvie, for a violent assault, battery, and breach of the peace, at and immediately after the Inverury Market, in September last - in particular, for breaking the windows of William Maitland; striking and abusing William Shand, and his wife; and for striking and maltreating George Cowie, keeper of Drimmies toll-bar - all which would have been completely established by a number of witnesses.  But the Defenders having, immediately upon being cited, made the fullest recompence to the parties injured; and having also come to town, acknowledging these offences, and thrown themselves upon the mercy of the Court; the Justices were, on this occasion, disposed to cause the Fiscal drop further proceedings, on his receiving payment of the expenses incurred.

Published in the Aberdeen Journal, Wednesday 12th October 1814.

Circuit court: cases of William Law, George & John Downie and Joseph MacHardy

On Monday last, the Circuit Court of Justiciary was opened here by the Right Honourable Lord PITMILLY.

There were only two cases before his Lordship.  The first of which was that of William Law.  The libel against him was of a very formidable nature - not less than two separate charges of housebreaking and theft, aggravated by prison breaking.  The pannel pleaded guilty of the crime of prison breaking, but denied the rest of the libel.  Owing to the panel having acknowledged his guilt of one of the charges, by petitioning the Sheriff of Kincardineshire for voluntary banishment on a prior occasion, the Public Prosecutor departed from that charge, and confined himself to the charge against the pannel of breaking in to the house of Isabella Smith, in the neighbourhood of Stonehaven, and carrying off various articles narrated in the indictment.

It appeared that Isabella Smith had, about the end of the year 1812, left her house, and gone on a visit to a daughter in Arbroath; and during her absence, her dwelling house had been forcibly entered, and completely ransacked of every article of value.  Sometime after, a bed and bed-tick, the property of Smith, was traced to the house of John Duncan, broker in Montrose, and was clearly proved to have been purchased from the pannel; but none of the other articles were ever heard of.  The Public Prosecutor attempted to bring the housebreaking home to the pannel; but the evidence on this part of the libel, though strongly presumptive, was by no means conclusive on the point.  The Jury were enclosed, and returned a verdict yesterday morning, when they unanimously found the pannel, upon his own confession, guilty of prison-breaking, and of stealing a bed and bed-tick, the property of the said Isabella Smith; but found the other parts of the libel not proven.

His Lordship then pronounced sentence of transportation against the pannel for 14 years.

Thereafter came on the trial of George and John Downie, and of Joseph Machardy, accused of assaulting and deforcing Malcolm Gillespie, excise officer, to the effusion of his blood and danger of his life.  The Public Prosecutor passed from the charge in so far as related to Machardy; and the pannels, George and John Downie, pleaded "guilty in part" which was afterwards explained by their Counsel to import a denial of the deforecement, and a denial of having assaulted or beat the exciseman to the danger of his life; but they admitted, that they had been engaged in a scuffle with the said exciseman, and had struct him so as (they were since informed) to draw blood from his body.  The Advocate-Depute acquiesced in the accuracy of this qualified confession; and thereafter an appeal to the clemency of the Court and Jury was made on behalf of the pannels, in respect of their candid confession, - their submissive and voluntary appearance to meet the justice of their country, - and their previous good characters, of which a proof was offered by respectable witnesses then attending.  The Court judged it unnecessary to go into any proof on the matter of previous character, of which no impeachment had been made; and a Jury having been enclosed, they unanimously, and without leaving the box, found the pannels guilty in terms of their confession; but recommended them to the clemency of the Court.

Sentence of imprisonment in Bridewell for the period of nine months was pronounced upon them, after a suitable admonition from the Bench, and at the end of the period of their confinement, to find bail for their good behaviour for three years.

Counsel for the Crown, Mr Home Drummond; for the Pannels, Mr Gordon.

Published in the Aberdeen Journal, Wednesday 28th September 1814.