Introduction
In 2020 I published
an account of the life of David Kinloch Michie, the notorious Perthshire poacher,
on this blogsite. Much of the story
depended upon a newspaper article entitled “Famous Scottish Poachers” which appeared
in “Weekly News” in 1904. The unknown
author of this piece admitted that the infamous offender represented there was sailing
under the pseudonym of “Donald Gow”, which left open the issue of what other
“facts” given in the story had been altered.
The tale was also marked by a dearth of dates and timescales. Further, no sources were given for the
incidents portrayed. However, the
conclusion that I reached was that “Donald Gow” and “David Kinloch Michie” were
likely one and the same person.
In summary, the
article described the following characteristics of “Donald Gow” and various
incidents from his life.
He was probably
the most famous poacher in Perthshire in the 1830s and 1840s, though his career
did not extend for many years. “Gow” was
big, strong and given to threats of violence in order to evade capture, and the
local gamekeepers were generally afraid of him.
He had a brother, “William”, who acted as a restraining influence on him. “William” died young but not before he lost
several fingers on his left hand when his gun exploded.
On one
occasion, “Donald Gow” and a companion were pursued by a posse of local people,
including a policeman and a gamekeeper, intent on capturing the miscreants, who
were out on a poaching expedition. On that
occasion, threats of violence were not sufficient to deter the pursuers and
both “Gow” and his accomplice fired on them, injuring the policeman and others,
before “Gow” and his companion escaped.
He was then outlawed. In
consequence, great efforts were made to apprehend “Donald Gow”, but without
immediate success.
The article
claimed that the subsequent failure to find “Gow” was because he changed his
appearance, shaved off his beard, and joined the Aberdeenshire Police Force,
where he was even tasked with detecting and detaining himself. During his police service he became
acquainted with a widowed lady of high rank who had a shooting lodge on an
estate. She and her guests found “Donald
Gow” attractive because of his good looks, an imposing personality and a knowledge
of country sports. She then invited him
to leave the police service and become her gamekeeper.
However, “Gow”
could not do this while he was outlawed, so he confided his story to her, and
she agreed to do all in her power to free him from the consequences of his
violent actions. This proved to be no
easy task but may have finally been accomplished by her paying a substantial
fine on his behalf to obtain his pardon.
“Donald Gow” then joined her service as a gamekeeper.
In his
subsequent life, “Donald” became a reformed character and a respected member of
his community.
The present
revisitation of the life of David Kinloch Michie has sought to further
knowledge of his background and life from independent sources, in order to test
the claims made in the “Weekly News” article.
Although not all aspects of the story have been verified, many have,
including the identity of the widowed lady of influence. She proved to be Georgina, Dowager Duchess of
Bedford, as suspected in the original article.
She was a quite remarkable woman with her own colourful life story,
which is directly relevant to the present tale.
Additional relevant facts have also been uncovered which support the
“Weekly News” story, if not directly, at least circumstantially.
David
Kinloch Michie’s family background
David Kinloch
Michie was the seventh child in a family of eight. His father was John Michie, b1773 at Caputh,
a village on the north bank of the river Tay, about 11 miles north of the
county town of Perth. In 1806 he married
a local girl, Isabella Anderson. Their
children were Charles Kinloch Michie, b 1807; William Michie, b1809; John
Michie, b1812, Isabella Michie, b1813, Margaret Michie, b 1815; Jemima Michie,
b 1817; David Kinloch Michie, b 1820; and Alexander Michie, b 1823.
John Michie
(1773) and his wife Isabella spent their whole lives in an area centred on the
joint parish of Kinloch and Lethendy, which was created in 1806. It lay
four miles south-west of the town of Blairgowrie and was bounded on the east by
Blairgowrie, on the south by Caputh and on the west and north by Clunie. Its greatest length, east to west, was five
miles and its greatest breadth, north to south, was 1½ miles. In 1845, the three main landowners in the
parish were Andrew Gemmell of Lethendy, Sir John Muir Mackenzie of Delvine and
David Kinloch of Gourdie. The last named
had the smallest holding of the three.
In 1841 the parish population was 369.
John Michie (1773) worked for the Kinloch family as the manager of their
lime works, located at the southern end of the Loch of Clunie, near the village
of Craigie, but lying within the parish of Caputh. He is known to have fulfilled this role at
least between 1812 and 1828. It is
possible that his two sons who received the given name of “Kinloch” were named
after David Kinloch, 4th Laird of Gourdie (1736 – 1818) and Charles
Kinloch 5th Laird of Gourdie (1788 – 1828) respectively. Subsequently, and at least by 1832, John
Michie (1773) became a farmer at Cowford farm which lies about 8 miles south of
Blairgowrie.
The area of
Perthshire with which the Michie family was familiar was replete with large
estates, often with much hill land which was devoted to sporting activities,
such as grouse and hare shooting, and deer stalking. Gamekeeping was a frequent calling of the
rural working class in these localities.
Sporting dog breeding was another activity associated with the provision
of services to the wealthy hunting and shooting set. An inevitable adjunct to such sporting
pursuits was the illegal taking of game by poachers, some of whom were
professionals, making a living from the sale of their kill. The skills required to be an effective gamekeeper,
or a successful poacher were essentially identical, and the five sons of John
Michie (1773) pursued both callings, sometimes alternately.
According to
the “Weekly News” article, “Donald Gow” had a brother “William” who was also a
poacher but who had a milder and more balanced temperament than his impetuous
younger sibling, often holding the head-strong junior in check. David Kinloch Michie had a brother named
William Michie, but he did not die young, which does not fit with the life of
the brother “William” in the article. It
is likely that this more balanced brother was actually Charles Kinloch Michie
(1807), who died in 1840, the name switch probably being part of the “Weekly
News” article’s author’s strategy of obfuscation.
In 1829 and
1830, William Michie (1809) was a gamekeeper acting for Sir David Moncreiffe
(1788 – 1830) over his lands at Moncreiffe, Bridge of Earn, Perthshire, where William
held a schedule B game licence. By 1831,
William was wealthy enough to be able to afford a schedule D game licence,
costing over £4 (about £316 in 2022 money), for land at Kirkmichael. But William was also a poacher. A warrant was issued for his arrest early in
1839 for illegally taking game and he was detained near Blairgowrie. However, he avoided a custodial sentence by
paying a fine. In 1840, 1841, 1844, 1850
and 1851, he is known to have held schedule D game licences, but this time over
land at Cowford, probably the land of his father’s farm. At the 1861 Census of Scotland, William was
again recorded as following the calling of gamekeeper, as he was living at the
Gamekeeper’s House, Kirkmichael.
Possibly he was working for the owner of Ashintully Castle.
In 1828, 1829
and 1830, “Mrs Captain Kinloch”, probably the wife of Captain Charles Kinloch,
5th Laird of Gourdie, provided schedule B certificates for a John
Michie to act as gamekeeper over lands at Gourdie, the location of the Kinloch family
seat. This John Michie is likely to have
been John Michie (1773), who had probably retired from managing the Gourdie
lime works by this year. His son, John
Michie (1812) would likely have been too young at 16 years in 1828 to have
acted as a gamekeeper. However, by the
1841 Census of Scotland, John Michie (1812) was found, with his wife Charlotte,
living at Alvie, Invernessshire.
Further, the year and place of birth of his first child, 1836 at Alvie,
suggests John and Charlotte had been at Alvie since at least that year. His employer and his exact employment role at
that time have not been discovered, but in the following census of 1851 he was
a gamekeeper living at Pitourie, Alvie.
Thus, it is likely he had been a gamekeeper, or perhaps an underkeeper,
there for more than a decade, between the ages of 24 and 39. What is utterly fascinating is the discovery
of his employer. In 1843 and again in
1844, John Michie held a class B game certificate over the lands of Kincraig
and his sponsor was Lord Edward Russell (1805 – 1874), the second son of Lord
John Russell and his second wife, Georgina.
The Kincraig shootings were near the Doune, Lady Russell’s leased,
seasonal home on the Rothiemurchus estate.
John Michie was responsible for game preservation at Kincraig, at least
in 1843 and the further years of 1848 and 1851, but in these latter two years
his sponsor was Georgina, the Dowager Duchess of Bedford. The likely significance of these findings is
discussed below.
