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Andrew McIntyre

Age: unknown

Sex: male

Date: 15 Apr 1900

Place: Clayknowes Farmhouse, Falkirk

Andrew McIntyre was killed at Clayknowes Farmhouse.

A man was tried for his murder but the charge was found not proven.

He was found on a Sunday dead in a ditch.

His face and head were covered with blood from wounds which were thought to have been inflicted with a knife.

The charge against the man read: 'Prisoner in the prison of Glasgow, you are indicted at the instance of the Right Honourable, Her Majesty's Advocate, and the charges against you are, that on 14th or 15th April 1900, you did (1) in the house at Clayknowes House, Greenhill, in the parish of Falkirk, then occupied by a miner and now by a brickmaker, assault Andrew McIntyre, iron dresser, Jubilee Place, Bonnybridge, beat him with your fists and butt him with your head, and on the footpath leading northwards from a point 130 yards or thereby, to the north of Clayknowes farmhouse, in the said parish, occupied by a farmer, through the farm of Clayknowes, towards Greenhill aforesaid, again assault the said Andrew McIntyre, and kick him and beat him with your fists, and with some weapon, to the prosecutor unknown, by all of which or part thereof you did fracture his jaw bones and his skull, and did murder him, and (2) at one or other of the places above libelled, rob the said Andrew McIntyre of a watch and part of a chain.

The man tried pleaded not guilty.

Andrew McIntyre's brother said that he last saw Andrew McIntyre on Saturday 14 July 1900 after having tea with him at their home in Jubilee Place. He said that he left him there at about 5.30pm and went out. He said that next he heard on the Sunday night that a man's body had been found and on the Monday morning he went to the mortuary where he identified the body of his brother.

He identified his brothers watch chain bar which he said was easy as it and the watch had once belonged to him. He also identified the clothes Andrew McIntyre had been wearing when he had left the house as well as his pocket knife and handkerchief.

Andrew McIntyre was later seen at the Royal Hotel in Bonnybridge at about 6pm on the Saturday evening. A man said that he saw the man accused of murder and another man in one of the rooms although he said that he could not say where Andrew McIntyre was with the men although he did say that he later saw Andrew McIntyre walk into the room that the men had been drinking in. The man said that about 30 minutes later Andrew McIntyre came out of the room with his face all wet. He said that Andrew McIntyre was smiling and that he wiped his face for him.

A man from Torbrex in Cumbernauld said that the man tried was a miner's drawer and that he had acted in that capacity under him and that he lived in a house at Clayknowes. He said that between 5pm and 6pm on Saturday 14 April 1900 he had gone to Bonnybridge with the man tried, in Munro, and that they had gone to the Royal Hotel there and sat down to get something to drink. He said then that between 8pm and 9pm Andrew McIntyre came into the room and that while Andrew McIntyre was in the room the man tried started to sing a song and that Andrew McIntyre then joined in. The man said that the man that was tried became annoyed by that and showed his annoyance by flinging his beer into Andrew McIntyre's face. He said then at Andrew McIntyre went out of the room and got it wiped. He said that Andrew McIntyre then came back into the room and that he and the man tried made it up and shook hands and then afterwards Andrew McIntyre sang a song.

The man said that after that at about 9pm he and the man tried left but that they came back after about ten minutes and when they did Andrew McIntyre drew them into conversation. He said that they all had some more drink and then they all went out to a shop and had something to eat. The man said that after that, they all went off towards Clayknowes. He said that the man tried had a bottle of whisky on him and they all had a drink. He said that the man tried and Andrew McIntyre were conversing all the way and that as they neared Clayknowes he said that the man tried asked him if he had any objection to Andrew McIntyre coming into the house and that he had said that he had none and that they all then went in.

The man said that when they went in they found the man who was tried's house keeper there and two young children, the eldest being about 3-years old. He said that the housekeeper made them all some supper and that after they sat down talking. He said that there didn't seem to be any difference between Andrew McIntyre and the man tried but then suddenly they both rose to their feet and that the man tried butted Andrew McIntyre with his head on his face and nose and also struck him a blow with his fist. He said that Andrew McIntyre was knocked against the room door and that his face was running with blood. The man said that he then remonstrated with the man that was tried and said, 'The like of that will not do' and that the man tried then stopped hitting Andrew McIntyre. He said then that the man that was tried then washed Andrew McIntyre's face and that they then seemed to get on friendly terms again.

Then at about 11pm the man said that Andrew McIntyre said that he would go home and said that the man tried said that he would go along the road with him and they both left the house.

The man said that he then had a smoke and lay down on the front of the bed and got up the next day between 7am and 8am. He said that at about 11am two men called and that the man tried then came down and they said that had found a body in a ditch on Clayknowes Farm and that he then went off to see if he could identify the man. He said that they all went off to the place where the body had been found. It was a small burn at the footpath which led northwards near Clayknowes Farm where a low plank bridge crossed. The body was in the burn near the bridge and the man said that he identified him as Andrew McIntyre. The man and the man tried then went back to the house and then later on in the evening the police came and took both the man and the man tried to Falkirk.

