George Mackay - "A Shepherd Accused of Murder"

In September 1868 George Mackay was sentenced to 10 years penal servitude for the crime of culpable homicide. He only served half of this sentence, being released on licence in September 1873 when this picture was pasted into the the Register of Returned Convicts for Aberdeen. Mackay's connection to the north east of Scotland is not immediately apparent, with the crime having taken place at Glenlyon, near Aberfeldy in Perthshire. The Dundee Courier of the 18th September 1868 outlined the case under the sensational headline of "A Shepherd Accused of Murder":

"George Mackay, forty-two years of age, a shepherd, residing at Glenlyon House, who was charged with the crime of murder, in so far as, on the night of the 26th, or the morning of the 27th day of June, on the public road leading from Fortingall to Kenmore, at a part about 836 yards east from the public house at Croftgarrow, occupied by Robert Stewart, publican, he did assault John McMartin, farm servant, son of Archibald McMartin, farmer and miller, Balnald, and did strike him with his fists, and stab him twice on the left side of the chest with a knife or other sharp implement, whereby he was mortally injurred".

One of the witnesses who appeared in court was Archibald McMartin:

"The deceased, John McMartin, was my son...I remember the evening of Friday 26th June. I went to Acharn that day, and returned in the night in company of David Morris, miller. In coming home, when about a quarter of a mile from my own house, the miller pointed to something on the road, and asked, "what is that?" I jumped at once to the spot and exclaimed, "that is my son". He was lying on his knees, with his head on the ground. He was quite insensible. This was a little after one o'clock in the morning and it was raining heavily. I left Morris with my son and went home for help...On the Saturday morning between nine and ten o'clock, my son was quite sensible and continued so until nine o'clock on Monday evening when he died. On the Saturday I asked him repeatedly how he had been hurt and he told me "that Mackay did it". In answer to my questions he said that as he was coming home  Mackay began to show him "science" with a stick, and boasted that he could thrash any man in Perthshire. Mackay continued his exercises and frequently struck my son with the stick, till, the blows having become harder and harder, he turned about and faced him with the intention of resenting the blows. Mackay however, struck him a blow on the breast with his fist, knocking him down, and at the same time exclaiming, "You ----, I'll kill you". My son got up and caught hold of Mackay by the breast of his coat and put him off his feet; and while they were both on the ground the prisoner took a knife out of his pocket, my son seized hold of Mackay's hand, but he opened the knife with his teeth, and plunged the blade several times into his side. He cried, "George, you have killed me altogether now", but Mackay gave him another stab after that. He recollected that Mackay then turned and kicked him on the breast, and he afterwards became insensible".   

The testimony of George Mackay tells a different version of events in which McMartin's grievance against a local gamekeeper, James Robertson, plays a part:

"I was going home with John McMartin from Croftgarrow Inn. On the way, McMartin wanted to turn back and get hold of Robertson, threatening in Gaelic, "to tear his entrails out". I kept him from going back, but no blows were exchanged. We walked about fifty yards further, when McMartin again struggled to get away and hit me when I tried to prevent him. He caught hold of my tartan neckerchief, as I was in danger of being choked. At this time we fell to the ground, McMartin's head striking on a paling. Mackay cried and swore, and I was not aware he had been stabbed. He did not say he was stabbed. We both got up and as he was threatening me, I ran off and left him and went home to my bed". 

The witnesses for the defence make much of Mackay's good character which was ultimately pivotal in the decision to find him guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide rather than murder. Crucially, doubt was also cast on the version of events said to have been recounted by the deceased who was under the influence of drink at the time of the incident,

"...coming as they did through the strained channel of his relatives, one of whom at least - the man's father - had frequently expressed his wish to see the prisoner hanged". 

So, what of George Mackay's connection to the Aberdeen area? Agricultural workers were a fairly fluid workforce during the latter half of the nineteenth century, with single men like Mackay content to travel to where they could find employment. A clue appears in the newspaper report when one of the witnesses states, 

"I was twelve months with the prisoner in Aberdeenshire before I came to Glenlyon House. He was always very kind and obliging".

Armed with this nugget of information, it was possible to locate George Mackay aged 35 on the 1861 census at the farm of Mains of Tullo between Oldmeldrum and Fyvie, where he is listed as 'unmarried' and his occupation as that of 'shepherd'. With a name like Mackay it is perhaps unsurprising that his place of birth is listed as Creich, a parish on the north side of the Dornoch Firth, in Sutherland.