Knowledge

James Carnegie of Finhaven

Source 📝

222:
mentioned, went to a Tavern, where after they had been there some Time, Finhaven and Brigton fell a quarrelling, as some say, concerning the Lady Kinfawns, whose Brother Finhaven is; and others say it was about the Marriage of a Daughter of Finhaven's to a young Gentleman in this Country ; but however that be, Finhaven went to take his Horse, and had one foot in the Stirup, as his Servants say, when Brigton attack'd him, and threw him in a Mire, where he had certainly perish'd, had not his Servants come to his Rescue, together with the deceast Earl; Finhaven was no sooner recover'd, and his Servants endeavouring to make clean his Cloaths, but he drew his Sword; and the Earl stepping in to prevent any Mischief that might happen, received from Finhaven a mortal Wound, about an Inch below his Navel, which wounded his Puddings in three Parts, and went quite throrow his Body. His Lordship, after he received the Wound, spoke little till Saturday's Night he called for his Lady, endeavouring to comfort her, and grasping her Hand, he died about 12 a Clock that Night. This is the unfortunate End of this universally beloved Nobleman, whose rare Qualities render'd him an Ornament to his Country, a Pattern of Youth, and the Admiration of all that knew him.
22: 197:(ditch) which ran along the roadside. Carnegie emerged covered nearly head to foot with mud and furious. "Such an insult could only be wiped out with blood." So Carnegie of Finhaven rose, and, drawing his sword, ran up to Bridgeton, with deadly design. The earl, seeing him advance, imprudently threw himself between the two antagonists with the intention of diverting the blow and unhappily received the lunge full in the middle of his own body, the sword passing right through the Earl. The Earl died forty-nine hours after the incident. 170:, Mr Lyon of Bridgeton, and some others, at dinner in his house. After the funeral, these gentlemen adjourned to a tavern, and drank a good deal. Carnegie of Finhaven got extremely drunk. Lyon of Bridgeton was not so intoxicated, but the drink made him "rude and unmannerly" towards Finhaven. Afterwards, the Earl of Strathmore went to call at the house of Mr Carnegie's sister, Lady Auchterhouse (a distant relative of the Earl) and the others followed. 238:
for him. "If it shall appear," he had said, "that I was the unlucky person who wounded the earl, I protest before God I would much rather that a sword had been sheathed in my own bowels." He did not admit his guilt except to say: "I had the misfortune that day to be mortally drunk, for which I beg God’s pardon." Carnegie said that in this state he did not remember seeing the earl when he came out of the ditch.
193:, the husband of the lady they were visiting. Bridgeton did not conduct himself as appropriate in the presence of the lady and he even had the audacity to pinch his hostess's arms. Bridgeton was very rude to Finhaven and spoke of: "his not being willing to marry one of his daughters to Lord Rosehill, about his having no sons, about his debts ... and he even used some rudeness towards the lady herself." 256:, told the jury that they were entitled to judge on "the point of law" as well as the "point of fact". He asserted that they should only decide whether in their conscience Carnegie had committed murder, or whether his guilt was not diminished or annihilated by the circumstances of the case. Quite unexpectedly the jury did not give a verdict of either "proven" or " 215:
ACCORDING to your Desire, I have sent you an Account of the lamentable Catastrophe, which happen'd on Thursday the 9th of May instant, which has filled all the Kingdom with an universal Regret ; and this Part of it with the utmost Grief and Confusion imaginable, which is to be seen in the Faces
237:
Carnegie was tried on 2 August 1728 for premeditated murder, a charge supported by "long arguments and quotations of authority," as was common at that time. The accused man swore that as God was his witness he had no grudge against the earl, but instead he had had the greatest kindness and respect
221:
On Thursday being the 9th Instant, several of the neighbouring Gentlemen were invited to this Place to a Burial, and among the rest the Earl of Strathmore, Carnegie of Finhaven, and Mr. Lyon of Brigton; after the Burial was over, a great many of the Gentlemen; among whom were these three before
196:
It was with the utmost difficulty that Lord Strathmore induced his two companions to leave the house. About dusk, the party sallied forth into the street, and "now that the modified restraint of a lady's presence was removed," Bridgeton pushed Carnegie of Finhaven into a "deep and dirty kennel"
260:" but instead gave a verdict of "not guilty", thus establishing the constitutional principle of a Scottish jury's right to render one of three verdicts: "proven", "not proven" and "not guilty" which remain contentious to this day. 249:. However, the court, "sacrificing rationality to form and statute," overruled the defence on the basis that the prisoner had "given the wound whereof the Earl of Strathmore died." 205:
There was a huge public outcry to the intended prosecution of Carnegie of Finhaven as illustrated in "A Letter from a Gentleman in Forfar, to his Friend at Edinburgh."
