Scene of the "Porteous Mob Riot", Grassmarket

Category

Library Item

Item no

5364

Title

Scene of the "Porteous Mob Riot", Grassmarket

Artist / maker

Smith, Jane Stewart

Date

1868

Size

34.3 x 24.9 cm

Type

Watercolour

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The Grassmarket is an open area situated below Edinburgh Castle at the west end of the Cowgate. It was, for many centuries, an important venue for commercial and social activity in the Old Town. A weekly market was held here from the 15th to the early 20th century. It was also the site of many public executions. The Grassmarket continues to be a popular area for socialising, with a large number of pubs and restaurants.

On the 14th April 1736 Andrew Wilson was executed in the Grassmarket. The nature of his crimes, smuggling and attempted theft from an exciseman, engendered a high degree of sympathy from the crowd gathered to witness his death. Accounts of the day's events vary significantly, but what is certain is that the Edinburgh Town Guard under John Porteous shot and killed several people, ostensibly in a bid to suppress an unruly mob. John Porteous was arrested the same day. He was found guilty of murder at his trial in July and sentenced to death. Popular disapproval at Walpole's decision to revoke this death sentence led to a large group of people removing Porteous from the Tolbooth on September 7th, and lynching him in a brutal and gruesome fashion in the Grassmarket.

Exhibitions with this item

Other views of this item

Related images