Scottish Mysteries: Unveiling The Hangman’s Secret.

The mystery hangman of Dundee, 1835

After the mid 19th century hangmen were widely unpopular in Dundee after the hanging of popular Jacobites during the rebellions left a bad taste in the people’s mouths. In 1835 Mark Devlin, a member of the notorious Black Band criminal gang, was captured and sentenced to death in Dundee, but understandably none stepped forward to fulfil the task. Instead, he was transported to Edinburgh where again no volunteer emerged until one man spoke to the bailie and offered his services on the condition he be masked. It was known that the hooded hangman was a Dundee native but the bailie who appointed him took the secret of his identity to the grave.