Page:Life of David Haggart, who was executed at Edinburgh, 18th July, 1821, for the murder of the Dumfries jailor (1).pdf/16

16 to a yard, and ranked up in companies of twenty each. In a few minutes John Richardson made his appearance, accompanied by the two jailors and a turnkey. John began his inspection, and went over the whole of them; then making a second look-through, he stopped at Haggart, held out his hand, and said, ‘Do you ken me, Davie?’ He turned to the jailor, and in a masterpiece of Irish brogue, said, ‘What does the man say?’ 'Don’t you know him?’ was the answer. He replied, ‘Troth and by my soul, I know nothing at all about him.’ But John persisted that he knew him, and he was conveyed to the condemned yard; the jailor telling him, if he was a Scotchman he was greatly mistaken, for he had the brogue as well as ere a boy in Ireland,—but time would try all. He was nearly two days in the condemned yard, during which he had two visits from John Richardson; but he stoutly denied that he had ever seen him.

On the evening of the second day Haggart was taken to the head Police-office, and heavily loaded with irons. An iron belt was fitted round his waist, with his wrists pinioned to each side of it; a chain passed from the front of the belt and joined the centre of a chain, each end of which was padlocked round his ankles, and a chain