Justice in the Sharpest Form: the kidnapping of Thomas Chalmour
I would love to be able to say it started with the kidnapping of Thomas Chalmour. Apologies, I’m getting ahead of myself. In preparing for an event this month, I examined the Council Registers for the 1520s , and an entry for the day of 10 th July 1522 ended up throwing the anarchic brutality of Scottish 16h Century politics into sharp relief. So w hen I say I would like to be able to say the slaughter, disaster, and raiding I saw in Aberdeen in the 1520s started with the kidnapping of Thomas Chalmour, I don’t think it started there at all. The incident that first caught my attention was more of an escalation of events that had already been in motion for years prior to then . Thomas Chalmour was a burgess of Aberdeen sworn to the King’s service, and on the 9 th of July 1522 he was seized in the dead of night by cut-throats led by John of Ruthirfurd. John was also a burgess of Aberdeen, though he was loyal to James Forbes of Auchintoul , a prominent member of the Forbes clan . Tho...
