Catherine Davidson

THE ONLY True Account.

Of the-Execution of Catherine Davidson, who was executed at Aberdeen on Friday last, for the murder of her husband, by pouring vitriol down his throat; with the  confession which she made. With an account of a remarkable circumstance which happened about 40 years ago at the execution of a woman in Aberdeen. when the executioner threw the rope among the crowd, which struck her on the breast.

(From the Caledonian   Mercury of Monday Oct.   11, 1830.)

On Friday, Catherine Davidson, for the murder of her husband, Jas. Humphrey, was executed at Aberdeen in pursuance of her sentence. Since her condemnation her conduct has been becoming and exemplary. On Wednesday she parted With her friends, and the scene was most heartrending. On Thursday afternoon, while washing herself, she said, " O, it's a sair thing to wash for the gibbet; but I hope I will be washed in the blood of my Redeemer." She was attended by several clergymen and other persons, and paid great attention to their ministration.

When brought into the Court-house on Friday she was asked by the Lord Provost if she had been properly used during her confinement, to which she replied in the affirmative.    To aques, tion by the Rev. Mr, Murray, she said, " I acknowledge the justice of my sentence; but O, I did not buy the stuff to give him—but misfortune took hold of me, and I gave it him— but O, I did not think it would kill him—but I did it, and I suffer justly.'' When led out to the scaffold, she was conducted instantly forward to the drop, an every preparation being over, she addressed a few words to Dr Kidd, and at five minutes before three she gave the signal, and was in a few moments in another
world Her last words were " O, my God." A great multitude,witnessed the execution.

It is upwards of 45 years since a female criminal suffered the punishment of death in Aberdeen: The last woman that was executed there was Elspet Reid, from Banffshire, who was hanged on the 14th Jan., 1785:

Jean Craig for stealing linen cloth and women's clothes, was also executed on the 23d July, 1784.

It is a singular fact, and which Mrs. Humprey more than once mentioned since her trial, that being present at Jean Craig's execution, on the body being cut down, the ;ope was, as was then usual, thrown among the crowd, when the knot struck her on the breast. She said that she recoiled with horror; and that the circumstance had borne much on her mind since she received her sen, tence.

John Muir, Printer.

Commentary

This report begins: 'Of the execution of Catherine Davidson, who was executed at Aberdeen on Friday last, for the murder of her husband, by pouring vitriol down his throat; with the confession which she made. With an account of a remarkable circumstance which happened about 40 years ago at the execution of a woman in Aberdeen, when the executioner threw the rope among the crowd, which struck her on the breast.' This story was sourced from the 'Caledonian Mercury' of Monday Oct. 11, 1830, and the broadside was published by John Muir.

This broadside narrates the tragic story of Catherine Davidson, executed for giving her husband vitriol (sulphuric acid) to drink. It recounts how Mrs. Davidson conducted herself in the condemned cell, and also records her last words of 'Oh, my God'. The broadsheet then concludes by informing its readers that this was the first public execution of a woman in Aberdeen for 45 years. The fact that the previous woman was executed (in 1784) for stealing linen cloth and women’s clothes, illustrates just how harsh and repressive the 'Criminal Code' (known as the 'Bloody Code' in England) was in Scotland, from about 1660 to 1850.

Reports recounting dark and salacious deeds were popular with the public, and, like today's sensationalist tabloids, sold in large numbers. Crimes could generate sequences of sheets covering descriptive accounts, court proceedings, last words, lamentations and executions as they occurred. As competition was fierce, immediacy was paramount, and these occasions provided an opportunity for printers and patterers to maximise sales.