Midlothian Mayhem: Murder, Miners and the Military in Old Midlothian

by Malcolm Archibald

Murders, riots, strikes and runaway horses. Midlothian in the 18th and 19th centuries was an interesting place to live.

This book introduces the reader to the hard lives of the colliers, the birth of the rural police force and the impact the army had on life in the county south of Scotland’s capital city. Highwaymen and grave robbers, footpads and murderers, illicit distillers and murderous poachers; all lived or worked in Midlothian at a time when Scotland was changing from a rural to an industrial nation.

Midlothian Mayhem opens the door to this time and place, giving you a view of this fascinating area through different eyes.

Genres: History, Scotland, Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime

228 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 28, 2020

About the author

My primary interest is historical, either fiction or non fiction, but I can enjoy most anything from Jane Austin to Kipling to J K Rowling. I have been very quiet on this site, but I think I might be a bit more active now.
I also enjoy the stimulation of meeting people and finding out about them.

Reviews

[Brian Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

History brought to life, an excellent read

Malcolm Archibald has a rare talent when it comes to all things historical, whether it's in his superb historical novels, or here, in one of his many true to life portrayals of the lives of those who lived in various parts of the UK. Here he concentrates on the area of Scotland known as Midlothian.
The research that must take place to produce such a book must be immense, focusing as it does, not on major, national or international affairs, but on the lives of the ordinary people who have populated this mostly rural area over the centuries.
He tells of murderers, footpads, (muggers), highwaymen and much more and like me, readers will I'm sure be in awe at some of the sentences handed down to those found guilty of often trivial offences, by today's standards.
It's not all murder and mayhem however, as he tells of mining disasters and of the miners' struggles to escape the virtual slavery of working in the mines, and being classed as the property of the mine owners. That's definitely a part of history Iw, doubt most people have heard of.
This is a fascinating read that saw me reading well into the night and which gave me as much pleasure as many a crime novel.
Well done Mr Archibald and it's a big 5 stars from me.

[GooseReadsBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Archibald reveals a skill for bringing alive historical events and transporting the reader to a bygone era. The appeal of this book initially was to learn more about the history of my local area, but the book achieves more than that. Archibald helps to illustrate what society was like in the 18th and 19th century. There is clearly a lot of research that has gone into this book, stories that likely would have been lost are immortalised in this work.

I felt that at times Archibald was forcing himself to focus on crime and events rather than reflecting on the broader trends that have shaped Midlothian into what it is today. The chapter in this book relating to miners is incredible and the author quite rightly in the epilogue comments that a whole book could be written on their history.

I am hopeful that Malcolm may choose to return to this subject and produce more of a narrative history of Midlothian. But if not they have already written a magnificent book that is fascinating and enjoyable.

[A.J. Griffiths-Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has achieved an outstanding quality of work with exemplary research & an upbeat prose that makes for a great quality read. I always learn such a lot from Archibald’s books & this is no exception, especially regarding the treatment of miners & their slave-masters, which was a real eye-opening chapter. With plenty of foul deeds & fights thrown in, this a volume that I will return to when needing to reference all things Midlothian.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quality book that covered some of the lesser known aspects of Midlothian history, from the slavery of the miners to forgotten crimes of the 19th century. There is poaching and murder, highway robbery and theft, but my favourite anecdote was the runaway horse that went through the toll gates.