The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-11 00:00:00

The Murder on Board a Montrose Vesse

The Montrose Review publishes the following ad-
ditional details of the murder on board the Nymph,
of that port, briefly reported on Saturday :
"The vessel sailed from Montrose, bound for London,
early in the afternoon of the day on which the murder was
committed, and had proceeded on her voyage as far as Red
Head, a promontory about eight miles from Montrose. At
that time the vesselwas hugging the land, and was not over
a mile from the shore. Everything had gone on smoothly
up to the time of the murder, although when the vessel
sailed it was seen that Brown was the worse for drink. The
vessel was sailing with a side wind, and did not require
further attention than to be steered. It was, moreover, the
'dog watch,' a listless time on board ship. Capt. Greig had
therefore sat down on the deck close beside the steersman
—viz., Pert—to whom, for a time, he made some remarks
upon weather prospects, but afterwards, evidently over-
come by the warmness of the evening, he lay back at full
length and fell asleep, a sleep from which he was never al-
lowed to awaken. Raeburn was forward in the round house,
and Brown was walking about the deck. Pert, the steers-
man, was leaning listlessly over his 'tiller'—the vessel not
having a wheel—with his back towards the captain, who
was almost lying at his feet. Brown had gone forward to
the round house, and either asked for or took up an axe
which was lying beside Raeburn. As the murderer came aft
on the side of the deck on which the captain lay, a flapping
took place among the sails aloft, which caused the steers-
man to look steadily in that direction for a few seconds. He
therefore did not observe the actions of the murderer until
his attention was drawn towards him by hearing two dull
heavy blows, when to his horror he saw Brown drawing the
axe out of a deep wound in the captain'shead—and drawing
it out, too, with evident difficulty—and ore he (Pert) could
comprehend the horrible scene before him, the murderer
had again raised the axe to repeat the blow. Instinctively
Pert sprang forward and seized the murderer by the
wrist, which, however, did not prevent the descent of the
axe, but caused it to turn aside so far as only to graze the
neck of the victim, who lay lifeless before them, with
three deep wounds on his head and face, which were
spoeting forth his' life's blood. Pert then with a
powerful effort deprived the fiendish assailant of his mur-
derous weapon, and threw it overboard, and having re-
covered his composure so far, he put the inquiry- to
Brown, " What's that you have done ?"' pointing to the
bleeding and lifeless body of Captain Greig. Brown
I've killed the —. He should have given me the
whisky.' He afterwards remarked, ' This settles an auld
grudge,' or words to that effect. Raeburn had by this
time been made aware of what I?.ad taken place, but, like
Pert, was for a time so much hbrrified that he could not
do anything. He, however, after a few minutes, bethought
himself of signalling a schooner, which had left Montrose
with the same tide, and was not far distant at the time,
and for that purpose he is said to have commenced to
ascend the rigging ; but the murderer, divining his inten-
tion, ordered him to come down, or he would serve him
the same as he had done the captain. Raeburn being a
weakly man, and not nearly a match for Brown, who was
a powerfully-built determined-looking fellow, complied,
being afraid of losing his own lite, and also being in an
exceedingly agitated state. Pert states that, although in
other circumstances he would not have been afraid to have
made an attempt to secure Brown, he was so much hor-
rified by the dreadful occurrence which had taken place
that he was rendered quite powerless and passive. He
was also afraid for the safety of the vessel, which he
sought at once to put about with the intention of running
for Montrose. Tho murderer, hower, demurred to this,
but after some time he consented that tho ship should be
run to Stonehaven, where he said he could visit his mother.
The ship was accordingly put about, and a run made
for Stonehaven, at which place she arrived at about mid-
night. A pilot was signalled for, and, strange coin-
cidence, his uncle, who is a fisherman at that port,
came off. On seeing what vessel it was, and his
nephew, he naturally inquired how they came to be there.
Brown replied, " Oh, I've killed the master, and have run
in here." The vessel was taken into the harbour, and as
soon as he could, Raeburn sprung ashore and went
in search of the police. Tho murderer observed him, and
also immediately went ashore, but did not seek to molest
Raeburn, and went straight to his mother's house. He
is reported to have also told his mother that he had
killed the master, and also to have given her some money,
remarking that it would likely be the last Biller she would
get from him. Raeburn had been fortunate in getting a
policeman without much difficulty, and Brown was appre-
hended before he had time to leave his mother's house, if
he intbndecl to do so. Drown made no resistance, and was
soon lodged in the police cells, where it is said ho imme-
diately went off to sleep, and slept soundly for some time.
An official post-mortem examination of the body of
Captain Greig was made on Thursday by Dra. Martin and
Thom. Three fearful gashes had been made on the head
—one verb• deep wound across the forehead, and two very
large and deep slanting wounds on the left side of the head,
one of which had evidently broke the cheek and jaw bones.
Any one of the wounds would have been sufficient to cause
death, and there is no doubt the first blow had caused death.
Captain Craig was a young man of about 28 years of age,
and had succeeded his father (who is owner) in the
command of the Nymph. It is said that his father
and other friends strongly insisted upon Captain Greig
putting Brown ashore, since he had rendered himself a
notorious character for getting drunk and fighting when-
ever ashore, and at the time when the vessel sailed he was
the worse of drink. He had also just been liberated from
the police office, on leaving a pledge, for committing an
assault ; and the police books also bear his name several
times for like offences. Captain Greig was highly respected
by all who knew him, and esteemed among his class as a
persevering and excellent shipmaster. It is reported that
ho was about to be married.

