The real story behind Edinburgh's most enduring legend

The Trial of William Brodie Wright and Cabinet Maker in Edinburgh, and of George Smith Grocer...

Aeneas Morison

1788, Charles Elliot, Edinburgh

Evidently titles in the 18th century were as descriptive as they were long. Technically the title of Aeneas Morison’s first-hand account of Deacon Brodie’s trial is: The Trial of William Brodie Wright and Cabinet Maker in Edinburgh, and of George Smith Grocer There, Before the High Court of Justiciary, Held at Edinburgh on Wednesday the 27th, and Thursday the 28th, August 1788: For Breaking Into the General Excise-Office at Edinburgh on the 5th of March Last : Containing the Evidence at Large for and Against the Prisoners, Accurate Statements of the Pleadings of the Counsel, and the Opinions of the Judges on Many Important Points of Law, with the Whole Proceedings. Morison (also spelled Morrison in some texts) was on George Smith’s defense team and his account is as straight forward as reading the court documents.

What does make Morison’s account a tad more interesting is the rush to publication between him and bookseller and Brodie trial juror, William Creech. In Edinburgh, Brodie’s trial was as salacious to Edinburgh society as the O.J. Simpson was to America in the 1990s. The first printed trial account stood to give the author and publisher a tidy profit. Morison had made no secret that he was compiling an accounting of the trial, possibly in hopes that he would scare off Creech from doing the same. Creech was wiley and formidable opponent. Not only was he a publisher of some note, having been the first to publish the works of Robert Burns in 1786, but he was connected. As a long standing member of the Edinburgh’s intelligentsia and a founding member of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, Creech was not one to be trifled with.

Morison’s publisher makes a note within this text’s appendix that unnamed friends of Creech’s approached Morison. This “friend of Creech” assured Morison that Creech had no intention of publishing anything on the trial. Morison evidently felt that he had time to expand the by the numbers trial account and intended to give a short biographical sketch of both William Brodie and George Smith. This idea was scrapped when a few days after the conclusion of Brodie’s trail, Creech published his account. Creech chalked up his friend’s comments to a “misunderstanding” when in all likelihood it was a well-calculated maneuver on Creech’s part.

Morison’s text is in the public domain and a PDF or eBook version can be downloaded at Google Books. The text, via Google Books, has been presented for your perusal.