The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-16 00:00:00

BRUTAL MURDER IN GLASGOW.

A murder of a most savage character was perpetrated
here on Sunday morning. It appears that two men, named
Alexander Boyd and James Law, and who are ship car-
penters by trade, had been drinking together very freely
in the course of Saturday night. About one o'clock on
Sunday morning they were in the street, when they were
accosted by some loose women, who enticed, first Law,
and then Boyd, into a low den in the New Vennel, kept by
a woman named Helen Blackwood. About an hour after-
wards Boyd was precipitated from the window above to the
street below, by which he sustained such severe injuries on
the skull that he died instantly. So far as we have been
able to ascertain, the circumstances attending this brutal
case were as follow :—Shortly after they had been decoyed
into the house liquor was produced, of which the two men
partook. This drink, there is good reason to believe,
had been previously drugged, in consequence of which
Law became totally insensible, and his companion par-
tially so. When they had been reduced to this state the
woman Blackwood, already referred to, a man named
Hans Smith Macfarlane, with whom she cohabited,
and another woman named Mary Hamilton, proceeded
to strip the insensible men of their clothing and
property. As Boyd was a powerful man he was not so
completely stupefied as his companion, and he made
resistance when he found the wretches in the act
of taking off his clothes. They succeeded, how-
ever, in overpowering him and removing his
boots, trousers, vest, and jacket, and one of the
women was observed to rifle his pockets after the
clothes had been taken off the man's person. Boyd, how-
ever had so much consciousness left as to know that be
had been plundered, and, when demanding back
his property, or threatening the thieves with the
police' he was dragged to the window and tossed over
head foremost from a height of three storeys, or about
26 feet. He fell heavily on the back of his head, by
which the skull was extensively fractured, and, as we have
said, death was instantaneous. The den in which this
bloody tragedy was acted is only eight feet in length by
six feet four inches in breadth ; and it happened
that, in addition to the perpetrators and the two
ship carpenters, there were present two destitute
boys, the one aged 14 and the other 10, who, from
some acquaintance with Blackwood had got shelter in
the place and under the bed. These boys, the pre-
sence of whom must have been forgotten for the
moment, witnessed all that took place ; and, moreover,
some women, who suspected that unfair play was go-
ing on, also observed what was in progress inside
through a chink in the door. When Boyd's body was
tossed over, the alarm was given by the women
who had been looking through the hole, and the
police were immediatey upon the spot. The women
Blackwood and Hamilton and the man Macfarlane
had meanwhile decamped, the only persons left in
the house being the boys already referred to and
Law, who lay on the floor in a state of insensibility.
Officers were instantly dispatched with a description of
the offenders to the various police-stations, and men
were also set upon the watch at almost every portion
of the municipality. The woman Hamilton was speedily
captured in High-street, and between 5 and 6 o'clock
in the morning Macfarlane and Blackwood were ap-
prehended while passing through a vacant spot of ground
in Bridgeton, the one following the other, with
the evident intention of escaping from the city. In
addition inquiries were set on foot by Captain Mackay,
which are likely at the proper time to produce a con-
vincing body of evidence regarding the actual perpetra-
tion of this cruel and reckless murder. The man Law
was taken to the police-office, but from the large quan-
tity that he had drunk during the evening, and the
drugged liquor which was afterwards administered
to him, he had no recollection of a single circum-
stance that occurred. It appears that the unfortunate
man Boyd had been recently living in Valparaiso, and
came to this country a few months ago to look after
some property which he had inherited in consequence
of the death of his mother in Edinburgh. During
his residence in this neighbourhood he lodged in
Finnieston-lane, which place he left on Friday
last with the intention of going to Port Glasgow.
Whether he went there or not we have no means of
knowing, but on the, following day he met with Law,
who was an old acquaintance, and at that time he was
on his way to Dumbarton. Instead of going there,
however, the two men, unfortunately, commenced
a drinking bout which has had the lamentable termina-
tion we have already detailed. Deceased was a strongly
built man, and seemed to be about 40 years of age.

WINES AND SPIRITS.—The annual circular of Messrs.
Matthew Clark and Sons contains a Parliamentary re-
turn, moved for at the instance of their firm of the
imports and deliveries in detail of foreign wines and
spirits for the United Kingdom during the years 1851
and 1852. As regards wine, the importations for 1852,
which amounted to 6,793,304 gallons, show a decrease,
as compared with the proceeding year, of 2,215,124 gal-
lons, the total being the smallest that has been known
for many years. The deliveries for home consumption,
however, presented an increase of 65,408 gallons, and
those for export an increase of 120,615. With respect
to spirits, the total importation of rum in 1852 was
5,490,224 gallons, showing an increase of 744,890 gal-
lons, while in the total deliveries there was an improve-
ment of 1,050,315 gallons, consequent -almost entirely
upon the large export demand. The returns as to
brandy likewise exhibit an augmentation, the imports
having been 3,959,452 gallons, and the home deliveries
1,924,395, showing an increase of 1,028,485, in the for-
mer, and 65,122 in the latter. The export also was in
this case unusually large, being 286,794 gallons in ex-
cess of that of 1851. Of British spirits generally the
consumption was 25,200,879 gallons against 23,976,591
in the preceding year, the chief increase being in Ire-
land. With regard to the general course of the wine
trade, it is remarked that during the past year there has
been a rise in all the wine-growing countries, owing to
the increased demand from all parts, and especially from.
Australia. At the beginning of 1853 the stocks in Eng-
land were lower than for 15 years, and about 1,000,000
gallons under the average. The following table shows
the proportion per cent. which each description of wine
bears to the total home consumption of all sorts for the
past three years :

1850. 1851. 1852.
Cape 3-82 ... 3.74 3.82
French 529 ... 712 ... 7-50
Portugal 43.73 ... 4020 ... 39.23
Spanish 38.36 ... 40'33 ... 41.08
Madeita l'o9 ... 114 110
Rhenish O-85 0.94 ... 0.92
Canary O-25 ... 0.25 ... 0.23
Sicilian and other sorts 6.61 6.28 612

100'00 100.00 100'00
ROYAL CRITICISM.—A letter from Stutgardt says :
" The King having lately passsed through Fredenstadt
on his way to Baden, a deputation from the citizens pre-
sented an address to his Majesty, in which, in alluding
to the events of the years 1848 and 1849, they call that
period a stormy one. The King's Secretary has sent a
written reply, in which he says : 'His Majesty does not
think that the term stormy can be applied to such a
period, and that it would rather merit the appellation of
an unreasonable period, seeing that an audacious and re-
volutionary party had used every imaginable effort to
destroy the principle of obedience to the laws, and the
devotedness of the inhabitants of Wurtemburg to their
dynasty, to overthrow the established order of things,
and to call down incalculable misfortunes on the people,
who will long suffer for its errors.'
SCENE IN A CHURCH.--A few Sabbaths ago, in one of
our city churches, a preacher from the country was
thrown into a fix by the non-appearance,,through
some
mistake, of the regular precentor. lie accordingly inti-
mated to the congregation his inability to proceed, un-
less some one volunteered to act as substitute. Several
minutes elapsed, and his patience becoming exhausted,
lie was
lad of sixteen about to
ro give notice of dismissal, when a young
a remote corner of the pews and
walked into the bench. He conducted the psalmody
throughout to the admiration of all present —Glasgow
Courier.