An item of news concerning a savage murder in Newcastle appeared in newspapers around the country 270 years ago.
The Derby Mercury reported how on May 30, 1752: "About 10 at night, some company went into a public house in the Bigg Market where words arose between Ewen McDonald, a recruit in General Guise's regiment, quartered in this town, and that company. From words they came to blows which caused some of the company to leave the room. But McDonald followed them out, laid hold on one Mr Robert Parker - a cooper (barrel maker) of this town - and wickedly stabbed him in the neck in so desperate a manner that he died immediately."
At that point, the report continued, a squad of musketeers apprehended the killer, took him to the guard house, then on to Newgate Prison where he would remain until facing trial at the assizes and certain execution after the coroner's inquest delivered a verdict of 'wilful murder' on the incident.
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The Bigg Market is one of Newcastle’s most notable locations - and it’s certainly seen some action down the years. But its story long predates today’s bars, restaurants and fast-food joints. The market - named after a type of barley - was one of many along the Great North Road, the main link between London and Scotland.
This important old route crossed the Tyne, protected by the castle, and continued up what is today’s Percy Street. The Bigg Market has been held in Newcastle since the Middle Ages, while others nearby included the Cloth Market, Groat Market and White Cross Market.
In recent decades, the Bigg Market has been stereotyped as a magnet for boozy stag and hen parties, and hard-nut Geordie lads and lasses who don’t wear coats on a night out in the midst of deep Tyneside winters. And, to be fair, it has been known for trouble to occasionally flare there.
At the time of Robert Parker's murder by Ewen McDonald 270 years ago, it was already a rough and ready location, with the violence that night erupting at a notorious tavern called Pinkey's. An item in the Newcastle Courant from the same year, meanwhile, advertises 'cock fighting' at "Miss Sarah Robson's, the Sign Of The Sun, Bigg Market". The owners of the victorious birds could win cash - and even a horse. The Bigg Market was not a location for the faint-hearted.
The killing just seven years after the failed 1745 Jacobite Rebellion happened at a time when there would still have been plenty of anti-Scottish sentiment prevalent, and the unfortunate 19-year-old soldier after drinking simply rose to the bait in the pub with tragic consequences.
Sentenced to death for murder, Ewen McDonald's execution which took place on this day 270 years ago, did not go quite to plan. On the gallows, after kicking the executioner and attempting to escape, McDonald was finally hanged and his lifeless body cut down and taken to the Surgeons’ Hall where it would be dissected in the name of medical science.
However, on leaving then re-entering the room, one of the surgeons was stunned to find the hanged man sitting upright and pleading for his life. The surgeon promptly grabbed a wooden mallet and bludgeoned McDonald finally to oblivion.
More then a century later, the tale of ‘half-hanged’ Ewen McDonald was still doing the rounds in Newcastle.
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