The Dunecht Outrage.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 11 March 1882, Page 23

The Dunecht Outrage.

A retired physician, resident in London, has communicated the following singular story to

1 \<l ~ About 40 years ago I was called upon to consult' respecting the case of a certain John Crawford, who lived in one of the side streets of Crawford street, Marylebone. Subsequently I attended this j>atient for a month or more; he being a sufferer from a bronchial malady which from my first introduction to him was regarded as hopeless. This Crawford was a Scripture-reader, in the employment of a missionary society, and, it is unnecessary to" add, was a man of small means. With him were his wife, daughter, and son, a lad of 15 or 16| with a countenance indicating firmness and tenacity of will. In my attendance at the bedside of my patient this boy was usually present, listening with close attention and evident interest to our talk. Crawford was very communicative respecting a'pedig'ree and three or four large parchments, which he seldom omitted to bring forth while I remained with him. At that time the Earldom of Crawford and Balcarres was in abeyance. It was one of the dormant peerages of Scotland, which not infrequently give work to the House of Lords, and , a claimant to the title and estates was reported to be even then gathering documentary evidence wherewith to enforce his plea. I advised Crawford to relink quish these parchments if, as he repeatedly told us, Lord Lindsay was buying up all such writings. But the invariable reply .wasi " I am John Crawford, of Balcarres, with as good a right to this peerage as any man living. If I were not so poor and so incapacitated by illness I should myself prosecute the claim. Though I cannot do this, I shall, for the sake of this boy here " — pointing to his son — " retain these documents, whatever price may be offered for them." The claim had not then been brought before the House of Lords, nor was it publicly heard of till some time after the death of this John Crawford. One remarkable expiession, which fixed itself upon my memory from the earnestness with which it was repeated by Crawford, was, "Let him die whenever lie may, he will not rest in his grave." The boy who heard these words again and again, and who, as I have said, was an attentive and interested listener, is now, if he be in existence, a man of five-and-fifty. I have not the smallest knowledge of his career, having entirely lost sight of him when his father died. But the circumstances are as vividly imprinted on my memory as if they were fresh and recent. Of course I am only theorising when I say that the lad was, by appearance of physiognomy, just as one of those determined plodders,_ common enough in a northern race, who, settling themselves to a difficult end, rarely fail to reach it. He maybe at this time a prosperous merchant ; but if this be only vague speculation, it is more to the point to say that those parchments are probably still in existence somewhere s and thai/, if. they can be discovered and authenticated,

the Daily Telegraph :—

they may possibly aid in solving this painful mystery. On January 9th the Aberdeen police authorities received a letter requesting the police to communicate with a certain number at the Stirling Post-office, with a view to entering into an arrangement with the writer, who admits that he was an accomplice of the parties who removed the body of the late Earl of Crawford and Balcarres from his tomb at Dunecht, and that he is prepared to reveal the names of the principals, and also to indicate where the body will be found, upon receiving a satisfactory guarantee that he will bo granted a free pardon and that the joint reward of £600 will be given to him. The police believe that this is a bona fide proposal, and that the negotiations will have tho desired result. In the meantimo an officer has been despatched to Stirling, in readiness to communicate personally with the writer of the letter the moment the latter is satisfied that he will be safe.