Alexander Michie (1823) was the youngest of John Michie (1773)’s sons. At the 1851 Census, he was a farm labourer on his father’s property at Cowford. During the previous year he held a schedule B game certificate for the land at Cowford, as did his brother William. In the years 1854 and 1855, Alexander was working as a gamekeeper for RJR Aytoun Esq, a retired military officer and the occupier, over lands at Ashintully Castle, Kirkmichael. Alexander apparently continued in his calling of gamekeeper, as in 1861 he was described as a gamekeeper living at “Gamekeeper’s Lodge”, Minnigaff, Kirkudbright, in the south-west of Scotland.
David Kinloch
Michie (1820), in contrast with his brothers never held a game certificate,
either as a gamekeeper or as a landowner or occupier, prior to the period during
which he was outlawed (1840 – 1845). It
is likely that he took up poaching as a way of earning his living before 1839,
but the precise year has not been uncovered.
After his arrest he would claim that he ceased living at his father’s
home between the ages of 10 and 15 (1830 – 1835) but given the devious content
of the rest of his statement, no reliance should be placed on this
assertion. There is no doubt that David
Kinloch Michie was a wild character, fathering three children by two different
mothers before and after he was declared an outlaw in April 1840. The first of these “natural” children must
have been conceived about the beginning of September 1838, probably at
Blacklunans, Angus, with 19-year-old Ann Stewart. Blacklunans, although in a different county,
was only about five miles east of Kirkmichael (the scene of David Kinloch’s
crime of shooting at a policeman) and 16 miles north of the town of Blairgowrie. Cowford farm was about 10 miles south-west of
Blairgowrie. The second illegitimate
child was conceived about the middle of December 1839 with a different woman,
Ann Healy. The child, Adam Moncur Michie
was born in the parish of Lethendy and Kinloch, where David Kinloch had
previously lived until about 1830. The
third extramarital conception again involved Ann Stewart and occurred about
March 1843 while he was on the run. This
child, Helen, was also born at Blacklunans.
It is likely that all three “natural” children were conceived during
David Kinloch Michie’s poaching career, one before the shooting offence, one
about the time of the shooting incident and the third during his outlawed
state.
The Michie
family and poaching
It is likely
that all the members of the Michie family were aware of both the gamekeeping
and poaching activities, from time to time, of various family members. A report in the Perthshire Constitutional of
13 February 1839 is particularly informative about the activities of the
Michies and the involvement of publicans in the supply chain for disposing of
illegal game.
“Poaching seems
to be on the increase in this neighbourhood (Dunkeld), in spite of the
vigilance of the keepers and their assistants.
On the evening of Monday 28th ultimo no less than five
regular poachers and two “cockers” (a “cocker” appears to have been a
receiver of poached game) were snugly ensconced in the house of James
Miller, publican – and there over a flowing bowl of mountain dew, busy driving
a bargain of their ill-gotten gear – when lo! H Ritchie, Messenger-at-arms,
Dunkeld, with a party, “entered appearance” and disturbed not a little the
harmony of the company. A scuffle
ensued, but in the end he succeeded in apprehending two of them, against whom
he had warrants, namely William Michie (brother of David Kinloch Michie)
and Alexander Kennedy (who would be the companion of David Kinloch
Michie on the occasion when the policeman was wounded), well known
characters. Michie has before this been
repeatedly “taken into custody” by the Blairgowrie officials, but he just as
often bade them good day (ie escaped).
He, however, on this last occasion, saw there was no joke in the matter,
and prudently dispatched a message for a friend who relieved him from the
dilemma, by paying down £6 being the contents of the warrant against him,
consequently he was set at liberty.
Kennedy was less fortunate however, for having neither friends nor
money, he was “bagg’d” and carried off, and safely put into winter quarters in
Perth jail under Mr Hutchison the “keeper” thereof where he will likely have
other game to hunt. It has been
whispered too that the Surveyor of Taxes for the District means to have him
convicted for shooting without a licence – whereby it is more than likely he
may pass the summer in “safe custody”.
It may not be out of place here to observe that more than one publican
in the Upper Stormont District makes a good job of it by harbouring poachers
about them. (Stormont is one of the
ancient divisions of Perthshire, between the river Tay and the river Ericht,
and the Upper Stormont District includes the area around Kirkmichael). These publicans take the guns from the
poachers and in return supply them with mountain dew (whisky) and the
necessary requisite - powder and shot.
Again, the “cocker” comes round weekly and relieves the publican of his
ware, when a balance for the time being is struck betwixt the parties. Were the publicans looked after more strictly
and their licences where guilty of the above practices forfeited, poaching
instead of increasing would soon be on the decline. Something must soon be done to check this
growing evil”. (David Kinloch Michie
is not named in this account but he may have been one of the poachers who avoided
detention).
The fact that
the Michies could afford to pay a £6 fine and also be able to afford schedule D
game certificates (£4+) suggests that the family was not short of money, and
also that the money may have been, at least partly, derived from “the growing
evil” of poaching. The Perthshire
Courier of 2 May 1839 reported briefly that “some poachers” (not named or
numbered) had been fined a total of 17 gns at Dunkeld. Heavy fines did not seem to deter poachers
suggesting that it was a lucrative profession if participants could avoid
detection for most of the time.
David
Kinloch Michie and the shooting of the policeman
David Kinloch
Michie and Alexander Kennedy were observed in poaching activities on Thursday 19th
and Friday 20th December 1839 by Thomas McGlashan the farmer at
Cultalonie, near Kirkmichael. This
sighting was immediately before the notorious shooting incident and occurred on
lands belonging to the Kindrogan (or Kindroggan) estate, located about a mile
south-east of Kirkmichael and on the west bank of the river Ardle. Kindrogan House is situated about two miles
north-west of Kirkmichael and, at the time, it was owned by Mr Peter Small Keir.
Michie and Kennedy, through their local
notoriety, were known to some of the witnesses and quickly identified.
On the morning of
the next day, 21st December, Alexander Fraser, the tenant of Mains
of Downie (or Dunie) was travelling on horseback to Pitkermack (or Pitcarmick)
when he met Alexander McKenzie, the overseer at the farm of Balmyle, who told
him that there were poachers in the woods.
He had also seen them two days previously and knew them to be David
Kinloch Michie and Alexander Kennedy.
McKenzie said that he had almost been shot by Michie but thought that
Kennedy had restrained him. It was very
often the case that tenant farmers were obliged, by the terms of their leases,
to defend the game on their grounds and that was so in this case.
Fraser and
McKenzie spotted the two men, with guns and dogs, on the face of the hill near
Pitkermack, where there is a bridge over the river Ardle. The two farmers went to the bridge intending
to intercept the poachers and two other men then joined them. Henry Rattray,
the farmer at Stronamuck, who had also seen Michie and Kennedy shooting and had
approached them, with the result that they retreated towards the river. A fourth man, James Stewart, a farm servant
at Cultalonie, on the instruction of his master, Alexander Fraser, also joined
the others to form a posse. However, the
two poachers tried to cross the Ardle by wading to avoid the men waiting at the
bridge. Alexander Fraser then approached
the miscreants, but they turned, raised their guns and threatened to shoot him
if he came nearer. Frightened by this
warning, Fraser backed off and returned to the bridge. The poachers found that they could not wade
the river because of the force of the current.
Henry Rattray confronted them when they came out of the water, but they
also threatened him with violence. “I
did not know the men, said Rattray, “one of them was much taller than the other
and both of them had double guns. When
they saw that they couldn’t wade the water, they turned round and threatened to
shoot me. I said I was not afraid of
them when both of them threatened, with great oaths, that they would make a
saddle of my skin and send me to eternity and the other, seeing this, struck me
a severe blow or thrust with the muzzle of his gun on the side at the same time
saying “damn spie””.
The poachers
then had to descend to the bridge. Fraser tried to grab the taller man (David
Kinloch Michie) but he was repelled with a push from the poacher’s gun. The posse, Fraser, McKenzie, Rattray and
Stewart, followed the fugitives to the north side of the Ardle. Michie, after crossing Pitkermack bridge,
which was the limit of the Kindrogan land, then turned and threw a stone,
hitting Fraser on the feet. The poachers
then travelled over the road, which ran from Kirkmichael to Bridge of Cally,
and headed up Balnabroich Hill with the constable, gamekeeper and other
followers in pursuit.