Vacancies, Promotions, and Appointments

(From the Civil Service Gazette)
War Office—Mr. H. Strong has been appointed a tempo-
rary clerk in the Quartermaster-General's Office. Messrs.
George Candy, 11. Owen, and J. P. S. Wilson have been
appointed civil assistants, Southampton.
Law Department—There are two vacancies in the Master
of the Rolls' Office, ono caused by the death of Mr. Fox,
and the other by the appointment of Mr. Hume to be taxing
master in Chancery.
The Admiralty—Commander C. G. F. Knowles has been
appointed inspecting commander in the Coastguard, vice
Dench, deceased. Mr. H. F. R. Yorke has been appointed
to be a temporary clerk, Whitehall.

Board of Trade—Mr. John Moffett has been appointed a
temporary clerk in the Registry of Seamen's Office.
The Post Office—Mr. A. H. Thorns has been appointed a
temporary clerk in the savings bank, London. Mr. C. H.
`Davey has been appointed a temporary clerk in the savings
bank, London. Mr. W. S. Fisk has been appointed a clerk
at Sheffield. Mr. Walcott has been promoted from the 2nd
class of clerks to be Ist clerk, Gloucester.

Customs—Mr. Robert M. Johns has been appointed a
clerk for general business, Liverpool. Mr. G. Clayton has
been promoted from the sth to the 4th class of examining
officers, Glasgow. Mr. D. Frazer has been promoted from
the 6th to the sth class of examining officers, Glasgow. Mr.
J. Thomson, assistant examining officer, Perth, has been
promoted to be an examining officer of 6th class, Glasgow.
Mr. D. Dean, outdoor officer, Aberdeen, has been promoted
to be an assistant examining officer, Perth. Mr. P. Reese
has been promoted from the 2nd to the Ist class of outdoor
officers, Liverpool.

Inland Revenue, Excise Branch—Mr John Jolliffe, col-
lector, Lincoln collection, has been appointed collector of
Southampton collection. Mr. John Davis, collector, York
collection, has been appointed collector of Lincoln collection.
Mr. Robert Hanson Brooks, supervisor, Bedford district,
Aylesbury collection, has been appointed supervisor of
Abingdon district, Reading collection. Mr. James Stull-
land, officer, Abingdon district, Reading collection, has
been appointed officer of Biidgend district, Swansea collec-
tion. Mr. Wm. George Ames, supervisor, Bridgend dis-
trict, Swansea collection, has been appointed supervisor of
Bedford district, Aylesbury collection. Mr. Wm. Wight,
officer, Kelso division, Haddington collection, has been ap-
pointed officer of Dunbar division, Haddington collection.
Mr. Allan Duncan Stewart, clerk, Dundee collection, has
been appointed officer of Kelso division, Haddington col-
lection. Mr. Charles Duncan, officer, Rugely ride, Staf-
ford collection, has been appointed second clerk, Greenock
collection.

Ireland—Mr. J. Gordon has been appointed a sub-in-
spector of schools, National Education Commission. Mr.
S. Joyce has been appointed a transcribing clerk in the
Registrar of Deeds Office, Dublin.
The East Indies—Mr. W. B. Buckle has been appointed
to officiate as agent to the Governor-General at Moorsheda-
bad, during the absence on leave of Lieut.-Col. W. A. A.
Thomson, or until further orders. Lieut. W. W. Pember-
ton, assistant commissioner, 2il grade, has been promoted
to be assistant commissioner, Ist grade, British Burmah.
Capt. W. Munro, Ist assistant, Revenue Settlement Depart-
ment, has been appointed assistant commissioner, 2d grade,
British Bunnah. Lieut. W. G. llughes, assistant commis-
sioner, 3d grade, has been appointed assistant commis-
sioner, 2d grade, British Burmah. Lieut. G. A. Stroyer
has been appointed supernumerary assistant commissioner,
2d grade, British Bunnah. Mr. C. Phillips, extra assistant
commissioner, let grade, has been promoted to be an
assivtant commissioner, 3d grade. British Burmah. Mr. J.
Hind, extra assistant commissioner, Ist grade, has been
promoted to be an assistant commissioner, 3d grade,
British Burmah. Lieutenant A. W. Roberts, officiating
assistant, has been appointed assistant to the Governor-
General's Agent for the States of Rajpootana, subject to
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