When the man was questioned he said that they had taken the short cut at his suggestion and he said that the man tried usually took the longer road which was better, when he was going to work, and said that he had never known him to take the shortcut through to Bonnybridge himself.

The man said that he had taken no part in the fight and that when it had started he hadn't stirred from his seat by the fire. He said that he didn't know why Andrew McIntyre had come to Clayknowe with them as he had not been invited and that the first he knew of it was when the man on trial had asked him if it was alright for Andrew McIntyre to stay the night. He said that there was the suggestion that Andrew McIntyre and the man on trial might sleep in the room of the man on trials.

A woman that had been living at the house said that the man that was tried had come to live with them about two months earlier. She said that on 14 April 1900 the two men had left for Bonnybridge and that they got back at about 11pm with a stranger. She said that from all appearances the men had all had a good deal to drink and she made them some supper. She said that after dinner the man tried and Andrew McIntyre began to argue with one another on something about the war and were using high words. She said that she saw them rise to their feet but only saw one blow struck but said that it was the man on trial that had struck the blow. She said that she then turned her back to them to hide her little girls face. She said that Andrew McIntyre was on the floor and that the other man then intervened and washed Andrew McIntyre's face and that the man tried and Andrew McIntyre then became friendly again. However, she said that Andrew McIntyre then said that he thought that it would be better if he were to go home. She said that he had a cut above and below his right eye.

The woman said that the man tried put on his sparrabled boot and that when they went off they appeared to be quite friendly but added that they were a good deal the worse of drink.

She said that they had been in the house for about two hours and that it would have been about 1am when they left.

She said that the man that was tried came back after about 20 minutes and told her that he had gone down to the shop to get a bottle of ginger beer but could not get in because the people were in bed. She said that the shop was a good distance away and that she had said to the man that was tried that it had not taken him long and that he had replied that he did not take long. She said that she didn't think that he had had time to go to the shop and come back.  She said that after, the man washed his hands and used a towel to dry them which he took into his room and didn't bring back. However, she said that when he came out he continued to wipe his hands on the other towel. She said that when the man had wiped Andrew McIntyre's face with a towel he had only used one, but after when she saw both towels the next morning she said that there was blood on both of them. She said that in the morning she also noticed that the man had blood on his trousers but said that she could not remember whether he had had blood on his trousers when he had gone out with Andrew McIntyre.

She said that when they all went out to look at the body of Andrew McIntyre the next day she said that it was the body of the stranger who had come back the night before. However, she said that the man that was tried had said that he was not sure as the jacket and waistcoat were different.

When the police took the men away the woman gave the police the trousers and jacket that the man tried had been waring on the Saturday night saying that the ones he had been wearing when he was taken away were not the ones he had been wearing on the night. She said that she also gave the police the two towels.

At the trial, the man that found Andrew McIntyre's body said that he thought that he had been lifted into the burn and not thrown from the bridge. He said that there were two large stones by his head and that he didn't think that the burn was deep enough to drown a man if he had fallen in unless he had fallen in in the very centre with his mouth downmost.

A doctor that carried out the post-mortem stated that when he had first seen the body on 15 April 1900 rigor mortis had just set in and said that he thought that the body had been dead for about ten or twelve hours. After carrying out the full post-mortem he said that he was of the opinion that death was due to fracture of the skull and to the injury of the brain following thereon. He said that there were no other wounds or bruises except on his head and face. There was a puncture wound on Andrew McIntyre's face and the doctor said that it could have been caused by a heavy blow from a blunt instrument from outside resulting in the teeth coming through the cheek from the inside. He said that his lower jaw might have been broken by a blow from a fist but said that he didn't think that the upper jaw could have been broken in the same way. He said that if Andrew McIntyre had been on the floor then the injury could have been caused by a kick. However, he also said that the injuries could have been caused if a man had had a stone in his hand that he had used as a weapon and that that would account for the wounds on the head. He also said that he had visited the place where Andrew McIntyre was found and said that it was absolutely impossible that he could have fallen from the bridge and sustained the injuries that he had. He also said that he was perfectly sure that Andrew McIntyre had not drowned.

The doctor said that he also examined the trousers, waistcoat and cap of the man tried and had found blood on them all.

When the police searched the house, they found Andrew McIntyre's watch hidden in a slit in the man that was tried's bed. The chain bar was found by Andrew McIntyre's body, and was later matched to the watch and identified by his brother.

When the police examined the distance between the house and the shop they said that it was about a mile. They then measure the distance from the house to where the body of Andrew McIntyre was found and found it to be about 600 yards.

The jury retired for half an hour then said that they found that the charge of murder and theft were not proven but that the man on trial was guilty of common assault.

Andrew McIntyre was described as a young man.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Kilsyth Chronicle - Saturday 07 July 1900

see Birmingham Daily Post - Tuesday 17 April 1900

see National Records Of Scotland - JC26/1900/88