By this time
further men, including Alexander McDonald, the gamekeeper at Kindrogan, John
McIntosh, constable in the Perthshire Preventive Police Establishment in the
parish of Kirkmichael, who lodged at Cultalonie, Robert Murray, farmer at
Dalvie, and his son John had joined the pursuing pack. Alexander McDonald was present at Pitkermack
to shoot hares and woodcock when he saw the pursuit and joined in the
chase. Alexander McKenzie appeared no
longer to have been with the group after they crossed the bridge over the Ardle. He stayed on the opposite hillside and was
able to witness the events which unfolded on the north side at a safe distance.
Balnabroich
Hill was the property of James Valentine Haggart Esq. and his wife Amelia of
Glendelvine but was farmed by Lauchlane (or Lachlan) Robertson, farmer at
Balnabroich and a number of other, smaller tenants, Alexander Batter, farmer at
Stylemouth, Colin Campbell, farmer at Ballinluig and John McIntosh, farmer at
Easter Downie (apparently no relation to the constable of the same name). The place where the shooting occurred was on
land common to all the Balnabroich tenants.
When the
poachers started their ascent of Balnabroich Hill they were not running,
perhaps trying to assume an air of unconcern.
The followers were about 40 or 50 yards behind. Henry Rattray was leading a pony, but John
McIntosh mounted it and took to the front in chasing after the retreating men. One of the pursuers, Alexander McDonald, was
close by farmer Robert Murray and they reached to within about 15 yards of the
retreating poachers. McDonald called on
the poachers to stand but the response was that the followers would be shot. “Michie swore by God that he would make
corpses of us”. McDonald also had a
Newfoundland dog with him which “gambolled” with the poachers’ two dogs, a
pointer and a setter. Michie and Kennedy
aimed their guns at the keeper’s animal, and he appealed to them not to shoot
it, as it would not harm them.
The threat from
the poachers had its desired effect and the two men then dropped back until the
rest of the group caught up with them, before resuming their pursuit
collectively. However, when Michie and Kennedy passed the
head dyke on the part of the hill common to all tenants they then turned, threw
down their bonnets and game bags and raised their double-barrelled shotguns to
their shoulders. Michie was the first to
fire at his pursuers, Kennedy then fired too, followed by a second discharge
from Michie. Michie and Kennedy then
stood for a while and deliberately recharged their weapons before turning and
making off uphill.
The constable,
John McIntosh was hit by the first shot about the knees and legs but continued
his pursuit. He said that Michie had deliberately
aimed at him. McIntosh was then hit
again, felt giddy and tumbled off his pony before crumpling to the floor. The pony was also hit by numerous pellets. Alexander McDonald, the Kindrogan keeper was
also struck and the wounds on his face bled profusely. He was also injured on the crown of his head,
his left hand, his right ear and right arm.
McDonald received wounds from six pellets in total, but his clothes were
“riddled”. The injuries rendered him
“stupid”, but he did not lose consciousness.
Rattray took Alexander
McDonald to a nearby house, but later McDonald managed to ride a pony into Kirkmichael
to get medical attention for his wounds.
The constable, John McIntosh was carried to the house of John McNab, a
farmer on the estate of Balnabroich, which was located about 60 – 100 yards
from the point where he fell and there the policeman recovered his senses. John Stewart was hit by the third discharge,
with two pellets striking on his right side, one of which lodged in his hip and
the other in his eyebrow, the wounds then bleeding, though they were, apparently,
not painful. John Murray, son of tenant
farmer Robert Murray, was also struck by pellets.
Another farm
servant, John Webster an illiterate who worked at Drumhead of Kilty was a late
follower of the posse and witnessed, at a distance, the shooting event. His evidence was dismissed by court officials
by the remark “This man is silly” but he did add the important information that
he knew both Michie and Kennedy well and that Michie had stayed with him “for
some time before that”.
There was a
further witness who joined the chase late.
He was Thomas Ferguson, the shepherd at Pitkermack. While tending his sheep, he heard shots fired
in Pitkermack wood. He then saw the
poachers cross the bridge with others in pursuit and joined the chase. But he was
some distance behind the main group of pursuers when the shooting
happened. He subsequently followed the
retreating poachers in the company of farmer Alexander Fraser for about a mile
up the Hill of Balnabroich. The poachers
were speaking to them, but Ferguson could not understand what was being
said. Importantly, he too knew the
identity of both the men he was pursuing.
One further addition to the chasing party was Thomas McGlashan, farmer
at Cultalonie but though he witnessed what happened at a distance he could not
add any information to that provided by the other witnesses. He too was illiterate and was dismissed by
court officials with “This witness cannot identify the prisoner. He is a very stupid witness at any rate”.
Henry Rattray
was adamant that the pursuers had not provoked the poachers to discharge their
guns and he did not hear the poachers give a warning that they were about to
fire before they pulled the triggers.
The whole incident was over before 12.00 noon. The Kindrogan keeper, Alexander McDonald was
carrying his gun during the pursuit, but he did not raise the gun or threaten
to use it against the poachers. Also, he
did not set his dog at the retreating men.
Dr James Kippen,
a surgeon from Kirkmichael was summoned between 12.00 and 1.00pm on Saturday 21st
December to go to John McNab’s house at Hill of Downie. There he examined and dressed the wounds of
the constable, John McIntosh, which were bleeding profusely, with blood over
his face, and his clothes generally saturated with blood. He was cold and faint. However, the farmhouse was very dark which
made the surgeon’s work difficult, so he ordered that McIntosh be taken home,
where he examined him again the following morning. The constable had been hit by 30 to 32
pellets of no. 5 shot. (Lead shot is
graded from 1 to 9, the higher the number, the smaller the shot and the less
damage would be caused by a single pellet.
No. 5 shot has a diameter of 2.8mm and a weight of 1.99g. This grade of shot would typically be used
for shooting birds the size of a pheasant and could also be used for shooting
rabbits and hares). Dr Kippen’s
assessment was that John McIntosh’s wounds had not endangered his life, though
he had some concern that fever might later manifest itself.
Two other
surgeons, Wm Malcolm and F Thomson from Perth examined John Murray at
Cultalonie on Monday 23rd December.
They found marks of small shot on his right thigh and right hip. This medical pair also examined John McIntosh
at the same venue. McIntosh was much
more seriously injured, receiving eleven pellets in his left leg, six in his
opposite leg, one below his right eye, three in his left breast, one in the
right side of the neck, two in the right forearm, one in the right arm, two in
the left arm, one in the stump of the left hand and one under the pectoral
muscle on the right side. He was clearly
unwell. His tongue was white, his pulse
small and rapid (97) and his skin was cool.
He was suffering general stiffness of his limbs especially his left knee
and he was afflicted by sleepless nights, headache and nausea.
On Monday 23rd
December, James Kippen also attended the gamekeeper, Alexander McDonald who had
been shot. He had four shot wounds about
his right eye, which had penetrated to the bone and caused substantial
bleeding. Kippen’s conclusion was that
he was not dangerously hurt. The same
day, Kippen also saw John Murray, son of tenant farmer Robert Murray. He had one shot wound in his right hip and
may have had a second wound in his ankle.
His injuries were thus minor.
This was a
serious incident and strenuous efforts were made to capture the errant pair but
to no avail. Some years later, the
Dundee Advertiser claimed that Michie, while on the run, had been “skulking
about occasionally making hair-breadth escapes from the officers who were, from
time-to-time, endeavouring to apprehend him”.
After the shooting, the poachers
had escaped over Balnabroich Hill in the direction of Blacklunans, a small
village on the Blackwater, just over the border in the neighbouring county of Forfarshire
(also known as Angus). Perhaps this
small settlement, where David Kinloch Michie’s illegitimate daughter, Lilias
and her mother Ann Stewart lived, provided a safe house for the fugitives. It is also possible that moving to Forfarshire
would provide some protection from the efforts of the Perthshire Constabulary
to detain the fugitives. Farm servant,
John Webster, who knew Michie, revealed that Michie had been staying with him
for “some time before that”, which suggests that there were friends and acquaintances
in the countryside who were not prepared to inform on the notorious poacher,
perhaps from a mixture of both fear and sympathy.
