purged of malice and partial council, and interrogate, depones, That in
summer one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine, Arthur Davies, late
serjeant in General Guise's regiment, was with a serjeant's command of
soldiers stationed in Dubrach, in Glendee, in Braemar, in
Aberdeenshire; and the Serjeant, with his wife, the preceding witness,
stayed in the house of Michael Farquharson, the deponent's father,
where the deponent also stayed: Depones, That the Serjeant was a sober
well behaving man, very civil to the country, and, so far as the
deponent knew, had the good-will of the country: That he was a good
manager of his money; and the deponent has seen with him a good deal of
gold, which he commonly kept in a long purse, either blue or green, the
deponent does not remember which, and he had also another purse, in
which he kept his silver: That he had a silver watch, with a seal
hanging at it, and silver buckles in his shoes, and knees of his
breeches: That the deponent has seen two vests with him, one with a
white stripe, and the other of a roe's skin; and that he had a set of
silver buttons for a vest, which he used with the one or other as he
had occasion: That he had also two rings, which he told the deponent
were gold, the one of them a large coarse ring, with a knob on the one
side of it, either of the shape of a seal or a heart, the deponent does
not remember which: Depones, That when Serjeant Davies went a-shooting
or fishing, he was commonly dressed in one of the above vests, and a
blue meet upper coat, or surtout, with highland brogues, which he had
purchased for the purpose, and had caused to be made so as to be tied
with silver buckles: Depones, That on the above gold ring with the
knob, there was upon the upper side of the knob some scores that the
deponent did not understand the meaning of: Depones, That the Serjeant
was wont frequently to take out his purse, either in paying or
receiving money, or some time even in playing with children; and that
when he went a-hunting or shooting, he always wore a laced hat, with a
silver button: Depones, That the last time the deponent saw him was on
Wednesday the twenty-seventh day of September, one thousand seven
hundred and forty-nine, the deponent having gone that day to the fair
at Kirkmichael, eighteen miles from his father's house, and did not
return till Saturday thereafter: Depones, That at his return, passing
by the house where the soldiers were quartered, one of them named
Patrick Ogilvie, asked the deponent whether he had seen Serjeant Davies
at the fair? and the deponent having answerd that he did not see him,
and that certainly he had not been there, or he would have seen him,
Ogilvie then said he was afraid of him, for that he had gone away upon
the Thursday to meet a patrol from Glenshee, and had not yet returned;
that they supposed he had gone with that patrol to the fair, but that
since he was not there, he suspected he had been murdered; and the
deponent never saw him alive since that time: Depones, That the captain
of that command to whom the Serjeant belonged, hearing that he was
amissing, sent a party of men on the Sunday to Dubrach to search for
his body, and went with them for three or four following days, but
without any success: Depones, That in the month of June seventeen
hundred and fifty, the deponent was told by the people in his father's
house, that Alexander Macpherson, alias M'Gillas, had been there
inquiring for him, and wanted much to see him, and desired the deponent
would go to his master's sheilling in Glenconie, about two miles'
distance from Dubrach, and that he wanted much to speak to him: That
after some days the deponent went to him, when Macpherson told him that
he was greatly troubled with an apparition, the ghost of the deceased
Serjeant Davies, who insisted that he should bury his bones; and that
he having declined to bury them, the ghost insisted that he should
apply to the deponent, saying that he was sure Donald Farquharson would
help to bury his bones: That the deponent could not believe that he had
seen such an apparition, upon which Macpherson desired him to go along
with him, and he would show him the bones, and the place where he had
found them: That the deponent went along with him, which he did the
rather that he thought it might possibly be true, and if it was, he did
not know but the apparition might trouble himself: Depones, That they
accordingly found the bones in a peat-moss, where peats had been casten
above ground, and near to the top of a hill: That the place was distant
from Dubrach between two and three miles, between Glenchristie and
