Star.
London, England, 1828-06-20 00:00:00

GREAT LOSS OF LIVES A7•II4II4ALDY.
• • ". , • -EDlNhilluaa
dily, one oC,those whithifiresni then.
• magnitude, seem .designed' by finararriks cr in Ton's.
:people-from their:fie' bitual lethargy. to It Section upon
the•incertain tenure by which they hold theii lives, oc-
-etiried at Kir kalile. Owing tritbe day b. ing communion
Sabbath, and the Rev. Edward Irving having. been en-
gaged to preach of i the occasion, the parish church was
excessively crowded fee.
,the;'evening service, which
was to consmancaCat six o'clock.. When. the tolling of.
the bell had ceased, hot before the Reverend Gentleman
swede-hit appearance, the beams and flooring of the
Fah gallery•gaaeowayvand, along with the persons in
it, descended open thrgrebeireith. . The. crash 'and the
lukud of dust and shticks .which eu.ued, were lade-
seeibably lippallia&-..lll.oa.height of their consterna-
tion,- the persons :uccupying,..tbe aunt' gallery rushed
down stairs; and in,the,squth passage the mass of them
was so dense, and' swelled so much beyond the cape-
ciorisriess-ot the place, as to fotce..in tile partition wall
which divides the staircase from the passage. A num-
ber, particularly females, before descending•altogether
the staircase„.escatied through the in ndo ws, the glazing
of which is almost entirely oestroyed. In the passage,
however, many.were trodden down, and it was here
that the greatest number .of deaths occurred. Of the
whole victims, twenty•nine in number. only four pe-
rished on t'te north side of the Church. The lifekess
bodies, which were aftgrsaards remove,' from the south
passage, were blackened in their faces—rte coosequenee
of suffocation. it was a.lemarkahe ciriumsteoce, that
among all the deaths there were only two casea,Of frac-
tuies, and
.thestrioy thing but fatal. l hotigh the north
gallery fell with. such force as to shatter some of the
pews beristatb,tbe fall, it is believed. was the. immediate
cause of 'the' Oath Of only two, Mrs. Beveridge and
David Lit)iistio, the former of whom' Vies ;rendered a
corpse in nitnaintby being sttuck'by Drip of the jhists,*l
while her two blind and twin sani,' who viererseeted
btt-
side her; escaped unhurt. One min Was•seenrafter the
fall. standing in 4 past of the gallery which retnainedf
and, as if fascinived by the horior of the serene, to leap
down into the area, *here he• fell prostrate bat,
springing on his feet, he, again fell. and expired, some
inarticulate expression hanging at the
,time on hii
The casualties, besides deaths, ire so numerous, that.
they cannot weU be 'reckoned up. They who, instead
of remaining seated, as many did, escaped from the
crush, appeared in the open air partially, and some
most wholly, divested t f their clothes. Next day, in
the Town Hall, where a Magistrate sat to restore ar-
ticles which were lOston the occasion to their proper
wieners, we.Weire struck with the immense quantity of
hats, bonnets; shawl's; veils, combs, bibles, and psalm-
bOtilcs, fcc..wilich were displayed in the place. They
ketentedp eieid image of the disa ter, in its nature
acid extent. ''Tlie following h a list of deaths, collected,
from onqiiedionableaut%iity, On to the very latest date:
' Iteveriilke, widows( the late Michael Beveridge, clothier,
Kirkaldy. • • . • ,
'Miss Grace Cttnologlispi, daughter. of -John.
keeper: Kirkdfrf:
Three ileughtes of Mrs. Mathetvion, Kit kately.
Anderson, daughter of Mrs. Anderson, cork cutter,Kkkaldy
*-.‘illiii,4otrof 'Mamas shoemaker„ Kirks/bp
..........ConninehaM.setvain maid to Mr. Kirk, agent foc.theCOlM
mercial Bank,: Kirkaldy.
Janet Currie, servant to Mr. J. 13canie, Manufacturer, Kirkaldy!,
Henrietta Brown, spinster, Kirkaldy.
•
Na.,ey'Jolitioton. • •
Janet Sorotsmse; daughter of . RobertStenhouse, West Bridge. 11
Mumy, daughter. of George Murray, weaver, Newton,l
Abbotabill.
Mr.. Watson, wife of Thomas Watson. late baker, Kitluddy.
Sarah Penment, poultry keeper, Dunsiltiet.
Mrs. Smith., mill.apintier. - • ,• • .• , .
Agnew servant Pr•itt, manufacture.
David Lawlon, weaver, Paik,-Eltrkeldy.
Al' Caut, Kit kiddy.