David Kinloch
Michie and Alexander Kennedy were indicted for discharging loaded firearms in
contravention of “the Statute tenth George the Fourth chapter thirty-eight” and
summoned to appear before the Circuit Court of Justiciary to be held at Perth
on 28th April 1840. Not
surprisingly, they did not appear, and the Court pronounced the pair to be
outlaws and fugitives from Her Majesty’s laws.
In consequence, “their whole moneyable goods and gear to be escheat and
inbrought for Her Majesty’s use”, though it is unclear if either man had much
in the way of property which was within the reach of the law. “Escheat” is a process by which goods and
property revert to the Crown.
Georgina,
Duchess of Bedford
At this point,
it is appropriate divert from David Kinloch Michie to give a brief summary of
the background of this lady, to show how she achieved her position of influence
and why she routinely spent half of each year living in Scotland on the
Rothiemurchus estate near the modern holiday resort of Aviemore, then a mere
village on the road to Inverness.
Georgina (or
Georgiana, a name variant she used from time to time, however, the “Georgina”
alternative is used consistently here) was born at Gordon Castle, Fochabers,
Morayshire in 1781. Her parents were
Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon and Jane Maxwell who hailed from a
minor aristocratic family in Edinburgh. The
Gordons were one of the most powerful, wealthy and influential families in
Scotland. Jane, who was a charismatic
and unconventional lady, snared the country-loving Alexander at a ball held in
the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh. The
couple married in 1767 and had a family of seven, two boys and five girls, the
last of which was Georgina. Her mother’s
main aim in life was to achieve good, ie aristocratic, marriages for all five
of her daughters, an objective which she achieved. After much manoeuvring, Georgina was
betrothed to a widower, John the 6th Duke of Bedford whose first wife,
Georgiana, had died after bearing three children. He was 15 years older than Georgina. Her mother, Jane, was delighted that at last
she had bagged a duke. The two were
married on 23 June 1803, when Georgina was 21.
Between 1804 and 1826, John 6th Duke of Bedford and his Duchess
and second wife, Georgina, had a family of 10 children. The Bedfords, too, were
exceedingly wealthy and had extensive estates in various counties including
Bedfordshire where the family seat, Woburn Abbey, was located.
Jane, Duchess of Gordon, was ill-matched to her country-loving husband. While he enjoyed shooting and fishing at Gordon Castle, she preferred the social life of Edinburgh and, subsequently, London, where she became a prominent figure in Tory social and cultural circles. This was ironic since the Bedfords were associated with the Whig party. Over time, the Gordons’ marriage gradually disintegrated.
Jane had a
major influence on the development of Georgina who resembled her mother closely
in personality. Due to Jane’s society
life, Georgina became confident around the leading political and societal
figures of the age. Her mother also
taught her to love the country. Jane had
established a rural retreat at Kinrara, a working farm in the upper Spey valley
in the parish of Alvie. Georgina came to
love the area and the simple life she led there. She would retain a life-long devotion to the
area. Jane also brought up Georgina to
be interested in the welfare of people at all levels in society, including the
local poor.
The significance
that Kinrara held for her mother was recognised by her being buried there when
she died in 1812 and a monument was raised to her memory. Kinrara then passed to Jane’s brother George,
the Marquis of Huntly, but he only occupied the house for a short time each
shooting season to accommodate himdelf and his bachelor friends, otherwise it
was shut up. Georgina and her husband,
the 6th Duke of Bedford, turned their attention to the property of
Invereshie Lodge, located five miles further up the Spey valley in a raised
position at the confluence of the Spey and its tributary, the Feshie, as a
summer retreat. The property belonged to
the Macpherson-Grant family and in 1815 they acquired the extensive Forest of
Feshie, which they had previously only rented, from the Duke of Gordon. In 1818, the two Feshie properties were
combined to create a sporting estate of over 13,000 acres and it was leased for
many years by the 6th Duke of Bedford. The Invereshie property extended up both
sides of the Feshie, so Georgina could continue her simple country life in the
summer and autumn each year, including living amongst the local population in
small settlements high up the Feshie valley.
Edwin Landseer
(1802 – 1873), a precocious portrait painter, especially of animals, first
entered the life of the Bedfords in 1820, when he was 18 years old. The Duke of Bedford became his patron and
inevitably Landseer also came into contact with Georgina. He was 21 years her junior and only slightly
older than her eldest son. Landseer’s
first recorded visit to Woburn was in 1823.
He had been commissioned to paint a portrait of Georgina, so they
inevitably spent much time together and there was an instant attraction between
them. Subsequently, Landseer did many
sensitive paintings and sketches of her and acted as her art tutor. Landseer’s first visit to Scotland was in
1824. It is not known if Landseer
visited Georgina at this time, though she was staying at Invereshie, about five
miles south of Kinrara. There has been
much speculation on the nature of the relationship between Georgina and
Landseer. Of the two biographers of
Georgina, Rachel Trethewey believes that it was sexual and started between 1823
and 1825. On the other hand, Keir
Davidson is more cautious, due to a lack of direct evidence for the nature of
the relationship.
In 1822, the
Duke of Bedford suffered a severe stroke while he and Georgina were staying at
Endsleigh, his home near Tavistock, Devon, which caused Georgina much
distress. In 1825 Georgina became
pregnant and her last child, Rachel was born in 1826. Both Georgina and Landseer were in the
Highlands at the time the child must have been conceived, leaving open the
question of the girl’s parentage. In
1827, Georgina spent four months away from her husband at Invereshie, where she
was almost certainly visited by Landseer.
Georgina became pregnant for a final time in 1830 but the pregnancy
miscarried.
The Duke and
Duchess of Bedford continued to visit Invereshie annually until 1829, always in
the company of a shifting population of prominent guests, including Edwin
Landseer. However, Invereshie had one
deficiency which was problematic for the sportsmen, it lacked sufficiently
extensive grazing for the ponies used for travelling into the hills and for recovering
deer carcasses. This lack of pasture
land led the Bedfords to look for alternatives to Invereshie. Initially, the Duchess made enquiries about
the Kincraig estate, which was located close to beloved Kinrara. However, the solution to the problem came in
1828 when a property belonging to the Grant family on the other side of the
Spey from Kinrara became available. The
Doune was larger than Kinrara and enjoyed excellent grazing. Georgina and her husband then used the Doune
as their summer/autumn Highland retreat for many years, though Georgina had
frequent battles with the Grants over the extent of access she could enjoy at
the property. Invereshie was then taken
up by a succession of wealthy sportsmen.
Edward Ellice, MP, a close friend of Georgina, used Invereshie as his
base from 1833 and is thought to have taken a five year lease to the property
in 1834.
Georgina’s
sons, Lord Edward Russell, Lord Alexander Russell and Lord Cosmo Russell, were
particularly keen sportsmen and regular visitors to the Doune. Lord Alexander took over the running of the
Doune deer forest in 1839.
At this time,
Landseer was becoming increasingly famous for his art and was elected to the
Royal Academy in 1831. After Queen
Victoria came to the throne in 1837, Landseer soon became her favourite
artist. In 1836 Queen Victoria’s mother,
the Duchess of Kent, had commissioned Landseer to paint a portrait of Queen
Victoria’s dog, Dash, for a birthday present, which impressed the monarch both
with Landseer’s painting skill and with his personality. In January 1838 he stayed at Windsor Castle
to paint a portrait of the Queen on horseback and in 1840 he undertook to paint
a portrait of the Queen’s wedding to Prince Albert. Landseer was knighted in 1849 while staying
at Balmoral Castle. The famous animal
portraitist also developed good relations with Georgina’s wider family
including her husband, the Duke of Bedford.
Bedford was aware of a close relationship between the painter and his
wife but tolerated the situation. Landseer was a keen deer-stalker. The Duke and Landseer went out shooting
together and they also conversed about art.
In 1838, Edwin Landseer and his brother Charles provided the
illustrations for the book “Deer-stalking in the Forest of Atholl” by William
Scrope.
