Deacon Brodie On The Run

Brodie writes of his first few days in London in a letter to an Edinburgh stabler named Michael Henderson on 10 April 1788:

I left Edinburgh Sunday, the 9th, and arrived in London Wednesday, the 12th, where I remained snug and safe in the house of an old female friend until Sunday, 23rd March (whose care for me I shall never forget, and only wish I may ever have it in my power to reward her sufficiently), within 500 yards of Bow Street. I did not keep the house all this time, but so altered, excepting the scar under my eye, I think you could not have rapt to me. I saw Mr. Williamson twice ; but, although countrymen commonly shake hands when they meet from home, yet I did not choose to make so free with him, notwithstanding he brought a letter to me; he is a clever man, and I give him credit for his conduct. My female gave me great uneasiness by introducing a flash man to me, but she assured me he was a true man, and he proved himself so, notwithstanding the great reward, and was useful to me.

Unfortunately there’s no evidence outside this letter that gives us a hint as to who Brodie’s “old female friend” was. The lady in question could have been a member of the Theater Royal who snagged an acting job in a London theater. Or Brodie’s old friend could have been someone he met while visiting London.  There is simply no way of knowing who she was. Her identity notwithstanding, the old female friend had connections to London’s criminal underworld. The mention in Brodie’s letter of being visited by a “flash man” means, in the parlance of the time, a criminal.  Once again, the identity of the flash man, and his usefulness to Brodie, is an impenetrable enigma.

As far as Brodie was concerned his female acquaintance’s digs were couldn’t have been in a worse location. The “500 yards of Bow Street” is a reference to the Bow Street Magistrate’s Office and more especially the home of the Bow Street Runners. A precursor to London’s Metropolitan Police Department, the Bow Street Runners were the first formalized and magistrate funded police force in London. Brodie was engaging in a bit of 18th century humble-bragging to Henderson. In leaving his lady friend’s residence and altering his appearance, Brodie was intimating he had outsmarted the legendary Bow Street Runners.