The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-15 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 severeinjuries on
the skull that he died instantly. So far as we have beeh
able to ascertain, the circumstances attending this brutal
case were as follow :—Shortly after they bad 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 hint 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 he
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 fbur 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 lo•king through the hole, and the
police were immediately 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
Finmeston-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.

RACING PIXY

'RES FOR 1853.

The figures within paren
day's

,hesis denote the number o

racing.
[NE.

JII
Hampton (2) 15
Beverley, Hull, &c. (2) 15
Tenbury (1) l6
Robert-Town (3) l6
Lamberton (2) 21
Bibury (1) 22
Macclesfield (2) ..... 22

Stockbridge (1) 23
Harrogate(2) 23
Knighton 24
Winchester (1) 24
Newcastle (3)
Ludlow (2) 30

JU
Newmarket (3) .
Worcester (2)
Carlisle (3) 5
Woodford and Loughton 5
Lancaster (2) 7
Odiham (1) 8
Macclesfield (2) 12
Liverpool (3) 13
Maidstone (1) l3
SEPTE
Lincoln (2) 1
Warwick (2) 6
Doncaster (4) ..13
Weston Zoyland and
Bridgwater (1) 12
Dover 15
Pontefract (2) l9

LY.

Ipswich (2) l4
Leith (1) l4
Stourbridge (2) 18
Stamford (2) 19
Whitehaven (2) 19
Knutsford (2) 2O
Nottingham (2) 21
Goodwood (4) 26
Wenlock 27
MBER.
Bedford (2)
Leicester (2) 21
Lanark (2) 22
Manchester Autumn (2) 22
Newmarket F. 0. (3) 27
I Walsall (2) 28
Northallerton (2)... 29

THE VACANT ALDERMANIO GOWN. —Yesterday a
numerously attended meeting of the friends of
Mr. Muggeridge, the only candidate for the civic
honour of the aldermanic gown, vacant by the
publicly-announced retirement of Mr. Alderman
.Wilson from the ward of Castle Baynard, was
held at the St. Paul's Hotel, St. Paul's Churchyard.
Mr. Odell presided. The proceedings (with reference to
the vacancy) which took place in the Court of Aldermen
having been reported to the meeting, the following reso-
tion was unanimously agreed to : Resolved, that this
Committee feel confident in the right intentions of the
Court of Aldermen, and that every exertion will be made,
by which the declared vacancy for -Alderman of this Ward
may be perfected ; and the Committee feel assured that
the strongly-expressed wish of the freemen, occupiers of
the ward, that Mr. Henry Muggeridge be elected
Alderman of London, will be carried into effect." Since
the appearance of the advertisement containing the
names and residences of Mr. Muggeridge's friends, re-
questing him to become their alderman, many additional
signatures have been added to the list, which now com-
prises the major part of the resident inhabitants,
qualified to vote upon the occasion,--Adjourned.

FOREIGN.
\lO 3 A ntwerp &Rotterdam 1/ id
5 3 RelgianEastn. Junct. i 14
20 4 Beziers to Graissessac id— 1 p
20 all Charleroi &Erquelin. 14 15
20 10 Dijon and Besanon.. 1 I}p
20 X Dutch Rhenish ..... .. li -- 1} is
20 all East Indian . 5 51 p
20 1 Do. Extension .-. 14 lip
5 all Gt. Indian Peninsula 11 2 p
20 10 Gd. Junct. of France 1 lip 111 11 i
201 151 Gt.Westernof Canada
Shares id 4 P 94
5 1 Lucca & Pistoja sp.c
pref.— ............ i id
20 15 Luxembourg..;
10 10 Do. (Railway) 4 4A
5 2 Do.
5 3 Do. (Canal) l4 11
10 L. Do. 6p. ct. pref / 4d 14
20 9 Lyons & Mediterran ... •• •P
20 4A Madras l4 2 p
20 all Namur & Liege (with
interest) 74 74
20 all Do. (ex interest) — ...
16 all Northern of France 354 - 351 35i 1 4
20 all Do. 20/. 3p. c. Bds
(fmy. B. &Ams. Shs.) 14 15
10 all NorwegianTrunkPref 81 9
20 10 Paris and Lyons l6 16 264 1 6
20 all Paris and Orleans 4l 43
20 all Paris and Rouen 4O 42
20 all Paris and Strasbourg 35 —35 i p i
20 4 ParisCaen & Cherbrg. 3. 41
10 74 Quebec &Richmond 6 - par
20 all Rouen and Havre lB 191 19i
20 all Sambre and Meuse B/ 9 si 113
10 4 Do. 51 p. et. pref ... ...
20 2 Sth-Eastrn.of France . . --
20 4 Southern of France 4l —51 p
20 2s. Upper India Scrip i b pm
84 all West Flanders.
10 8 Do. 54 per c, Pref 4 idis
20 10 Western of France BO 9 p 19 :'? i
i ilO 2 West. of Switzerland d
20 6 Zealand.. . .....
-21 d)

JOINT-STOCK BANKS.
40 all Australasia B3 85 84 3
50 all British N. American
20 2 Chrtd. Bnk. of India,
Australia, & China 1 p 24 3i
100 25 Colonial —
100 20 Commercial of Lond —
20 10 English Scottish and
Australian s 10
20 12i Lond. Chart. Bk. of
Australia - li pl 4
50 20 London and County ...
50 10 London Joint Stock —
100 20 Loud. & Westminster 36
20 2 London Bank of Aus-
tralia and India
50 22A National of Ireland —
25 all Oriental Bank of
Corporation 5l 53 52i 2
25 5 Do. New —
100 25 Provincial of Ireland
10 all Do. New — •••
5 1 Royal Australn.Bkg
& Gold Imp Co id— Cli
25 all South Australia 49 51
25 all Union of Australia 77 79 78i 8
2/ Do. New Bi 8i
s'o 10 Union of London — 18,
40 all Union of Madrid.—

MISCELLANEOUS
100 35 Australian Agrieultd 73 75 70 1 4
20 8 Australsn .Pc ific. Mail!
10 6 Australn. Royal Mail
50 38i Brit. American Land 72 74 73
100 32 Canada 65 70
5 5 Crystal Palace — p 8
4 2 Crystal Pal. of France 1
20 1 Eastern Steam •..
1 1 Electric Teleg. of Ir —
15 14 Gen. Steam Navigat —
20 14 General Screw Steam
20 5 Irish Beetroot Sugar
1 all Nat. Pat. Steam Fuel
10 2 Netherlands Land ...
20 7i Nrth.ofEuropeSteam
50 all Peninsular & Oriental ...
50 25 Do.
.00 60 Royal Mail Steam . . . . . .
25 25 South A ustral.Lana 44 46 45i 4i
1 all Submar. Telegraph
5 2 Univcral Emigration
and Colonization ...
100 284 Van Diemen's Land 184 194 184