Glenconie, and about half a mile from the road the patroling parties
commonly take from Dubrach to Glenshee: That the spot where the body
was lying had the surface of the ground entire, and no peats had been
casten there: That the flesh had been mostly consumed from the bones,
and the head separated from the body, and the hair lying by itself,
separated from the head; and depones, that the hair was of the same
colour with the Serjeant's hair, a mouse colour: That they also found
some blue cloth, all torn in rags, some of it under the body, and some
of it lying by the body; and it appeared to the deponent to be of the
same kind of cloth with that of the blue coat that the Serjeant
commonly wore when he went a-shooting: Depones, That the bones were not
all lying together, but were scattered asunder, particularly some of
the joints of his arms, and one of his legs; and that some of them were
scattered at the distance of several yards: Depones, That Macpherson
told him that when he first found the bones, which was about eight days
before, that they were lying farther off, under a bank, and he drew
them out with his staff: Depones, That they also found a pair of
brogues, which appeared to the deponent to be of the same kind with
what the Serjeant wore, only with this difference, that the taggs for
the buckles were cut away, which seemed to have been done with a knife:
Depones, That he asked Macpherson whether the apparition had told him
by whom he had been murdered: That Macpherson said he had asked the
question, and the apparition answered, that if he had not asked him, he
would have power to have told him: That the deponent also asked him if
the apparition had given him any orders about carrying his bones to a
churchyard: Depones, That Macpherson said he had given no answer, and
thereupon they agreed to bury him in that place; and accordingly they
dug a hole in the moss, with the shaft of a shovel that Macpherson had,
and buried the bones there, and laid a part of the blue cloth under the
bones, and a part of it above it, and covered all with some turfs that
they had tore up from the moss; and being showed a fusee, depones, that
one day the Serjeant and the deponent went out a-deer-hunting, and the
Serjeant, in loading his gun, which was either a French or a Spanish
piece, happened to put in a ball that was too large for the bore, so
that he could not, with the ram-rod, drive it down to the powder: That
the deponent advised him to go to his father's sheilling to get a
stronger ram-rod; but the Serjeant, being impatient to go about his
diversion, fired the fusee, and cracked the barrel about the middle;
and having examined the fusee now produced, observed that the barrel is
cracked about the same place, and, so far as appears to him, may be the
same barrel: Depones, That there appears to be some alterations made
upon the stock since the Serjeant had it: That the but was thicker than
it is now, and clad with iron at the end; and there was also another
ring for the keeping of the ram-rod, other than that now shown him:
Depones, That the gun was shown to the deponent on Wednesday last by
James Growar, son to Donald Growar in Glendee, who told him that he
found it in the hill in sight of Glenconie: Depones, That after
Serjeant Davies was killed or amissing as aforesaid, he saw yellow
rings on Elizabeth Downie's fingers, spouse to the prisoner, Duncan
Terig alias Clerk, one of which had a knob upon it, as Serjeant
Davies's ring also had, but does not remember the shape of either of
these knobs: Depones, That he asked her whether it was gold, and she
said it was: Depones, That he saw this ring upon Elizabeth Downie's
finger before she was married to the prisoner; but it was then reported
in the country that he was in suit of her for marriage, and has at
several times, before and since Serjeant Davies was amissing, seen
other yellow rings upon her fingers, but never saw the ring with the
knob upon her finger till after the Serjeant was amissing, nor never
saw it on her finger after she was married; and being asked whether it
did not strike him, when he saw the ring with the knob on it upon
Elizabeth Downie's hand, that it was Serjeant Davies's ring, Depones,
that it did not; and further depones, that he has known Elizabeth
Downie change her rings every other year: Depones, That after she was
married, the deponent asked her if she had a gold ring, and she
answered she never had one but one which was her mother's, which made
the deponent suppose that the said ring with the knob had been her
mother's; and depones, that the panel, her husband, was in prison when
