Throughout history there have been many execution methods and devices used to take the life
of a condemned prisoner.
Some of the more bloody methods including hanging, drawing and quartering.
But famously in Britain, beheading was used by Tudor monarchs such as King Henry VIII
to take the lives of two of his own wives.
But this was seen as sometimes unreliable as axemen and executioners could sometimes
make a mess of the proceedings.
It took skill in the time period and a very sharp axe to perform the execution in one
swift blow.
But one device that rose to prominence during the French Revolution was the guillotine,
which was considered very quick and reliable to execute thousands of people.
Even the French King and Queen would suffer at the blade of the guillotine, but what isn’t
as well known is that in Scotland the device had existed for centuries before and was used.
Join us today as we look at ‘The Scottish Maiden,’ remember to support our channel,
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The Scottish Maiden or the Maiden was first introduced as a method of execution in 1564
during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots, and was used for around 150 years.
It came long before the French Revolution, and it was a machine that would behead a condemned
individual, and was seen as a reliable way of doing this.
But beheading machines were not new at all, during the medieval period the Halifax Gibbet
was used in England, and this was a frame with an axehead attached to it, that once
it fell it would take the head clean off.
Inside of Edinburgh the Scottish Capital, by 1563 the sword which was used for executions
in the city had been worn out, and the Scots were paying to borrow other swords to carry
out executions.
Because of this, the Maiden was created following an order from the Provost and Magistrates
of Edinburgh, and there are accounts that survive as to its creation.
It was made by three carpenters, Adam and Patrick Shang, and George Tod.
The man to add the lead weight to the blade was Andrew Gotterson, and it was said Patrick
Shang was paid 2 pounds for his work.
He was considered a skilled worker, and had previously made furniture for the half brother
of Mary Queen of Scots.
The first execution to use the Edinburgh Maiden was Thomas Scotts on the 3rd April 1565.
Payment was given to move the components of the device from Blackfriars to the Town Cross,
and then assembly took place there before the execution was performed.
It was then taken back down, and the device could be easily dismantled and then moved
to different places around the city.
There were many executions using the Maiden that took place at the Mercat Cross in the
city, at Castlehill and also Grassmarket in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle.
It was even lent to different cities and towns, and in 1591 it was taken to Leith to take
the head of William Gibsone, and the town paid for the use of it.
During the reign of King James VI or James I, the Maiden was used to execute James Douglas
the 4th Earl of Morton and regent in 1581.
It was said that the Maiden was based upon the concept of the Halifax Gibbet which was
used in Yorkshire, but whilst it was being used more than 150 people were execute on
the device inside of Scotland.
Following this it was taken out of use, and some of the most senior people to meet an
end on it include Archibald Campbell, the 1st Marquess of Argyll, and his of the same
name.
Their executions took place at the Mercy Cross inside of Edinburgh, and the final execution
using the Maiden took place on the 30th June 1716, with John Hamilton’s head being struck
off by it.
He was found guilty of murdering a pub owner during a brawl inside of one of the cities
drinking establishments.
The maiden after this was then stored, and today it can be seen in the National Museum
of Scotland.
It worked in a way similar to the guillotine, and did have an axe blade rather than a slanted
blade.
The person who was condemned would place their head on a crossbar which was found 4 feet
from the bottom.
Then the lead weights would be attached, which would allow the blade to fall at a significant
speed.
The blade was guided on it’s fall by the grooves cut in the inside edges of the frame.
It was held in place by a peg attached to a cord, and when the executioner removed the
peg the blade would fall and then the head would be taken off.
Interestingly the executioner would use other methods also at times to inflict the manner
of death.
If the condemned individual was sentenced to death for stealing horses, then the cord
could be attached to a horse and when they were whipped, the horse would run away and
the peg would be removed and the axe blade would fall, making the horse the executioner.
Beheading machines such as the Scottish maiden were seen as more efficient and reliable than
using an executioner, his axe and a block.
The machine would have made the executions more eye catching public spectacles, and thousands
of people would flock to see the Maiden in action.
It would sit upon a platform that would allow crowds from a large distance away to view
the proceedings.
As mentioned despite being used from the 16th to the early 18th century, the Maiden took
the lives of 150 people inside of Edinburgh and other Scottish cities.
It was considered part of the inspiration for the guillotine, a device which would strike
the heads off thousands during the French Revolution, and which would become a symbol
the new order in France and the abolition of the monarchy.
The Scottish Maiden would ensure that in one swift blow from the falling axehead that the
bloody job of executing a condemned individual was done with precision.
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