Our Legal Heritage

The "whipping stone", which marks the site of medieval flogging in Aberdeen, has once again been revealed. The unassuming 400-year-old relic – a square stone set flush in the ground – lies at the junction of Union Street and Broad Street and has now been restored after having been tarred

In the latest of our occasional series, Graham Ogilvy visits Inveraray Jail and Courthouse. Inveraray Jail and Courthouse occupy one of the most beautiful locations of any of Scotland’s legal establishments and is well worth a visit.

In our continuing occasional series on Scotland's legal heritage, Graham Ogilvy considers the National Gallery's portrait of Robert McQueen, who gained notoriety as Lord Braxfield, Scotland's very own hanging judge. Sir Henry Raeburn's painting of Lord Braxfield was completed in 1798

Annabel Twose of First 100 Years writes about Jessie Chrystal Macmillan, a Scottish feminist, barrister and politician. She was the first female science graduate from the University of Edinburgh; the first woman to plead a case before the House of Lords and a founder of the Women’s Intern

In 1748, James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, an antiquarian who had travelled in Egypt, presented a mummy to the Faculty.

In the latest of our occasional series, Graham Ogilvy discovers a curious legal relic in Dunkeld. What would the Howard League make of it? The strange door into the foundations of Telford's famous bridge across the Tay in Dunkeld is painted an innocuous blue but the heavy iron locks l

In the latest in our occasional legal heritage series, Graham Ogilvy reflects on the remarkable story of ‘Indian’ Peter Williamson. A document presently on display in the library of the Faculty of Advocates records one of the most shocking episodes of human trafficking in Scottish histor

It was the 86th anniversary of the famous snail in the bottle case — Donoghue v Stevenson — on Saturday.

In the third of our occasional series looking at Scotland's legal heritage, both grand and obscure, Graham Ogilvy appreciates Sir John Steell's statue of George Kinloch in Dundee. George Kinloch is not the only outlaw in Scotland to be publicly commemorated. Stirling's Wallace Memorial, the obelisk

In the second of our new occasional series, Connor Beaton looks at John Maclean's famous speech from the dock. A hundred years ago this week, Scottish socialist John Maclean delivered a famous polemic against capitalism and war from the dock of the High Court in Edinburgh.

In the first of our new occasional series, we look at the Infamous case of the Appin murder. In 1752 Colin Campbell of Glenure, known as the Red Fox, was shot dead in woods near Ballachulish in Argyll. His death led to what is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s most notorious miscarriag