he asked her this question: Depones, That at first there was a report
in the country that Serjeant Davies had deserted, then it was supposed
that he had been killed by the thieves, but last of all, the report
was, that he had been killed by the prisoners, and that has continued
to be the report of the country for these three years: And being asked
what he took to be the grounds of that report, Depones, that he took it
to be, that Macdonald, as Lord Bracco's forrester, had a warrant for
carrying guns for killing of deer, and he carried Clerk alongst with
him, and none other of the country had any warrant to carry arms; but
he heard that some of the people in the country suspected that the ring
with the knob that he had seen on Elizabeth Downie's finger was
Serjeant Davies's ring; and being interrogate as to the character of
the two panels, depones, that he has heard Clerk habite and repute a
sheep-stealer, but that he never heard any thing of Macdonald, but that
he once broke the chest of one Corbie, and took some money out of it:
Depones, That he never heard Clerk get the character of a good
deer-stalker, though he could shoot wild fowl: Depones, That Alexander
Macpherson, before mentioned, once served the deponent's father, and is
accounted an honest lad; but on the panel's interrogatory, Depones,
that he has been charged with telling of stories, and that all is not
to be believed that he says; though that is the general character, the
deponent knows no reason for it: Depones, That Duncan Clerk once
pursued his accusers before a Sheriff Court at Braemar, and freed
himself at that time, and, as he heard, got some mends of his accusers,
but what it was he knows not: That the only particular act of theft he
heard him accused of, was the stealing of a parcel of sheep from
Alexander Farquharson in Inverey, and which was the ground of the
process before mentioned before the Sheriff: Depones, That the Sabbath
before the Serjeant was amissing, a woman came to the deponent's
father's house, and told them that, coming through the hills, she had
seen four thieves in arms, who had separated fourteen of his father's
cattle, upon which the Serjeant, with a party, went in quest of them
immediately, but could find none of them, they having, it seems, gone
off and left the cattle: Depones, That upon the Friday, the
twenty-ninth of September, the corporal stationed at Glenshee met with
the deponent at the fair of Kirkmichael, while the deponent was buying
a pair of shoes, and he told the corporal that they were for Serjeant
Davies, and the corporal told him that he had parted with the Serjeant
the day before at the Water of Benow; the Serjeant, after that, was
going to the hill to get a shot of the deer; which Water of Benow is
about half a mile's distance from the place where the patrolling
parties used to meet: Depones, That the prisoner Clerk was a common
dealer in buying of sheep and cattle; and the deponent has seen him
both buying and paying the price, and his father was reputed one of the
richest tenants in Inverey's grounds. _Causa scientiae patet_; and this
is truth, as he shall answer to God.
(Signed) DONALD FARQUHARSON.
P. GRANT.
ALEXANDER M'PHERSON _alias_ M^CGILLAS, in Inverey, being solemnly
sworn, purged of malice and partial council, and interrogate, aged
twenty-six years, unmarried, Depones, That in summer one thousand seven
hundred and fifty, he found lying in a moss bank in the hill of
Christie, a human body, at least the bones of a human body, of which
the flesh was mostly consumed, and he believed it to be the body of
Serjeant Davies, because it was reported in the country that he had
been murdered in that hill the year before. That when he first found
this body, there was a bit of blue cloth upon it pretty entire, which
he took to be what is called English cloth; he also found the hair of
the deceased, which was of a dark mouse colour, and tied about with a
black ribbon: That he also observed some pieces of a stripped stuff,
and found also lying there a pair of brogues, which had been made with
latches for buckles, which had been cut away by a knife: That he, by
help of his staff, brought out the body, and laid it upon plain ground,
in doing whereof some of the bones were separated one from another:
Depones, That for some days he was in a doubt what to do, but meeting
with John Growar in the moss, he told John what he had found, and John
bid him tell nothing of it, otherways he would complain of the deponent
to John Shaw of Daldownie, upon which the deponent resolved to prevent
Growar's complaint, and go and tell Daldownie of it himself; and which
