The Hanging Stanes: Morningside stones which mark the spot of the execution of Scotland's last highwaymen

On a quiet street in Edinburgh sit two markers, which point to a particularly grim piece of history.
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On a quiet, residential street in the Capital, right in the middle of the road, sit two, small, stone markers. You could be forgiven for walking by without really noticing them – but they point to a particularly grim piece of Edinburgh history.

They mark the spot where the gallows sat at the execution of Thomas Kelly and Henry O’Neil, two highwaymen, caught after a daylight robbery.

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In November, 1814, near to where the stones are, Kelly and O’Neil allegedly robbed carter David Loch. The legal system at the time, coupled with local prejudices, meant that a fair trial was not a guarantee.

The Hanging Stanes: The Morningside stones which mark the spot of the execution of Scotland's last highway menThe Hanging Stanes: The Morningside stones which mark the spot of the execution of Scotland's last highway men
The Hanging Stanes: The Morningside stones which mark the spot of the execution of Scotland's last highway men

Kelly and O’Neil were Irish immigrants who recently arrived in the Capital, and would have faced racism and bigotry from locals. They were apparently famous in the area, and people claimed they were responsible for several similar crimes. The jury in their trial did not require time to deliberate, they passed the verdict of guilty instantaneously.

The gallows were erected on the spot where the robbery took place, and within a month, the two men were marched through the street wrapped in chains, before being publicly hanged. In a barbaric move, the bodies were left hanging on the gallows as a ‘reminder’ to others to obey the law.

A plaque was placed near the stones which read: “The Hanging Stanes. Thomas Kelly and Henry O’R Neil, the last two highwaymen in Scotland to be executed were hanged in public on 25th January 1815, from the gallows erected on the two stanes still visible on the spot, which was where the robbery took place.”