On April 14 in 1736, a particularly bloody episode in Edinburgh's often grim history took place.

John Porteous was the captain of Edinburgh's City Guard, an officer whose overbearing style was deeply unpopular with the lower classes in the Scottish capital.

The duty fell to him to execute a smuggler in the Grassmarket, Andrew Wilson.

It seems the crowd that gathered were supportive of the prisoner.

He had earlier helped his co-accused escape from the Old Tolbooth prison and the crowd became angry.

The Porteous Riot by James Skene, 1818

The exact events are confused but violent scenes broke out in the city. The Lord Provost became so concerned he ordered Porteous to "furnish them with powder and shot."

The captain ordered his men to fire above the heads of the crowd, but they struck people in a balcony in one of the surrounding buildings.

This caused an even greater riot to break out, with a total of six people dying as panic set in, with the troops firing directly into the mob.


Porteous was arrested that day and charged with murder, but the authorities seemed to have underestimated the depth of anger against him.

He was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death later that year - in the very same place he had overseen the smuggler's execution.

An even more gruesome end was in store for him as a huge mob of 4000 people converged on the city on 7 September 1736, angered by news the captain would be granted a reprieve.

The plaque on the Grassmarket

He was dragged from his cell and hauled through the streets of Edinburgh.

Porteous received a savage beating, he was stripped of his nightgown and the mod attempted to hang him several times. Someone even tried to set fire to his foot.

He died later that night.

The former captain was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard and a plaque in the Grassmarket marks the spot of his untimely and violent death. 