The Duke of
Bedford suffered a stroke while dressing on 17 October 1839 at the Doune,
Rothiemurchus. Local medical help was
called but he soon fell into a coma and expired on Sunday 20th. All the guests at the house left soon
afterwards. This event had a great
impact on Georgina because she loved her husband, notwithstanding her closeness
to Landseer. However, as the Dowager
Duchess, she was instantly demoted in societal eyes to a lower rank in the
social hierarchy and one which carried less influence. With the exception of her step-son Lord John
Russell, there was a rather distant relationship with the late duke’s first
family. It is claimed that in 1840,
Landseer proposed marriage to Georgina but that she turned him down, which did
not help his mental state. After that
year their relationship, though it was maintained, seemed to change in
character as the artist developed patrons elsewhere amongst the royalty,
nobility and aristocracy and spent less time in the company of the Dowager
Duchess.
In 1848, the
owner of the Doune, the recently widowed Lady Jane Grant, had returned from
India where her husband had been a judge, and wanted to reoccupy the
Doune. Georgina persuaded Lady Jane to
share the accommodation at the Doune, with the Grants moving out to Inverduie
House when the Dowager Duchess of Bedford wanted to stay in the Spey valley. Georgina died in early 1853 at Nice in the
South of France and had spent her last visit to the Doune in 1852.
David
Kinloch Michie on the run
According to
the “Weekly News” article, “Gow” shaved off his beard and repaired to Aberdeen
where he joined the police, presumably under an assumed identity, and was
instructed to look out for himself, a dangerous fugitive, described in a
warrant which was given to him. Then,
allegedly, during his duties, he became a familiar of “a widowed lady of high
rank” who was the proprietrix of a shooting lodge and estate and who invited
him to become her gamekeeper. This
caused him to confess his outlawed status to the lady, who was very influential
and she in turn “promised to do all she could to free “Gow” from the
consequences of his rash act”. A search
has thus been made of other information sources to seek independent evidence
which bears on these claims.
One fact of potentially
great significance is the employment of David Kinloch Michie’s brother, John,
as a gamekeeper in the parish of Alvie from at least 1836. In 1851 he was living in the property called
Pittourie but it is not known for how long this had been his abode. Further detail is provided by the lists,
published in various newspapers, of people who had paid for schedule D (land
occupier) and schedule B (gamekeeper) game certificates. In September 1843, John Michie had a schedule
B certificate provided by Lord Edward Russell (1805 – 1874), second son of
Georgina and Lord John Russell, over the lands of Kincraig. His brother, Lord Alexander, Georgina’s
youngest son, held a schedule D game certificate for the Doune in 1848.
John Michie’s
brother, David Kinloch, had been on the run since 21 December 1839 and was
formally declared an outlaw on 28 April 1840.
He was finally apprehended and taken into custody at the end of July
1845, probably on 28th of that month, the details of this event are
given below. Thus, David Kinloch Michie
was on the run for about 4 ½ years and the speculations made in my previous
article on this blogsite about him possibly joining the police after his trial
are simply wrong. If he joined a police
force and made the acquaintance of an influential widow, it must have been
between late 1839 and summer 1845.
One witness at
David Kinloch Michie’s trial in 1845, Angus McDonald, gamekeeper at Glen
Firnat, Mouline, Perthshire, recounted that he knew Michie from before the
shooting incident, meeting him about a year after he went on the run, ie about
December 1840, on McDonald’s grounds at Glen Firnat. David Kinloch Michie was in the company of
another poacher by the name of Dobson. McDonald
and Michie spoke about the shooting incident and Michie’s attitude to it (see
below). This evidence suggests that
David Kinloch Michie was still pursuing a poaching lifestyle about a year after
he absconded, further narrowing the period during which his alleged
interactions with the widow could have occurred.
The arrest
of David Kinloch Michie
Contemporary
newspaper reports credited Sergeant William Christie of the Perthshire County
Constabulary with the apprehension of David Kinloch Michie in Blairgowrie on 28
July 1845, 4 ½ years after he became a fugitive. At Michie’s subsequent trial, Christie gave a
detailed account of the process by which Michie was secured. It had some unusual features which require explanation.
A commendably
suspicious Sergeant Christie, up early in the morning in Blairgowrie for
another purpose, spotted three men, two of whom he knew to be William and
Alexander Michie, travelling in an easterly direction along the High Street,
past the end of Brown Street. He did not
know the third man but suspected at the time that he might be a notorious
poacher by the name of Sim. Christie
followed the group to the house of John Bance, a vintner, located in Allan
Street, and the trio went inside.
Christie entered, sat in the same room as his quarry and ordered a gill
(quarter of a pint) of whisky. Before
his glass of spirit arrived, Christie was offered a dram by William Michie,
which he accepted. (The formal
definition of a dram is 1/32 of a pint, but it is understood informally in
Scotland to mean a small glass of whisky).
While drinking the proffered glass, Christie noticed that William Michie
was winking at the man whom he thought was Sim, suggesting that they believed
that Christie did not know that one of their number was the fugitive, David
Kinloch Michie. This knowing gesture
made Christie suspicious that the man whose identity was unknown to him was, in
fact, the outlawed brother of William and Alexander Michie.
Christie then
asked William Michie, straight out, if the third member of their group was
David Kinloch Michie. He immediately stood
up and admitted his identity, “Yes, my name is David Michie, what have you to
say to me”. To confirm this identity,
Christie asked John Bance, on his return to the room with the policeman’s
whisky, if the third member of the group was David Michie. Bance replied in the affirmative. This must have been a difficult moment for
William Christie. He was being
confronted, not just by an outlawed, violent poacher but, additionally, by two
of his brothers, one of whom was also a seasoned law-breaker. Surely, David Kinloch Michie could easily
have made his escape, as he had done several times in the past five years, with
or without the help of his brothers, had he wished to do so? Does this imply that DK Michie had already
made up his mind to surrender?
Christie asked
David Michie to sit down as he had something to say to him and that he was an
outlaw. Although Christie did not have a
written warrant for DK Michie’s arrest, he did have an order to take him into
custody. David Kinloch Michie then
agreed to go with Sergeant Christie, but only on condition that he would not be
handcuffed and that he would be treated “like a gentleman”. Christie then asked William and Alexander
Michie for their help, should David Michie attack him, but agreed not to use
handcuffs or to call for additional policemen, if David acted peaceably. DK Michie agreed with Christie’s proposal,
surely confirming that he had indeed concluded that he should surrender. Christie further proposed that they should
leave Blairgowrie for Perth surreptitiously, so that the public remained
unaware of what was happening, otherwise a crowd might have been caused to
gather and could have led to a disturbance.
Again, DK Michie concurred with Christie’s suggestion.
So far, so
good, for William Christie’s plan to secure the outlawed poacher. But then he met an unexpected hurdle. He sent the vintner, John Bance, to get a
conveyance for the journey to Perth but he returned empty-handed. Christie, keeping a cool head, suggested they
should instead have some breakfast while they waited for the stagecoach. Again, David Michie assented to Christie’s
proposal. After the meal had been
completed and the group had had more whisky, there was still time to burn, so
Christie took the group to his own home to await the arrival of the
stagecoach. Then they all travelled
together to Perth, apparently without incident.
Although David
Kinloch Michie had, in effect, given himself up into Christie’s custody, in
other ways he remained defiant and uncooperative. He never mentioned the incident that had
caused him to be declared an outlaw, or admitted to his guilt to the charge of
wounding his pursuers. Also, he did not formally
surrender to Christie, or wait on him for that purpose. Once in the county town of Perth, David
Kinloch Michie made a declaration before Hugh Barclay, Sheriff Substitute for
Perthshire. That statement is given
below in full, as it is a masterpiece of obfuscation, masquerading as
cooperation. It is difficult to have
confidence that anything stated by DK Michie in the document is either accurate,
or at least nearly truthful. Perhaps
what it does underline is that David Michie was a very clever individual.
“Compeared
David Kinloch Michie who being duly cautioned and examined, declares that he is
a labourer and that he has not been residing in any fixed residence for
sometime back. That he does not
recollect whether he resided at Cowford in December 1839. That his father at that time resided at
Cowford. That he thinks he had left
Cowford before that time. That he was a
little acquainted with a person of the name of Alexander Kennedy but who was
better known by the name of Alexander Rannach.
