Mob Rule

Of course, had the people of Edinburgh believed this treatment to be unjust, chances are it never would have happened at all. You see, throughout the ages, the Edinburgh Mob were one of the most notorious and most feared throughout Europe, and woe betide he who committed an injustice in their eyes. If a criminal was deemed to be undeserving of punishment, or a man set free who was guilty in the eyes of the people, the 10,000 strong Edinburgh Mob would be out in numbers to enforce their own justice, before disappearing back down the closes to their homes. There are no real records of who the organisers of the mob were, but history records one leader who held control of the mob between 1770 and 1780: Bowed Joseph. Described as a deformed cobbler, Joseph used his drum to call forth the full strength of the mob. No terrorist, Joseph was a man with a strong social conscience who would never let a piece of unfair legislation pass without the mob marching on the city chambers to let their wrath be known. The council even took to appeasing Joseph with ale in advance of announcing legislation they considered controversial. He was also a terror to local landlords who overcharged their tenants and market dealers, who were forced to sell their wares at much reduced prices in times of financial hardship. However, all that ale was to prove Joseph's undoing, as he fell from a stagecoach, drunk, on the way home from Leith one day in 1780, dying from his injuries.

To give you a true taste of the Edinburgh mob's power, it would be best to recount a few of their "adventures" (or accomplishments, depending on your perspective). In June 1561, a small group decided to perform the play "Robin Hood" which, without their knowledge, had been banned by law for some years thanks to the Reformation's changing morality. Magistrates descended on the play and removed some props, but these were quickly returned when the mob began to murmur. In a show of defiance, the magistrates arrested James Gillon, identified as a ringleader, and tried him on the manufactured charge of stealing 10 shillings. A gallows was erected for his execution, but things went no further. The mob moved into action, destroying the gallows and chasing the magistrates down the High Street to the Tolbooth Prison, where Gillon was held. They then broke into the prison, set Gillon free and replaced him with the magistrates, who were forced to remain there until the evening, when they acceded to proclaim that no one would be prosecuted for the preceding events. And they all lived happily ever after, except the magistrates, whose egos were thoroughly bruised.

Easily the most famous event in the Edinburgh Mob's history, though, surrounds the infamous Captain John Porteous of the unpopular City Guard and what came to be known as the Porteous Riots. Porteous was a disliked man leading a deeply resented force. He was arrogant, outspoken against the mob and boasted of his friends in high places. He was never going to win any popularity contests with the common folk of the town. In 1736, ten years after his appointment, the animosity came to a head over the case of two smugglers, one of who, Wilson, sacrificed himself so that his partner, Robertson, could escape justice. Smuggling was seen as a rather romantic crime in these days, perpetrated by the archetypal loveable rogues, so Wilson's selfless heroics had made him a popular and heroic figure with the mob - and Porteous intended to put him to death.

On the allocated day for the execution, the city's leaders feared the mob would run riot and had made all the preparations possible - the entire City Guard was on active duty with guns and ammunition ready and a detachment of solders at the ready if required. Porteous blamed Wilson for this terrible insult to the City Guard's capabilities to deal with the mob. In malicious revenge, he squeezed Wilson's wrists into manacles far too small for him, causing him to cry out in pain - word of this torture spread quickly through the amassed crowd. In the face of the assembled military might, the crowd were quelled and stood silently while the execution took place, but afterwards, all hell broke loose. Stones were hurled at Porteous and the guards as a relative of the deceased rushed forward in an attempt to resuscitate him. Making his ultimately critical mistake, Porteous opened fire on the crowd, which the rest of the Guard followed him in - killing three outright and wounding over a dozen, including those hit by stray bullets while watching from their windows. The Guard then marched away, leaving the dead in their wake. The mob were incandescent and followed them up to West Bow, where more shots were fired and another three killed.

As a result, Porteous and thirty men were removed from their positions, and Porteous was to be tried for murder, but managed to escape the charge on the basis that he was acting on orders from the city to keep the peace - he was simply doing his job. Porteous, however, was still sentenced to death for ordering his men to open fire without just cause. Then, a twist - Porteous' "high friends" were real, and they took action to get him a reprieve direct from Queen Caroline. The Mob couldn't have cared less - they wanted him dead. And so it was that on the 8th September 1736, the mob locked the city against reserve forces, marched on the Tolbooth to retrieve Porteous and took him to the Grassmarket, the site of his crime, and hanged him. Many believed that the plan was so well executed that some noblemen had been involved in the event, dressed as members of the mob, for Porteous' unpopularity crossed all class borders. Regardless, Porteous was dead and the mob had made it clear who was really in charge of Scotland's capital.

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