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Although drowning was generally reserved for females, being the least brutal form of death penalty, at times a male was executed in this way as a matter of favour, for instance in 1526 a man convicted of theft and sacrilege was ordered to be drowned "by the queen's special grace", and in 1611 a man
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These pits were often close to the residence of the baron or clan chief, and many gallows sites were close to water. A pit or ditch therefore generally did not have to be constructed, making actual drowning pits rare features within the physical landscape. It is not clear what the ratio of
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With the introduction of the feudal system to
Scotland in the 12th-century, the pre-feudal Celtic tenures were transformed into holdings from the Crown and a number of these were held directly or in chief of the Crown and were held in
317:, the MacKillups of Craingenreach were hanged on the dule tree of Cassillis circa 1746, having murdered a neighbour and thrown his remains into "the common murder hole of the Bailiery at Craigenreach".
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On the Water of
Minnoch is a deep pool known as the Murder Hole in which a family from Rowantree dumped their victims; they were caught, confessed and were the last to be hanged on the
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Some drowning pits had ladders down which the condemned person had to climb; the ladder was then withdrawn. At other sites hurdles were used to hold the person below the water. Many
218:. The death penalty had largely fallen into disuse by barons well before it was abolished, and its last use in Scotland may have been in 1685, the year of the drowning of the
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sometimes relates to these formal drowning sites. Bones have been found close to some of these sites, suggesting that the corpses were buried close by and not in
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male-to-female deaths was in feudal times. Many gallows sites are also associated with the discovery of bones; however records do not clearly state the sex.
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is a round knoll, called the moot hill. Guilty women were drowned in the small body of water which lay at the foot of the gibbet where the men were hanged.
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The hereditary right of high justice survived until 1747, when it was removed from the barons and from the holders of
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parish near
Craigenrae is a site known as the murder hole, represented by a marshy depression. In the novel
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sites are or were surrounded by water or were situated at the edge of a body of water, such as
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Drowning pits came into legal use after it was enacted, at the parliament assembled in
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for any soldier of his army who killed a fellow crusader during the passage to the
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traitors taken within their jurisdiction. Drowning was the punishment ordained by
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It is not clear why men were more likely to be hanged and women drowned in a
473:. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 592–595.
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Video on Feudal
Scotland Drowning Pits, Gallows Hills and Moot Hills
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this murder hole is used, however its site is placed elsewhere.
508:"In the Shadow of Cairngorm - In the Days of the Baron Bailies"
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should sink a well or pit for the drowning of women. The term
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Legendary
Ayrshire. Custom : Folklore : Tradition
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or – reversing the terms –
484:Baronies & Regalities. Accessed: 2009/12/02
203:was drowned at Edinburgh for stealing a lamb.
65:were used if conveniently situated near to a
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216:Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746
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73:would announce the death penalty. The term
601:. Kilmarnock : R. Crawford & Son.
261:There was a drowning pool at Balliemore,
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16:Small body of water used for execution
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305:records, however, that at the last
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321:Drowning pits elsewhere in Britain
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464:"Drowning and Life Saving"
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79:was also used, as in the phrase
627:Capital punishment in Scotland
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632:Capital punishment in England
599:The Ayrshire Wreath MDCCCXLIV
568:Ayr : Fort Publishing.
69:, where the baronial court
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595:The Dule Tree of Cassillis
422:Love, Dane (2009). Page 74
329:, London, in the reign of
512:www.electricscotland.com
439:. Retrieved: 2012-07-01
129:, the Court Hill at the
534:. Retrieved: 2012-07-01
497:. Retrieved: 2012-07-01
470:Encyclopædia Britannica
593:Train, Joseph (1844).
437:RCAHMS Execution sites
410:Train, pp. 40–46
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552:Love (2003), Page 208
543:Love (2009), Page 322
339:Richard the Lionheart
250:Gallows Hill, in the
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226:Examples in Scotland
133:, and Hutt Knowe at
59:Scottish feudal laws
642:Execution equipment
579:Love, Dane (2009).
564:Love, Dane (2003).
154:binomial expression
148:Feudal jurisdiction
637:Deaths by drowning
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172:capital punishment
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589:978-0-9518128-6-0
315:Earl of Cassillis
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90:Introduction
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61:. Rivers or
51:murder holes
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35:drowning pit
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301:The author
287:written by
236:Giffordland
212:sheriffdoms
186:infangthief
127:Auchentiber
108:murder hole
47:murder hole
43:murder-pool
621:Categories
370:References
307:shire-mote
263:Strathspey
208:regalities
387:Shown by
343:Holy Land
296:dule tree
164:and fossa
119:moot hill
84:and fossa
67:moot hill
27:Milngavie
349:See also
281:Straiton
274:Craigend
268:Between
114:ground.
112:hallowed
71:dempster
559:Sources
313:by the
311:Carrick
214:by the
135:Bonshaw
123:Mugdock
63:lochans
587:
572:
532:RCAHMS
517:1 July
495:RCAHMS
184:, and
96:Forfar
55:gibbet
375:Notes
238:with
162:furca
104:baron
82:furca
76:fossa
585:ISBN
570:ISBN
519:2012
391:maps
331:John
272:and
240:burn
210:and
152:The
279:In
142:fen
45:or
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33:A
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