That he never was on the moors with Kennedy, but he has been in his
company on the road. That he thinks he
has heard of a Moor called Balnabroich but he cannot say whether he ever was
upon it. That he did not know a person
of the name of Alexander McDonald, game keeper, Kindroggan. That he never was detected poaching on the
hills in the parish of Kirkmichael or on any hills in that district / country,
either by one or more persons. That he
did not in particular in that district of County, either in the years 1839 or
in 1840, or at any time, fire, or attempt to fire, at any persons with a
fowling piece, or with firearms of any kind.
That he never saw any charge against him for any offence whatever and
was not aware that any officers had been in search of him, and he is not aware
that he was outlawed at the Circuit Court at Perth for not appearing to answer
a charge for having shot at certain persons in the district of
Kirkmichael. That he is twenty-four
years of age. That he left his father’s
home when he was between the age of ten and fifteen and has not had any fixed
residence since that time, but he was in service for some time since his
leaving his father’s house. That during
the last five years the declarant has been working up and down throughout
Scotland and England and has frequently been in the neighbourhood of
Blairgowrie for short periods during that time.
That he came to Blairgowrie this morning from my father’s house at
Cowford. David K Michie. Hugh Barclay.
Thomas Duncan. JT Gibbons. H Martin”.
David Kinloch
Michie was held in Perth prison while he awaited trial.
The trials
of David Kinloch Michie
Immediately
after the arrest of DK Michie at the end of July 1845, the processes of law
swung into action in preparation for Michie’s appearance in court. Some of the witnesses (Alexander Fraser, then
tenant of Mains of Downie, and Henry Rattray, then farmer at Stronamuck)
revisited Balnabroich hill to remind themselves of the exact location of the
poachers and their pursuers when the shooting occurred. The surgeons who had treated the wounded gave
in reports of the injuries sustained, though the report from James Kippen, the
Kirkmichael surgeon, was disappointing.
He had not made notes at the time but claimed that he “remembered all
the circumstances perfectly”. Also in
early August, several witnesses from the chasing party were taken to Perth
prison to view the prisoner and confirm his identity. For some of the visitors the time interval
since the event and the relatively brief nature of the encounter led to some
uncertainty that the prisoner was Michie.
For example, John Murray, son of Robert Murray the farmer at Dalvie,
confessed “I have this day seen David Michie, but I cannot say that he is one
of said poachers or even like either of them”.
However, others had no doubts that DK Michie was the taller of the two
poachers on the fateful day. Alexander
McKenzie, overseer at the farm of Balmyle, was quite certain in his
identification. “I have this day seen
David Michie in Perth Prison”.
David Kinloch
Michie was accused of a contravention of the second section of the statute 10
Geo 4 Chap 38 and was first brought to court on Friday 10 October 1845 during
the Autumn Circuit at Perth. David
Michie’s counsel, Mr George Patton, then objected to the indictment on the
grounds that the locus delicti had not been sufficiently specified. “On
or near to the hill of Balnabroich in the parish of Kirkmichael and shire of
Perth” was held by the judges to be too vague, bearing in mind that the feature
in question was about two miles long by three miles wide. Before the close of the court the following
day, Mr Patton petitioned the sheriff, craving that Michie be released from
prison on bail, but this was refused. A
further application of a similar nature was made to the judges on the circuit,
who also declined to grant bail. These
results were not surprising, given the fact that Michie had been on the run for
nearly five years. David Michie was then
detained on a further warrant and consigned to Perth prison to await a new
trial.
This setback in the legal process prompted John McLean, Joint
Procurator Fiscal for Perth to visit the hill of Balnabroich with four of the
witnesses, Alexander
McDonald, John McIntosh, James Stewart and Alexander Fraser. All agreed that the name of the hill was
correct and that at the point where the poachers discharged their guns, the
ground belonged to Mrs Valentine Haggart under entail and the spot was located
about 200 yards further up the hill than the head dyke of the farm of
Balnabroich.
Meanwhile,
David Kinloch Michie continued to be held in Perth prison. Towards the end of
November 1845, he was again indicted and accused at the instance of Her
Majesty’s Advocate for Her Majesty’s interest of contravening second section of 10 Geo 4 Chap 38 and of assault by discharging a
loaded gun, causing the effusion of blood and serious injury of the
person. It is worth extracting the part
of this statute relating to the use of guns, because it clearly encompasses the
crime which was committed. “An Act for
the more effectual punishment of attempts to murder in certain cases in
Scotland, it is enacted by Section
Second That from and after the passing of this Act, if any person shall within
Scotland wilfully, mischievously and unlawfully shoot at any of His Majesty’s
subjects, or shall wilfully mischievously and unlawfully present point or level
any kind of loaded fire arms at any of His Majesty’s subjects, and attempt by
drawing a trigger, or in any other manner, to discharge the same at or against
his or their person or persons … with intent in so doing or by means thereof to
murder or to maim, disfigure or disable such His Majesty’s subject or subjects
or with intent to do some other grievous bodily harm to such His Majesty’s
subject or subjects … such person so offending, and being lawfully found guilty
actor or art and part of any one or more of the several offences wherein before
enumerated, shall be held guilty of a capital crime and shall receive
sentence of death accordingly”(author’s emphasis).
The case was
heard in the High Court, Edinburgh on Monday 15 December 1845, starting at
9.30am. Jurors, most of whom were farmers,
were notified of their obligation to attend for the trial, under threat of a
fine of 100 merks. The prosecution was
led by the Solicitor General, with the assistance of Mr David Milne AD and Mr
Charles Bailey AD. Michie continued to be
represented by Mr George Patton. David
Michie pleaded “not guilty” to the charges laid against him. The witnesses were those named in the
compound account given above on the progression of the events leading up to the
shooting, the shooting itself and its immediate aftermath. Some of the witnesses had moved on to new
positions by the time of the second trial.
It did not take
the jury long to find David Kinloch Michie guilty as charged but the Lord
Justices held over pronouncing sentence until Wednesday 17 December 1845 and,
in the meantime, Michie was remitted to Edinburgh prison. Two days after the trial, he learned his
fate, “to be transported beyond seas for the period of seven years from this
date and that under the visions and certifications contained in the Acts of
Parliament made there anent, and ordain him to be detained in the prison of
Edinburgh till removed for transportation”.
It has to be
concluded that Michie was a very lucky man not to receive a capital
sentence. Had he committed his offence
and been tried a few years earlier, or had he killed one of the pursuers, he
could easily have been condemned to death by hanging for his crime, bearing in
mind the evidence given by Angus McDonald, the Glen Firnat gamekeeper, who met
Michie by chance on the hill about a year after the shooting. “I entered into conversation with Michie and
asked him if he was not afraid to be going about there after what he had done
and more especially as he was an outlaw, and he said that he was not at all
afraid and that all Glenfirnat would not take him. I then asked him if he really aimed at
McDonald seeing that he had hit him in the face, to which he answered that he
had aimed at him and was sorry he had not killed him. I do not recollect what his grounds of
illwill at McDonald. I asked him if
he was not afraid that when he did fire, he would kill him and he said he was
not afraid of killing him but wished he had done so” (author’s emphasis).
The reason for
the lack of capital sentence was due to the actions of the reforming
politician, Lord John Russell, son of the 6th Duke of Bedford and
stepson of Georgina, the Duchess of Bedford.
In 1837, Lord John Russell steered a series of seven Acts through
Parliament which together lowered the number of offences carrying a sentence of
death from 37 to 16. This was reduced
further by the Substitution of Punishments of Death Act 1841. After these reforms, the death penalty was
rarely used in the UK for crimes other than murder. Lord John, a Whig, was famous for other
reforming political work. He supported
the pardon of the Tolpuddle Martyrs in 1836 and he was a major supporter of the
Reform Act of 1832. Transportation for
seven years was a frequently used sentence for many crimes in the 1840s. At the Glasgow Circuit Court held in May of
that year, 57 of the 116 cases resulted in that sentence. At the same session there was only one sentence
of death.