252:
The killing being indisputable, Carnegie would have been condemned if the jury had merely given a verdict on the point of fact. In these circumstances, his counsel,
117:. Although his elder brother Charles did not die until 1712, James succeeded to the family estate on his father's death in 1707, under an entail made in 1703. 163: 82: 178: 120:
Carnegie married firstly Margaret, daughter of Sir William Bennet of Grubbet; they had two daughters. His second wife was Violet, daughter of
336: 253: 374: 114: 146: 65: 43: 36: 142: 364: 190: 369: 359: 106: 379: 30: 47: 241:
His defence counsel tried to argue that in the circumstances of the case he was guilty not of
182: 384: 8: 287: 173:
This group, like a large proportion of the Forfarshire gentry of the time supported the
138:
Margaret, married firstly John Foulis of Woodhall and secondly Charles Lewis, with issue
279: 333: 121: 340: 132: 167: 110: 353: 186: 246: 257: 174: 90: 86: 162:, was burying his daughter. Before the funeral, he entertained the 216:
young and old, all over the Country ; the Fact is as follows,
308:
Domestic Annals of Scotland, Reign of George II: 1727–1748 Part A
145:. She inherited Finavon from her brother and sold it in 1779 to 334:
A Letter from a Gentleman in Forfar, to his Friend at Edinburgh
242: 159: 158:
On 9 May 1728 Mr Carnegie of Lour, residing in the burgh of
94: 324:
THORNTON HALL, F.S.A., LOVE ROMANCES OF THE ARISTOCRACY
81:(died 1765) is famous for his trial for the killing of 153: 83:Charles Lyon, 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne 351: 304: 302: 300: 298: 296: 97:to judge the whole case and not just the facts. 320: 318: 316: 314: 275: 273: 293: 311: 270: 113:(or Findhaven) in Angus, and a grandson of 66:Learn how and when to remove this message 124:. They had one son and three daughters: 29:This article includes a list of general 232: 177:: and the 6th earl's late brother (the 128:James, died unmarried at Lisbon in 1777 352: 89:verdict becoming a recognised part of 105:James Carnegie was the second son of 166:, his own brother James Carnegie of 115:David Carnegie, 2nd Earl of Northesk 15: 93:and established the right of Scots 13: 35:it lacks sufficient corresponding 14: 396: 290:(Edinburgh, 1909), pages 497-498 200: 143:Sir Robert Douglas of Glenbervie 133:Sir John Ogilvy of Inverquharity 20: 154:Death of the Earl of Strathmore 327: 1: 263: 210:SIR, Forfar, May 16th, 1728. 191:Patrick Lyon of Auchterhouse 7: 375:People from Angus, Scotland 122:Sir James Naismith of Posso 10: 401: 79:James Carnegie of Finhaven 254:Robert Dundas of Arniston 185:in 1715 fighting for the 100: 50:more precise citations. 280:Sir James Balfour Paul 230: 85:which resulted in the 365:Scottish criminal law 207: 183:battle of Sheriffmuir 233:The trial for murder 181:) had fallen at the 227:I am Yours, &c. 370:Trials in Scotland 360:Murder in Scotland 339:2007-03-11 at the 164:Earl of Strathmore 147:the Earl of Aboyne 284:The Scots Peerage 141:Barbara, married 76: 75: 68: 392: 344: 331: 325: 322: 309: 306: 291: 277: 71: 64: 60: 57: 51: 46:this article by 37:inline citations 24: 23: 16: 400: 399: 395: 394: 393: 391: 390: 389: 380:Carnegie family 350: 349: 348: 347: 341:Wayback Machine 332: 328: 323: 312: 307: 294: 278: 271: 266: 235: 203: 156: 103: 72: 61: 55: 52: 42:Please help to 41: 25: 21: 12: 11: 5: 398: 388: 387: 382: 377: 372: 367: 362: 346: 345: 326: 310: 292: 268: 267: 265: 262: 234: 231: 229: 228: 224: 223: 218: 217: 212: 211: 202: 199: 155: 152: 151: 150: 139: 136: 131:Anne, married 129: 107:James Carnegie 102: 99: 74: 73: 28: 26: 19: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 397: 386: 383: 381: 378: 376: 373: 371: 368: 366: 363: 361: 358: 357: 355: 343:, 16 May 1728 342: 338: 335: 330: 321: 319: 317: 315: 305: 303: 301: 299: 297: 289: 285: 281: 276: 274: 269: 261: 259: 255: 250: 248: 244: 239: 226: 225: 220: 219: 214: 213: 209: 208: 206: 201:Public outcry 198: 194: 192: 188: 187:Old Pretender 184: 180: 176: 171: 169: 165: 161: 148: 144: 140: 137: 134: 130: 127: 126: 125: 123: 118: 116: 112: 108: 98: 96: 92: 88: 84: 80: 70: 67: 59: 49: 45: 39: 38: 32: 27: 18: 17: 329: 283: 251: 247:manslaughter 240: 236: 204: 195: 172: 157: 135:, with issue 119: 104: 78: 77: 62: 56:January 2022 53: 34: 385:1765 deaths 48:introducing 354:Categories 282:(editor), 264:References 258:not proven 87:not guilty 31:references 288:volume VI 245:, but of 189:, as had 175:Jacobites 91:Scots law 337:Archived 179:5th Earl 168:Finhaven 111:Finavon 44:improve 243:murder 160:Forfar 101:Family 95:juries 33:, but 109:of 356:: 313:^ 295:^ 286:, 272:^ 149:. 69:) 63:( 58:) 54:( 40:.

Index

references
inline citations
improve
introducing
Learn how and when to remove this message
Charles Lyon, 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
not guilty
Scots law
juries
James Carnegie
Finavon
David Carnegie, 2nd Earl of Northesk
Sir James Naismith of Posso
Sir John Ogilvy of Inverquharity
Sir Robert Douglas of Glenbervie
the Earl of Aboyne
Forfar
Earl of Strathmore
Finhaven
Jacobites
5th Earl
battle of Sheriffmuir
Old Pretender
Patrick Lyon of Auchterhouse
murder
manslaughter
Robert Dundas of Arniston
not proven

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.