having accordingly done, Daldownie desired him to conceal the matter,
and go and bury the body privately, as it would not be carried to a
kirk unkent, and that the same might hurt the country, being under the
suspicion of being a rebel country: Depones, That some few days
thereafter, he acquainted Donald Farquharson, the preceding witness, of
his having seen the body of a dead man in the hill, which he took to be
the body of Serjeant Davies: That Farquharson at first doubted the
truth of his information, till the deponent having told him that a few
nights before when he was in bed, a vision appeared to him as of a man
clad in blue, who told the deponent, "I am Serjeant Davies;" but that
before he told him so, the deponent had taken the said vision at first
appearance to be a real living man, a brother of Donald Farquharson's:
That the deponent rose from his bed, and followed him to the door, and
then it was, as has been told, that he said he was Serjeant Davies who
had been murdered in the Hill of Christie, about near a year before,
and desired the deponent to go to the place he pointed at, where he
would find his bones, and that he might go to Donald Farquharson, and
take his assistance to the burying of him: That upon giving Donald
Farquharson this information, Donald went along with him, and finding
the bones as he informed Donald, and having then buried it with the
help of a spade which he the deponent had alongst with him: And for
putting what is above deponed upon out of doubt, Depones, that the
above vision was the occasion of his going by himself to see the dead
body, and which he did before he either spoke to John Growar,
Daldownie, or any other body: And further Depones, that while he was in
bed another night after he had first seen the body by himself, but had
not buried it, the vision again appeared naked, and minded him to bury
the body; and after that he spoke to the other folks above mentioned,
and at last complied, and buried the bones above mentioned: Depones,
That upon the vision's first appearance to the deponent in his bed, and
after going out of the door, and being told by it he was Serjeant
Davies, the deponent asked him who it was that had murdered him, to
which it made this answer, that if the deponent had not asked him, he
might have told him, but as he had asked him, he said he either could
not or would not, but which of the two expressions the deponent cannot
say; but at the second time the vision made its appearance to him, the
deponent renewed the same question, and then the vision answered, that
it was the two men now in the panel that had murdered him: And being
further interrogate in what manner the vision disappeared from him
first and last, Depones, That after the short interviews above
mentioned, the vision at both times disappeared and vanished out of his
sight in the twinkling of an eye; and that in describing the panels by
the vision above mentioned as his murderers, his words were, Duncan
Clerk and Alexander Macdonald: Depones, That the conversation betwixt
the deponent and the vision was in the Irish language: Depones, That
several times in the harvest before the Martinmas after seeing the said
vision, he was applied to by Duncan Clerk, the panel, then to enter
home to his service at that time, which accordingly he did, and staid
in his service just a year, and he being in the hill together with
Duncan Clerk, spying a young cow, desired the deponent to shoot it; and
tho Duncan did not bid him carry it home after it should be shot, yet
the deponent understood that to be the purpose, when Duncan desired him
to shoot it, and which the deponent refused to do, adding, that it was
such thoughts as these were in his head when he murdered Serjeant
Davies, upon which some angry expressions happened between Duncan and
the deponent; but when the deponent insisted upon it that he could not
deny the murder, Duncan fell calm, and desired the deponent to say
nothing of that matter, and that he would be a brother to him, and give
him every thing he stood in need of, and particularly would help him to
stock a farm when he took one; and the time of deponing, the deponent
exhibited a paper, which is marked on the back by the Lord Examiner,
the deponent averring he cannot write: And depones, That the said paper
was put in his hands by the said Duncan Clerk, who at the time told him
it was a premium of twenty pounds Scots to hold his tongue of what he
knew of Serjeant Davies: Depones, That while the deponent was in the
panel Duncan Clerk's service, and about Lammas seventeen hundred and
fifty-one, he showed to the deponent a long green silk purse, and that