The link
between David Kinloch Michie and Georgina, Dowager Duchess of Bedford
Proof of a
connection between David Kinloch Michie, his brother John and the Dowager
Duchess of Bedford comes from game certificate lists of 1848 – 1851 for
Inverness-shire. In all these years the B
game certificates of the two gamekeeping brothers were provided by
Georgina. David for Rothiemurchus (1848)
and the Doune (1849, 1850, 1851), John for Kincraig (1848, 1851) and the Doune
(1849, 1850). It is likely that the two brothers
continued in her employment until her death in early 1853, after which they
sought alternative positions. Georgina’s
need for the services of a gamekeeper related to the country sports interests
of her sons and her many guests at the Doune, including Edwin Landseer.
So far, no direct
evidence has been uncovered for David Michie joining a police force. Presumably, it would have been the Inverness-shire
force, since the Duchess’ Scottish properties were all located in that county. But circumstantial evidence shows clearly
that this claim might be true. Lord John
Russell was responsible for introducing one further piece of legislation which
bears directly on this question. The
County Police Act of 1839 enabled JPs in England and Wales to establish police
forces in their counties. It was also
known as the Rural Police Act or the Rural Constabularies Act. Establishment of such forces was not
compulsory, so some counties then created police forces, but others sat on
their hands. Lord John Russell was Home
Secretary from 1835 to 1839. This
legislation did not apply to Scotland, but a similar Act was introduced there
in the Rural Police (Scotland) Act of 1839.
Police forces in Scotland finally became mandatory in 1857. The stimulus for the creation of police
forces was often due to problems caused by vagrancy, rural unrest and
industrial militancy. Commissioners of
Supply were responsible in Scotland for the formation and oversight of county
police forces and for raising money for these purposes by a tax on landed
property.
In 1840, an
advertisement appeared in the Inverness Courier for applicants to a new police
force for Inverness-shire.
“Inverness-shire Rural Police.
Applicants for situations of Sub-Inspectors and District Constables
under the Rural Police of this County are requested to lodge their applications
and testimonials with the Sheriff Clerk of the County on or before Thursday the
19th inst. Castle, Inverness,
9th November 1840”. The
Inverness-shire Rural Police Force first functioned in the financial year
starting in April 1841 but after a few years of operations, letters of
complaint started to appear in the local newspapers due to the cost of the service
and the perception that it was ineffective.
Sheep-stealing had nor decreased, and crime generally had increased, in
spite of the fact that a rural police constable lived close to his geographical
area of responsibility. Although perhaps
not directly relevant to DK Michie, Inverness-shire constable John McDonald was
involved in the capture of an outlaw by the name of Forbes who was hiding in a
hollowed-out peat stack at his father’s house in the parish of Alvie in October
1842.
Did a vacancy
in the Inverness-shire police for a district constable in the Alvie area become
known to David Kinloch Michie in the period 1840 – 1843, which he saw as a good
cover for his true identity? If so, what
was the significance of the employment of John Michie, David’s brother as a
keeper in the parish of Alvie, probably from at least 1836 and possibly by the
Russell family? John’s employment
appears to have preceded brother David’s engagement by the Dowager Duchess by as
much as nine years. Was John Michie’s
presence at Alvie, from at least June 1841, a magnet for David in his quest to
avoid detection, once he went on the run, in late December 1839? Alvie, the Doune, Kinrara, Invereshie and
Inverduie all lay in the south-east part of Invernessshire, but not far from
the boundaries of five other counties (Perthshire, Aberdeenshire, Banffshire,
Elginshire and Nairnshire) which, together with the mountainous terrain, may
have been an attractive feature in the mind of the fugitive, especially as a
cover for his escape, should his presence in the south of Inverness-shire be discovered? However, the fact that his third illegitimate
child was conceived about March 1843, probably at Blacklunans, suggests he may
still have been following the life of an outlawed poacher at that date. Another intriguing question is whether John
Michie was in some way the conduit by which his brother, David, became known to
the Dowager Duchess of Bedford.
No evidence has
been uncovered that David Michie was ever transported, let alone for a period
of seven years, or for the alleged actions of Georgina in gaining a pardon for
the notorious poacher. He was sentenced
on 17 December 1845 but had returned to normal civilian life under his own name
by mid-November 1848, just less than three years after he was sent down. Something must have happened in the period
1845 – 1848, which resulted in his sentence being commuted both in type and
length.
Georgina,
Dowager Duchess of Bedford died on 24 February 1853 at Nice in the South of
France, where she had gone to spend the winter hoping the climate would
ameliorate health problems with her lungs.
For the Michie brothers, John and David Kinloch, it was now time to find
new positions of employment.
Employment
of David Kinloch Michie after working for the Dowager Duchess of Bedford
William Michie
has not been found in the 1851 census. A
William Michie, described as a labourer from Blairgowrie, was detected poaching
in a gang of four at Montreathmont Muir, near Brechin, Forfarshire, part of the
Earl of South Esk’s estate, in 1858. Two
men were detained but Michie escaped. In
1861, William was a gamekeeper working at Kirkmichael, Perthshire. He died of heart disease at Blairgowrie in
1870.
At the 1851
Census, John Michie was found living at Pitourie, Alvie with his wife,
Charlotte and six children. However, a
decade later, he had moved to England and found employment as a gamekeeper at
Hepburn, Northumberland, possibly in the service of Charles Bennet, the 6th
Earl of Tankerville, whose seat was at Chillingham Castle and who was a major
landowner in the area. John Michie
remained in this district for the rest of his life, dying at Chillingham in
1900. Tankerville was an occasional
visitor to Speyside, a friend of Landseer and may have known John Michie before
employing him.
Alexander Michie, David Kinloch Michie’s youngest brother, had been a farm servant at Cowford, as recorded in the census returns of 1851, but by 1854 he was employed as a gamekeeper by Roger James Robertson Aytoun, Esquire, at Ashintully Castle, Kirkmichael, Perthshire and continued in Mr Aytoun’s employment until at least 1857. Roger Aytoun had been a captain in the Fife Militia Artillery. At the census of 1861, Alexander’s employment had changed, and he was then a gamekeeper living at the Gamekeeper’s Lodge, Minnigaff, Kirkudbright. He died in 1888 at Perth.
In April 1852, David Kinloch Michie had married Ann Gilmore at Byth, King Edward, Aberdeenshire. The first child of this couple, John, was born in 1853 at Fetteresso, Kincardineshire, though it is uncertain who DK Michie’s employer was at this time. However, in 1854 and 1855, David Michie’s game certificate B was sponsored by Major Andrew Gammell, Esquire, of Drumtochty Castle, Forfarshire, over lands at Drumtochty. This village lies 10 miles south-west of Fetteresso. The Gammell family had made their money from banking in Greenock. By 1857, the Michie family had moved to Port Elphinstone, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire. David Michie was still employed as a gamekeeper, but his new master has not been discovered. This period of work seems to have been short-lived as by June of the following year David Michie had moved to the employment of the Duke of Gordon at Gordon Castle, Fochabers. His deployment as a gamekeeper at Gordon Castle was maintained until at least 1861.
By April 1863,
David Kinloch Michie had changed to a gamekeeping position at Levens Hall, near
Kendal, Westmorland, then in the ownership of Lady Mary Howard, a member of the
Bagot family, but occupied at the time by Mr W Wilson. Ironically, in 1863, David Michie was
responsible for laying an ambush for poachers on the estate, three of whom were
captured and put on trial. Michie
continued as gamekeeper at Levens Hall until at least 1867, though local school
records show that his children had two extended periods of absence, which may
indicate their father’s temporary removal to a new location. Also in 1867, David Michie is known to have
been breeding and selling retriever dogs.
In 1887, he was also breeding Fox Terriers. Several of his sons became noted game dog breeders.