Cunningham, inn-

, . •

Robert
Peter ,son of AlittieW Nicol,
supbalstrrer, Klikaldy.
A' boy named fJarn., apprentice-to Ate. Ayres, Link..
John Bruwo; Pith.beau.
Matthew thsidfray weaver,. Links. •
Aksander Dougsil, a boy, Kingborn. •
James 11t11.•I'4tb-head. •
•
Juba Hepburn, shoemaker or wesvet,
Wernisi Murray, an old women.
A Young Imay--a danger, whose name we are specially re.s
questedmot tospdthl. She bad is the an OXIMfOt of alantralketed
her escape, bus returned inseam* of bet mother, and perished.
To these we, ay add James Grant, tailor, .ratb.head, who died
yeterday..
To account:properly 'for the accident, .it will be ne-
cessary for us 'to give a short desci linings. of the edifice
in which it billipetiecf. 'lt was built in 1807. The gal-
leries swept 'ti-mad the building steady itt the segment
of a &tie, aril were supported in trout by wooden pil..
lets, cartel* .in appearance more orraimental than
trustvioithf: 11pon' these rested a beam 13 inches by
.11, against of upon which reposed one end of the joists,
the othes belts* slightlp inserted in 'the The ac-
cident :Mullis° bavebtrea occasioned by she beaai
yield-
ing a little ata particular psis t near the centre of tbel
western gallery, "tiro the joi!ts slipped off it,. and con-
sequently oat of the sockets in it e wall. behiod, where-
ripen the entirt'portiort raise down, with Vie exception
of 'the beard, aid the front work :ttacheu to it. The
church was cakulated to coolant about eighteen hon.
dred, but on this occasion the crowd within it could not
be less than two thousand.
Those persons who were idthegaller y that fell escaped
plurally with hruiseliand. contusions mote or les: se-
-vise; and, in elk probability, the casualties Would have
been comparaiiiely few, it the rest to the 'congregation
had retaitsid"itifiCierirPteence of mind to remain fir
a little time iti-iheir seam • Bat as sown, as the crash
took place, theriisshed to-the doors in the wildest con-
sternation, ancristarry.were suffocated or trampled to
death, partieulitli. on-the -gallery stairs, and• in ttse
vestibule. 'The mortality WAS doubtless increased by
the friends or individuals who had- (Alen, under these
ciscumstances,:ming to stem the human torrent that
was rolling-Corer them'. The temporary stoppages which
these fruitless efforts occasioned, only rendered the mul-
titude behind' more wager.to force their way otit, and
.heir power was resistlesv—most of those who tell, tell
to rise 'no more.
Such Fictions as had sufficient fortitude to remain in
their pews remained unhurt. Several who were under
tie gallery' when-it fell prostrated themselves in the
`pews, and altri sastained -no -injury. Many reached the,
.open staie: aplit bathing nudity, their clothes
being, literally iditi"oft theta.
It 14. said thaw' Irving was desirous to preach on
Mondaynight intlechinehyard,in the middle of which
srandi•thekdifiee hi• which ibis frightful disaster hap-
yened, and7thattt4Priti 'only . dissuaded Ircian so doing
by th*rentonstrantes 01-the Very respectable Provost
of.the Burgh. Itrthat same enclosure, graves were then
opening ro'recerve the mortal remains of several of the
tiotimunates who had lost their lives in their an-liefy
.-.e present At his prelection. . •.• .
. •
Ye'steiday afternouis an tninsense numb. "of people
assembled opposite to C.‘ints's bankll4-hou,eto see the
Duchess 0f.,8r. ALB' mes. whose ..rrtage was .at she'
doer. Its the mean time, however ter Grace, to avoij
the uncoutteons gat , had slipped out uupeictrrved, and
walked on to Eleter Change, where hrr carnage own.-
,took het, and drove off, to the wean disappointment of
4 new and accumulating cr4ird of Oruiripti-Vrvers.