[MACKENZIE, Lieutenant-Colonel George, and others, defendants.]
The Trial, before the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland, at the Instance of Daniel Ross, Woodsawer in Aberdeen; against Lieutenant-Colonel George Mackenzie, Captain Felix Bryan Macdonough, Serjeants Andrew Mackay & Alex. Sutherland, all of the late Regiment of Ross & Cromarty Rangers: for the Murder of John Ross, late Soldier in the Corps of Riflemen, in the Streets of Aberdeen, on Fourth of June, 1802.
Aberdeen: Printed by J. Burnett ... for C. and J. Robinson, London [and stationers in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, and Inverness], 1803.
8vo., pp. 20, 198; the first seven sheets were printed (in 1250 copies) for Constable in Edinburgh, who abandoned the undertaking, the rest (from p. 97) were printed in Aberdeen by J. Burnett; a very good, clean copy in modern library boards, stamps of the Law Library of Los Angeles County, one of them perforating the title-page.
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The Trial, before the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland, at the Instance of Daniel Ross, Woodsawer in Aberdeen; against Lieutenant-Colonel George Mackenzie, Captain Felix Bryan Macdonough, Serjeants Andrew Mackay & Alex. Sutherland, all of the late Regiment of Ross & Cromarty Rangers: for the Murder of John Ross, late Soldier in the Corps of Riflemen, in the Streets of Aberdeen, on Fourth of June, 1802.
Sole edition. This controversial trial was brought as a private prosecution after the Lord Advocate, Charles Hope, had decided not to prosecute any officers or soldiers for killing four peaceable inhabitants of Aberdeen after celebrations of the King’s birthday on 4 June 1802 had got out of control. Men and boys in Castle Street in high spirits were pelting each other with dirt, straw, and garbage, when Mackenzie and Mcdonough, who had been drinking with the magistrates and were rather intoxicated, walked back to their barracks and were pelted too. Soldiers from the Ross & Cromarty Rangers then joined in, apparently without orders. While soldiers and citizens jostled up and down Castle Street, Mcdonough attempted to calm the situation. Presently he ordered the soldiers to prime and load to intimidate the crowd, but then ordered them to withdraw to their barracks. Mackenzie meanwhile stayed in his quarters. Later the soldiers came out again, and on three occasions deliberately took aim and fired on the populace, although it was not clear whether any command to fire had been given. A serjeant was at the head of the group that shot John Ross, but he was not positively identified as one of the defendants.
It was a strange case. Even the prosecution was reluctant to ask for a conviction. In summing up leading counsel said: ‘I shall be happy if ... you shall see cause to acquit all or any one of these pannels [i.e., accused persons]; I did not wish to state anything at all, that could be reckoned to be very severe against these prisoners.’ And indeed the jury found Mackenzie and Macdonough not guilty, and the case against the serjeants not proven. This case, said the presiding judge, was a warning to the civil powers in every burgh to use their utmost exertions (unlike the magistrates of Aberdeen) to prevent occasions of mirth and rejoicing from turning into confusion and riot. Perhaps it was because of this sense of uneasiness in the legal establishment – the Lord Advocate had not wanted to bring the case in the first place – that a leading printer like Constable changed his mind about publishing it.