David Kinloch
Michie returned to Scotland by 1871, where in the census of that year he was
found living at "Ashintully Gamekeeper's", Kirkmichael, the very
location occupied by his brother Alexander between about 1854 and 1857. However, he appears not to have been working
as a gamekeeper, since his calling was given as “hotel keeper”. By 1876, when David Michie had reached the
age of 56, he had become a farmer, at the property of Clunskea, Moulin,
Perthshire, located about ten miles by road west of Kirkmichael. The timing of this move into farming is known
from a newspaper report of him suing, successfully, a neighbouring farmer,
Alexander Cameron of Tarvie, for allowing his sheep to stray onto, and feed
off, Michie’s land. This was another
irony in the evolution of the outlawed poacher into a law-abiding citizen
willing to use the courts to maintain his rights. The 1881 Census gives some information on the
make-up of Clunskea farm. It extended to
1500 acres of which 25 acres were arable, so for a hill farm, it was quite
modest in size.
By 1882, David
Michie must have accumulated some capital since in that year he was able to buy
a parcel of 9 acres of development land on the edge of Montrose,
Forfarshire. His successful building out
of this property has been dealt with previously.
The teacher at
Levens school, which was attended by David Michie’s children, at least between
1863 and 1867, was George Stabler who became a noted naturalist. He established an enduring relationship with
David Michie’s eldest son, John, who was born in 1853. In 1880, John Michie was appointed as
forester to Queen Victoria on the Balmoral estates. Later, in 1901, he was promoted to factor on
the estates. George Stabler and John
Michie kept up a correspondence, mostly on nature matters, and Stabler visited
Balmoral twice on moss collecting expeditions in 1884 and 1894. Also in 1884, at the age of 64, David Kinloch
Michie walked from Clunskea to Balmoral to visit his son, John, travelling via
Glen Beg. The distance was about 40
miles cross-country. David had clearly
maintained his fitness.
The two-part biography of John Michie
(1853) can be found on this blogsite. It
borrows heavily from diaries kept by the royal servant during his years at
Balmoral. Although he must have been
aware of his father’s dramatic career as a poacher, he never mentioned elements
of that story directly in his account of his own life. Perhaps he kept his father’s dodgy past a
secret in case it should have an impact on his own prominent position? But
there was one story which appeared to refer obliquely to his father’s past
activities. The diary entry for 4 August
1891 is as follows. “Organized a party
for a drive to Dunkeld. It consisted of
the old people, Augusta & Neilson & boy, (sister & her husband)
Duncan McLean, and Helen & myself.
We drove by the Loch of Cluny where all crossed by boat and had a look
through the old castle on the island.
The district round here being the scene of my father's boyhood he was
eminently in a position to describe it, which he did minutely”. Adjacent to the southern end of this loch
were the lime works which had been managed by DK Michie’s father. But perhaps more meaningfully, the area lay
within the compass of David’s notorious poaching activities.
At the time of the 1991 Census, David
Michie had retired from farming and was living in Blairgowrie, where he
remained for the rest of his life. David
Kinloch Michie then continued on his reformed path of upright, law-abiding
citizen, acting as guarantor for a school inspector to the tune of £200 in
1893, attending the local Highland Gathering, developing his property at
Redfield, Montrose, and finding time to sue a firm of painters and decorators
for shoddy work. He died at 18 Perth
Street, Blairgowrie on 26 February 1893.
At that time, the value of his moveable estate was £586. David was buried in the local cemetery and,
even today, his grave is neatly maintained by someone, possibly a local
resident, who perhaps knows of his exploits, both legal and illegal and,
perhaps, feels that his memory in his adopted town should be kept alive.
What has been added and what remains to
be done
The present investigation has
undoubtedly strengthened the claim that the identity of “Donald Gow” in the
1904 article in “Weekly News” is David Kinloch Michie (1820 – 1903), that the
story represents real events from his life and that some of the details of his
life, deliberately obscured in the article, have been clarified. In particular, the identity of the
influential widowed lady who persuaded him to surrender is now clearly
established as Georgina, the Dowager Duchess of Bedford, whose gamekeeper DK
Michie became. The area where his
interactions with her occurred is now clearly seen to be the upper Spey
Valley. Circumstantial evidence shows
that David Michie could have joined the Inverness-shire Rural Police and served
in that area. The details of David
Michie’s notorious shooting incident have been revealed in the trial papers
from 1845. Other information concerning
the actions of David Michie and his brothers illustrates a family that easily
crossed the boundary between gamekeeping and game-stealing over two decades,
and also the way in which support networks functioned to make professional
poaching profitable.
Not all events in the “Weekly News”
article have been supported by the revelation of new and independent
facts. The identity of “brother William”
as Charles Michie, who lost several fingers of his left hand to an exploding
gun has not been directly verified. No
information has been uncovered regarding the claim that Michie humiliated a solitary keeper by making him carry the poacher’s bag. Similarly, with the tale of Michie shooting
out a candle in a public house to prevent a poaching colleague getting drunk
before an expedition, no new evidence has emerged. Another pub story
of Michie’s bravado in evading capture after being found drinking also remains
in the unproven category. No direct
proof has been uncovered of Michie joining the police, or of his interactions, as a
police officer, with the Dowager Duchess of Bedford. Further, no direct evidence has so far been
discovered of Georgina’s intercession on his behalf with the legal authorities.
Interestingly, evidence has emerged
which could point to the process by which DK Michie might have joined the
Inverness-shire police, sought a rural posting in the upper Spey valley and
made the acquaintance of the Dowager Duchess and her shooting guests, and that
is the discovery that his brother John had been working as a gamekeeper in the
area since at least 1836, before DK Michie’s crime was committed, and that John,
too, was sometimes an employee of the Bedfords.
A tentative DK Michie chronology
It is now also possible to present a
tentative chronology for the main events of David Michie’s life to the point
where he had ceased to be an outlaw, had had his sentence commuted and had been
appointed as gamekeeper to the Dowager Duchess of Bedford.
183? – David Michie became a
professional poacher.
19 December 1839 – David Michie and
Alexander Kennedy seen poaching on Kindrogan land near Kirkmichael.
21 December 1839 – Michie and Kennedy
pursued by posse of locals, who tried to detain them, to the Hill of
Balnabroich. Both poachers discharged
their shotguns injuring several of the following party. Michie and Kennedy escaped and went on the
run.
28 April 1840 – Michie and Kennedy failed
to attend court when summonsed, were declared outlaws and their moneyable goods
seized for the Crown.
December 1840 - Meeting in Glen Firnat
between David Kinloch Michie and local gamekeeper Angus McDonald. Michie admitted that he tried to murder the
policeman. Michie was then still
poaching.
March 1843 – Michie’s third illegitimate
child, Hellen Stewart, was conceived, indicating that he was likely to be still
acting as a poacher, using safe houses for concealment.
March 1843 – July 1845. If Michie joined the Inverness-shire police
and came under the influence of Georgina, Dowager Duchess of Bedford, it was probably
in this interval. The police force could
have been joined about January 1844, if he had carried the notice of his wanted
status for a year and a half after his admission.
28 July 1845 – David Michie was apprehended
by Sergeant William Christie of the Perthshire Constabulary in the house of
John Bance, vintner, in Blairgowrie. DK
Michie had probably already decided to give himself up.
15 December 1845 – David Michie found
guilty of discharging loaded firearms at the parties named in the indictment.
17 December 1845 – David Kinloch Michie
sentenced to be “transported beyond seas for seven years and to be detained in
Edinburgh Prison until removed for transportation”.
January 1846 – November 1848. Period during which the sentence of David
Michie was commuted, possibly by the influence and actions of Georgina the
Dowager Duchess of Bedford.
16 November 1848 – David Michie and his
brother John both named as gamekeepers to Her Grace the Dowager Duchess of
Bedford, David over lands at Rothiemurchus and John at Kincraig.
Conclusion
Will the unverified
aspects of the “Donald Gow” story be confirmed from independent sources in the
future? Who knows? I shall keep searching for clues and would be
delighted to be able to publish “David Kinloch Michie (1820 – 1903) Scottish
poacher turned gamekeeper in the romantic age of poaching. Revisited – again”.
Don Fox
20230618
donaldpfox@gmail.com
In pursuing this story, I have been greatly helped by having access to the trial papers of David Kinloch Michie, which were made available to me by the generosity of a descendant of David Kinloch Michie, Peter Straiton . Further information, concerning DK Michie’s employment at Levens Hall, Kendal, has been furnished by Allan Stewart of the Levens Family History Group, to whom I also offer my thanks.
