Valentines Day Special: Maggie Dickson
While we were in Edinburgh, we came across the story of Half-Hangit Maggie. Now quite untraditionally we have opted to tell you about her as part of our Valentines Day Special as we've decided her story was doused in love, apart from the execution bit. Just outside of what is now the Last Drop pub, public executions were held at the Grass market section of Edinburgh, and there was a rather peculiar execution one day. Back in the 18th century there was a lass called Maggie Dickson. She was fairly ordinary, no reason to have been a well known figure within these parts, that was until her husband abandoned her in 1723. Back in those days, they didn't take kindly on women too much and as her husband had deserted her she didn't have a means to live. So she had to flee to the Scottish Borders where she managed to get a job for an innkeeper in exchange for lodgings. Unfortunately, whether it was consensual or not, the Innkeeper's son got Maggie pregnant. A destitut...
