The Blackamoor of the Wood; Bring a Tragical end of a gallant Lord and virtuous Lady; together with the untimely death of their two children, wickedly performed by a heathenish and blood-thirsty villain, their servant. The like of which cruelty was never heard.

Stirling: Printed by W. Macnie

1820-1830? per National Library of Scotland

8 pages

15 cm

A tragic tale of murder, rape, and betrayal. A Roman lord is out hunting with his servant, a Moor, when the servant makes some unnamed offence for which he is chastised. This punishment has dreadful consequences, prompting the servant to take revenge. When the Lord goes out hunting the next day (ignoring the beseeching of his wife and children who wish him to remain home this day), the servant locks up the tower where the family resides, first raping the wife and then dragging the family to the top of the tower where their screams are heard by the villagers. The townfolk cannot enter the tower but run to find the lord, who returns and pleads with his servant to stop while the rogue murders his two children in front of him. The servant promises to return the wife if the lord cuts the nose off his face (which he does), but then instead throws the wife off the tower top. The lord promptly dies of grief and the servant, knowing he cannot escape, throws himself off the tower as well.

Chapbooks - Scotland - Stirling

Crime

Ballads and songs

Black Race

Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario

National Library of Scotland

JPEGs and PDF derived from master file, which was scanned from the original book in 24-bit color at 600 dpi in TIFF format using an Epson Expression 10000XL scanner.

In the public domain; For high quality reproductions, contact Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph. libaspc@uoguelph.ca 519-824-4120, Ext. 53413

Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario, Canada