he showed also to the deponent the contents which were in it, _viz._
sixteen guineas in gold, and some silver: And being interrogate what
was the occasion of showing this purse and money to the deponent,
Depones, it was one of two which he does not remember, either he had
come from Aberdeen with money, which he had got for his wool, or was
going to Badenoch to buy sheep: Depones, That he saw upon the finger of
Elizabeth Downie, the panel Duncan Clerk's wife, a yellow ring, which
she told him was gold, with a plate on the outside of it, in the form
of a seal, and that he saw it on her finger six or eight weeks before
her marriage; and that after her marriage, she having one day taken it
off her finger, he saw upon the inside of it a stamp, but what that
stamp is he does not know. And being interrogate, Depones, That he had
a suspicion that this ring was Serjeant Davies's ring, having heard it
reported in the country that Serjeant Davies had such a ring upon his
finger when he was murdered, but does not remember his having told his
suspicion to any body; and being further interrogate, depones, That
since the panel Duncan's imprisonment, the deponent was solicited by
Donald Clerk, the panel Duncan's brother, to conceal what he knew when
he came to give evidence; but this was after his having first solicited
the deponent to leave the country, that he might not give evidence, and
upon the deponent's saying he offered him nothing to leave the country
with; but then it was that Donald proposed his not giving true
evidence, adding, that of every penny Donald was worth, the deponent
should have the half; and being interrogate, at the desire of the Jury,
if ever he had asked payment of the twenty pounds contained in the
above-mentioned paper produced by him, Depones, That he once did,
shortly after the term of payment, to which Duncan answered, that it
would be as well to let it ly in his hands, to which he was satisfied,
and that he never asked payment of the annual rent; and being further
interrogate, Depones, that before the deponent went home to the panel's
service at Martinmas one thousand seven hundred and fifty, it was well
known and reported in the country that the bones of the dead body found
upon the above mentioned hill had been buried by the deponent and
Donald Farquharson, as also was the story of the vision or apparition
whereof the deponent had told Donald Farquharson; and being interrogate
for the panel, Depones, that he not only told the story of the vision
or apparition to Donald Farquharson, as above mentioned, but that he
also told it to John Growar and Daldownie before he mentioned it to
Donald Farquharson: Depones, That there were folks living with him at
the sheilling the time the vision appeared to him as above, but that he
told it to none of them; and adds, that Isobel M'Hardie, in Inveray, a
woman then in the sheilling with him, has told him since, that she saw
such a vision as the deponent has above described, and has told him
herself so much; and upon the panel's interrogatory, depones, that upon
the vision's appearing to him, it described the place where he would
find the bones so exactly, that he went within a yard of the place
where they lay upon his first going out: And this is the truth, as he
shall answer to God; and depones he cannot write.
(Signed) JA. FERGUSON.
Compeared Duncan Campbell, one of the captains of the City Guard of
Edinburgh, and was solemnly sworn, as he should answer to God, that he
should interrogate in the Irish language such of the witnesses as
should be afterwards adduced in this trial, as could not speak or
understand the English language, and reduce the depositions, as they
should emit the same, faithfully in the English language into writing.
(Signed) DUNCAN CAMPBELL.
JA. FERGUSON.
ISOBEL M'HARDIE in Inverey, who being solemnly sworn, purged of malice
and partial council, aged forty and upwards, married, examined and
interrogate: Depones, That one night about four years ago, when the
deponent was lying in one end of the shealling, and Alexander
M'Pherson, who was then her servant, lying in the other, she saw
something naked come in at the door, which frighted her so much that
she drew the clothes over her head: That when it appeared, it came in
in a bowing posture, and that next morning she asked M'Pherson what it
was that had troubled them the night before? to which he answered, she
might be easy, for that it would not trouble them any more. _Causa
scientiae patet._ And this is truth, as she shall answer to God. And
this deposition is subscribed by the said sworn interpreter.
(Signed) DUNCAN CAMPBELL.
JA. FERGUSON.
