1313
going down on one knee, Macrae begged
forgiveness for having chastised her servant.
Later at Marionville, an anonymous letter
arrived stating that Macrae had meddled with
the “Knights of the Shoulder Knot” (the name
given to footmen for their elaborate uniforms)
and they would have their revenge for the insult
to their brother, while the footman in question,
James Merry, made it known he would take legal
proceedings against his assailant.
Piqued, Macrae wrote to Ramsay and
demanded that Merry be put in his place and
discharged but Ramsay refused and their
relationship quickly soured as the two engaged
in a protracted series of increasingly
intemperate letters. This culminated in Macrae
having his messenger inform Ramsay that he
was not a gentleman, but a scoundrel.
Macrae had overstepped the mark, Ramsay
was a proper gentleman, with a title, not
someone you could go around insulting. The
intermediary, one Captain Amory, arranged a
meeting of both parties in Bayle’s Tavern at
which “rough epithets were exchanged“. The
outcome was inevitable and satisfaction was
demanded by Macrae.
The time and place was set for the shore
outside of Musselburgh at noon the next day.
The two gentlemen, each with another in tow
as second, met at Wards Inn off of the
Musselburgh Links, with a surgeon, Benjamin
Bell, sensibly in place.
A parlay took place to see if things could be
settled amicably but both sides were
intransigent.
Each man took a pistol and made his way to
the allotted spot, walked 14 paces away from
the other, and the duel commenced.
Ramsay shot first and nicked the collar of his
former friend, grazing the neck. For a sure shot
like Macrae, the outcome was inevitable and
Ramsay was mortally wounded.
Edinburgh society was outraged and it was
the lower status Macrae that they squarely
blamed for this calamity. Being a proper class
scandal, the detail was all printed at the time and
Macrae was immortalised as “The Fortunate
Duellist” by Edinburgh caricaturist John Kay.
Facing a potential murder charge, Macrae
abandoned Marionville and his family and fled
to Paris accompanied by his second, Captain
Amory. A summons soon arrived from
Edinburgh to return and face the law. Ignoringit, both were declared outlaws and consigned
themselves to live out their days in exile.
Macrae stayed in Paris until the coming of the
French revolution compelled his to flee further,
this time to Altona in Italy. He had hoped that
the passage of time would allow him to return
home to Marionville, but society and the law
were resolved against it. Soon forgotten by
Edinburgh’s chattering classes, he died alone in
Paris on the 16th January 1820, 30 years an exile
from his home, wife and two children.
The gayest house in town fell into “an air of
depression and melancholy such as could
barely fail to strike the most unobservant
passenger“. It was advertised as being to let in
1793 and the following year it was for sale. The
house was repeatedly for sale and let
throughout the 19th century and from
approximately 1858 to 1869, it was being used
by Dr. Guthrie’s “Original Ragged Industrial
School”.
In 1932, Marionville was purchased by the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edinburgh and
St Andrews for use as the manse for St Ninian’s
& Triduana’s Church, which was built in the
grounds at this time. Its last occupant before the
church took it over would appear to be one Miss
W. Crawford Brown and the house was sold
back into private use within the past few years.This is an abridged version of a thread first
published by Andy Arthur on his website
threadinburgh.scotTop left - Caricature by
John Kay ©Edinburgh City
Libraries (ECL)
Top right - Cartoon id
drunken gentleman
fighting with coachman
©British Museum
First right - Theatre Royal
Shakespeare Square ©ECL
Second right - Marionville
from Old & New Edinburgh
by James Grant
Third right - St Ninian’s &
Triduana’s RC Church