David Haggart (24 June 1801 – 18 July 1821) was a Scottish thief and rogue.

Early life

Haggart was born at Golden Acre, near Edinburgh, 24 June 1801. A gamekeeper's son, he was taken twice as a

gillie or is an ancient Gaelic term for a person who acts as a servant or attendant on a fishing, hunting, deer stalking or hawking expedition, primarily in the Scottish Highlands or on a river such as the River Spey. In origin it referred especial ...

to the highlands, received a good plain education, but had already begun to commit petty thefts when, in July 1813, he enlisted as a drummer in the Norfolk Militia, then stationed at

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

George Borrow George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...

, who probably saw him in Edinburgh, gave a very fanciful sketch of him in ''

Lavengro ''Lavengro: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest'' (1851) is a work by George Borrow, falling somewhere between the genres of memoir and novel, which has long been considered a classic of 19th-century English literature. According to the author, i ...

''. Borrow's "wild, red-headed lad of some fifteen years, his frame lithy as an antelope's, but with prodigious breadth of chest", was then only twelve years old. Next year, when the regiment left for England, Haggart was discharged, and after nine months' more schooling he began an apprenticeship as a

millwright A millwright is a craftsman or skilled tradesman who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mechanic'') ...

Criminal career

The firm went bankrupt in April 1817, and the unemployed Haggart soon became a regular pickpocket, burglar and, sometimes, shoplifter haunting every fair and racecourse between

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. His luck varied, but was never better than during the first four months, when he and an Irish comrade shared more than three hundred

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

. He was imprisoned six times and escaped four times; and on 10 October 1820, in his escape from

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

tolbooth A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scotland, Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of th ...

, he knocked out the

turnkey A turnkey, a turnkey project, or a turnkey operation (also spelled turn-key) is a type of project that is constructed so that it can be sold to any buyer as a completed product. This is contrasted with build to order, where the constructor builds ...

with a stone and killed him. He escaped to Ireland, and was sailing at one time for America, at another for France, but in March 1821 was arrested for theft at

Clough Clough ( ; ) is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits about 3 miles from Dundrum on the A2 between Newcastle and Belfast. The A2 continues via Downpatrick and the coast via Strangford and the Portaferry – Stran ...

market. He was recognised, and brought, heavily ironed, from

Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. History Origins Kilmainham's foundation dates ...

to Dumfries, and thence to Edinburgh. There he was tried on 11 June 1821, and hanged on 18 July.

''The Life of David Haggart''

Twelve days before the trial he was visited in prison by

George Combe George Combe (21 October 1788 – 14 August 1858) was a Scottish people, Scottish lawyer and a spokesman of the phrenology, phrenological movement for over 20 years. He founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820 and wrote ''The Constitu ...

, the

phrenologist Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or ...

, and between the trial and his execution he partly wrote, partly dictated, an autobiography, which was published by his agent, with Combe's phrenological notes as an appendix, and Haggart's own comments. It is a curious picture of criminal life, the best, and seemingly the most faithful, of its kind, and possesses also some linguistic value, as being mainly written in the Scottish thieves' cant, which contains a good many genuine Romany words.

Lord Cockburn Henry Thomas Cockburn of Bonaly, Lord Cockburn ( ; 26 October 1779 in Cockpen, Midlothian – 26 April/18 July 1854 in Bonaly, Midlothian) was a Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure. He served as Solicitor General for Scotland between 1 ...

, writing from recollection in 1848, declares the whole book to be "a tissue of absolute lies, not of mistakes, or of exaggerations, or of fancies, but of sheer and intended lies. And they all had one object, to make him appear a greater villain than he really was". On the other hand, the contemporaneous account of the trial, so far as it goes, bears out Haggart's narrative ; Cockburn is certainly wrong in describing Haggart as "about twenty-five", and in stating that the portrait prefixed professed to be "by his own hand". This autobiography later served as the inspiration for the 1969 movie '' Sinful Davey''. It is available in several reprint formats, but no new edition has ever been issued.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haggart, David 1801 births 1821 deaths Criminals from Edinburgh Scottish male criminals 19th-century Scottish criminals 19th-century executions by Scotland Scottish murderers British people convicted of theft