James McLean - Theft of a Horse on Deeside and a Pursuit to Tomintoul

This picture of James McLean pasted into the Register of Returned Convicts for Aberdeen is the first photograph in the volume to feature a prisoner with their hands placed on their chest so as to be seen by the camera. This archetypal pose was to become common practice for criminal mugshots from the last quarter of the nineteenth century and was another way by which distinguishing features could be recorded. At a time when industrial accidents were commonplace, missing fingers or marks on the hands could provide important additional information about an individual. The banner above his head also shows the exact date on which the photograph was taken: the 7th October 1880.

At that date, James was about to be released on licence having served just over six years of an eight year sentence for horse-stealing and related theft. We know from the 1881 census, when he was living on Seamount Place just off the Gallowgate in Aberdeen, that James originally came from Grantown-on-Spey. Indeed, when he was apprehended in May 1874, it followed a pursuit from Ballater across the hills to Kirkmichael near Tomintoul, close to his 'home-turf'.

The Aberdeen Press & Journal of 23rd September 1874 contains a detailed report of James's trial which begins, 

"James McLean, alias William McDonald (22), from Aberdeen jail, alleged to be a habit and repute and previously convicted thief was charged with eight separate acts of theft, some of them by means of housebreaking, committed at various premises on Deeside, between Blairs, in the parish of Maryculter, and Aboyne Castle, at Aboyne, on dates extending from 3rd February to the 11th May 1874. From the libel it appeared that McLean had visited various farm premises and outhouses - Altries House, occupied by Colonel Charles Inge, and Aboyne Castle, occupied by the Marquis of Huntly, having also attracted his attention. The articles stolen, aside from a considerable quantity of wearing apparel, included joiners' tools, a cartridge-loading machine, and a loading rod; a mare, a gig, a saddle, and a set of harness; and a corn bag and half a bushel of oats. The libel set forth that the prisoner had been convicted of theft under the name James McLean before the Burgh Court of Elgin on the 16th June 1863; before the Sheriff and a jury at Elgin in January 1869, and November 1870; and before the Circuit Court of Justiciary at Aberdeen on 26th April 1872". 

The route of James's crime-spree through Deeside becomes clear as the witnesses for the prosecution appear before the court: starting at Blairs, Maryculter, he also aroused suspicion at Crathes Station, Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil, Aboyne, Tullich, the Pass of Ballater, and Balgairn, just to the west of Ballater. The most serious of these thefts was the taking of the horse from an address near Crathes Station. James evidently rode bare-back as he is quoted in the trial report as saying that he subsequently stole a gig from Aboyne because "he couldn't get a saddle to ride upon".

Ultimately, it was the tracks left by the wheels of this gig, coupled with some expert sleuthing by a Constable Chivas and an Inspector McHardy, that enabled the police to track down the abandoned mare and gig to a location four miles to the west of Ballater. In the first instance they proceeded to Balmoral by train, but then had to take a route over the hills to Tomintoul where they caught up with the fugitive. 

When James McLean was apprehended he claimed that he had not been in the Aboyne area at all, but had come to Tomintoul "direct from Braemar". However, the fact that he was wearing all the clothes that he had stolen was something of a giveaway and something which caused much amusement in court.

The jury did not even retire to consider its verdict. In his summing up, Lord Neaves reflected that,

"....[McLean] had been convicted of several serious charges, and one a very heavy one - that of horse stealing. Horse-stealing used to be a capital crime, and although the law now treated it more leniently, yet it was still viewed as a serious offence. His lordship passed sentence of eight years' penal servitude".

For at least one of his previous crimes, James had already spent time in HM General Prison, Perth, where he appears as an inmate on the 1871 census. After serving around six years of his eight year sentence for horse-stealing, James is released on licence where he lives at various addresses in Aberdeen including Causeway Place, 105 Gallowgate and 76 Upper Denburn. At the time of the 1881 census (which was conducted on the 3rd April) James, whose occupation was that of a "general labourer", was living at 61 Seamount Place with his 27 year old wife, Margaret, who was born in Huntly, and their lodger, 44 year old James Reid.