Episode 58: Maggie Dickson

Episode 58: Maggie Dickson. This week Joannagh delves into the history books to bring us the bizarre story of Maggie Dickson. Convicted of killing her newborn baby in 1724, Maggie was jailed and sentenced to be hanged. Joannagh describes some of the now outdated aspects of life in Edinburgh in the 1700's, particularly the obsolete medical techniques used to convict Maggie. We also hear how a less than thorough medical examination, and the very specific wording of a law, led to Maggie Dickson going down in the history books as "Half-Hangit Maggie". Case research by Joannagh Shanks Produced by Emma Taylor & Joannagh Shanks Editing by Shaun O'Neill Music by Tribe of Noise Sources of research: https://diggingup1800.com/half-hangit-maggie-the-woman-who-survived-a-hanging/ https://digital.nls.uk/broadsides/view/?id=16830&criteria=dickson https://ewh.org.uk/learning/classroom-resources/old-edinburgh/auld-reekie/ https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/d/maggiedickson.html http://www.the-grassmarket.com/history/maggie-dickson.html https://www.thenational.scot/news/18685609.back-day-legend-half-hangit-maggie-dickson/ https://random-times.com/2020/01/18/half-hangit-maggie-dickson-the-woman-who-survived-the-hangmans-noose/ https://www.spookyisles.com/margaret-dickson/ https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/half-hangit-maggie-scots-woman-who-survived-hanging-622567 https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/gardyloo-grim-story-unsanitary-edinburgh-1480434 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tolbooth,_Edinburgh https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/lost-edinburgh-old-tolbooth-prison-1554328 https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/728/ https://murderpedia.org/female.D/d/dickson-margaret.htm