Compeared, JAMES MACDONALD in Allanquoich, solemnly sworn, purged of
malice and partial council, aged thirty-one years, married, examined
and interrogate: Depones, That it is about two or three years since
Clerk, the panel, was married to Elizabeth Downie, Alexander Downie's
daughter, and hearing it reported in the country, that he should have
said, that if his son-in-law had not killed Serjeant Davies, Serjeant
Davies would have killed him: That the deponent asked of Alexander
Downie, about lentron last, whether he had said so? and Alexander
Downie acknowledged to him that he had said so: And the deponent heard
that the occasion of this report in the country was, that Alexander
Downie being at a miln, some of the people there upbraided Alexander
Downie with his son-in-law Clerk, the panel, his having killed the said
Serjeant: And Downie said, as the deponent heard, what could his
son-in-law do, since it was in his own defence: Depones further, That
he saw upon Elizabeth Downie, Clerk's wife, her thumb, a yellow ring,
which he took to be gold; and this he saw after her marriage, having a
little knap upon it like into a seal, having scores or lines round
about it, and this he saw frequently upon her hand, which ring the
deponent suspected to be Serjeant Davies's ring, and it was so
suspected in the country. _Causa scientiae patet._ And this is the
truth: And says further, That Clerk the panel, was reputed to be guilty
of thieving in the country, but that he heard nothing to the prejudice
of M'Donald's character: And being interrogate for the panel, depones,
That he never heard Clerk the panel, guilty of any particular theft
except one of a parcel of sheep, from one Alexander Farquharson in
Inverey, about nine or ten years ago. All which is truth, as he shall
answer to God; and depones he cannot write.
(Signed) ALEX^R FRASER.
Compeared PETER M'NAB in Wester Micras, aged fifty-seven years,
solemnly sworn, purged of malice and partial council, examined and
interrogate: Depones, That it is now about four years ago, since he
heard it reported in the country, that the two men, Clerk and
Macdonald, the panels, were the people who murdered Serjeant Davies,
and a little time after Elizabeth Downie was married to Clerk the
panel: The deponent happened to be in Alexander Downie her father's
house, and then saw upon her finger a ring, pretty massy, having a lump
upon it pretty large; and the deponent got the ring into his hand, and
the lump appeared to the deponent to be something in the shape of a
heart: And the deponent asked Elizabeth Downie how she came by that
ring? to which she answered, that she had bought it from one James
Lauder, a merchant: The deponent replied, that he thought it was cheap
and worth more money, and that it was reported in the country, that the
said Elizabeth Downie was wearing rings of Serjeant Davies's, but he
never saw her have any but that one: And further adds, that he never
heard any other suspected of the murder of Serjeant Davies but the
panels, except once, that it was suspected to have been done by
caterers; and he also heard, for a twelvemonth after Serjeant Davies
was amissing, that he had deserted; nevertheless the general report or
belief of the country was, that the two panels had murdered him. _Causa
scientiae patet._ And this is the truth, as he shall answer to God.
(Signed) PETER MACNAB.
ALEX^R FRASER.
Compeared ISOBEL EGO, in Teantoul, aged eighteen years, or thereby,
solemnly sworn, purged of malice and partial council, examined and
interrogate by the sworn interpreter aforesaid, Depones, That about
four years ago she found upon the Hill of Christie a silver-laced hat,
with a silver-button on it; which hat she carried home to her master,
Alexander Macdonald in Inverey, and delivered it to him. _Causa
scientiae patet._ And this is the truth, as she shall answer to God; and
depones she cannot write. And this deposition is subscribed by the
foresaid sworn interpreter.
(Signed) DUNCAN CAMPBELL.
ALEX^R FRASER.
Compeared ALEXANDER MACDONALD, in Inverey, aged thirty years and
upwards, married; solemnly sworn, purged of malice and partial council,
examined and interrogate, Depones, That about four or five years ago,
after Serjeant Davies was amissing, his servant-maid, Isobel Ego, the
immediate preceding witness, being sent to the hills of Inverey to look
for some horses, when the said servant-maid returned, she told the
deponent's wife, as she told him, that she had come home richer than
she went out, having found in the hill a silver-laced hat: That his
wife, upon seeing the said hat, had no peace of mind, believing it to
be Serjeant Davies's hat, and desired it might be put out of her sight:
That the deponent, who was abroad, having come home, took the hat and
put it below a stone near to a burn which run by his shealling, where
his wife then was: That the hat was carried away from under the said
stone, but who it was that carried it off the deponent knows not.
_Causa scientiae patet._ And this is the truth, as he shall answer to
God; and depones he cannot write. And this deposition is signed by the
said sworn interpreter.
(Signed) DUNCAN CAMPBELL.
ALEX^R FRASER.