Excerpt from Trial of Mrs. M'lachlan

The present account of the trial of Mrs. Jessie M'Lachlan for murder in Glasgow, known as the Sandyford mystery, has been prepared from the following sources: -(1) The original record in the Books of Adjournal of the High Court of Justiciary, (2) "Copy of the Proceedings at the Trial of Jessie M'Intosh or M'Lachlan for Murder and Robbery at Glasgow in September, 1862, and of the Evidence taken at the subsequent Inquiry before Mr. Young, ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 19th May, 1863, " which is the official report, and (3) the reports in the contemporary newspaper Press.

The text of the evidence at the trial contained in the Parliamentary papers is plainly an unrevised reprint of the separate report published in pamphlet form at the time (Glasgow: J.H. Hastings, 1862), which, in turn, was reprinted from the columns of the Morning Journal. As, upon examination, numerous inaccuracies, common to each, were found, ranging from inconsiderable errata to the omission of one witness, that evidence has been collated with the very full and excellent report in the North British Daily Mail (18th to 20th September, 1862). The additional evidence taken by the Crown Commissioner, which appears to be correctly reported, has been reprinted from the Parliamentary papers.

The official report of the trial does not include either the addresses of counsel or the judges charge. These are here supplied from a careful and somewhat laborious collation thereof as reported in the Scotsman, the Glasgow Herald, the Morning Journal, and the North British Daily Mail (20th and 22nd September, 1862), it is hoped with satisfactory results.

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