Blood and Battery: Murder, Riot and Theft in Old Argyll

In the late 1700s, Argyll was not so different from modern-day. Criminals of old walked the same canal paths, stood on the same doorsteps, traveled the same ferry routes, and looked on the same hills as they died. The walls that held them still stand, the legal system that prosecuted them is recognizable, and the names reverberate into modern Argyll. However, from the hills of Ardnamurchan and the vast scenery of the Blackmount to the glittering sands of Kintyre and beyond, these 18 new true tales of historic crime recount scenes that are thankfully unrecognizable to modern Argyll residents. The characters who sat in judgment there, the men who went in search of the criminals, and the surgeons who helped the victims are introduced, while the past that almost touches the present so many times in old Argyll is brought straight onto the page for readers.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 120 pages
Publication date: 28 October 2021
Publisher: Troubador Publishing

Argyll in the late 1700s was remarkably similar to modern-day. Criminals of old treaded the same canal paths, stood on the same doorsteps, traversed the same ferry routes, and gazed upon the same hills as they met their demise, which we now observe. The walls that once confined them still stand, the legal system that prosecuted them remains recognizable, and even their names echo in modern-day Argyll.

However, from the hills of Ardnamurchan and the expansive vistas of the Blackmount to the shimmering sands of Kintyre and beyond, these 18 new true tales of historic crime recount scenes, thankfully unrecognizable to modern Argyll residents. These tales feature muggings, murders, violent thefts, the death of an old soldier, the accusation of a disabled boy of killing a neighbor, a family of slippery thieves, or the truth behind the last hangings in Argyll. These are the stories, previously untold, behind so many crimes hidden deep in the old records; old records that still carry the scent of slate dust, candle smoke, and charcoal from the original courtroom.

The characters who sat in judgment there, the men who went in search of the criminals, and the surgeons who aided the victims are introduced here, while the past, which almost touches the present so many times in old Argyll, is brought straight onto the page for readers.

Blood and Battery is a parcel of new research about new historic crimes (some tragic, some thought-provoking, but all enlightening) and a colorful account of 66 years in a slowly modernizing, but still criminal-ridden world of west coast industry, rural communities, and government officialdom.

Weight: 134g
Dimension: 155 x 208 x 11 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781800465688