Stunning the Punters

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From what I remember of Robert he was a very highly intelligent person. He wasn’t an easy man to get close to and never mixed with the tenants. It’s not just technique for its own sake – these three short stories of imagination run wild taken together, adopt a paradoxically positive stance on human frailty and bravado. Fact 8 - 1707: The Act of Union is passed and Scotland is formally united with England to form Great Britain In memory of John Sproat, in Conchieton, who died 23rd Sept'r 1829, aged 63 years. Also of his children: Alexander Sproat, died 26th July 1801, aged 7 months. Samuel Sproat, died 31st Oct. 1804, aged 9 months. Margaret Sproat, died 22nd Feb. 1824, aged 19 years. Samuel Sproat, died 25th Oct'r 1825, aged 10 years. Isabell Sproat, died 23rd Aug't 1829, aged 21 years. Also Isabella Thomson, spouse of the above John Sproat, who died at Ingleton of Kelton, 3rd March 1862, aged 88 years. In memory of Mary Sproat, born at Conchieton 3rd Oct. 1807, died at Fleet St., Gatehouse, 6th Dec. 1884, aged 77 years. John Sproat, his son, died at Gatehouse, 19th July 1890, aged 80 years. The evening ends with a new version of Dostoevsky’s The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, a gothic nightmare vision of an unwilling outcast who dreams of a caring community contaminated by his own presence.

Daisy de Melker (aged 46 years) was condemned to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out on the morning of 30 December 1932 at Pretoria Central Prison. Lured by promises of money, land, and freedom, many Scots joined the American revolutionary army to fight against the British. This so alarmed the British that they outlawed emigration to North America during the Revolution. After the U.S. won its independence, Scottish immigrants continued to make up a significant portion of immigration in North America. In memory of Margaret Corrie Sproat, daughter of William Sproat and Jane McGill, who died at Borness, 3d December 1858, aged 23 years. Also Jane Penelope, her sister, who died at Torquay, South Devonshire, 19th February 1860, aged 19 years. The above William Sproat, who died at Borness, November 13th 1870, aged 71 years. Also two sons who died in infancy, John, June 1831 & John, June 5th 1835. Also the above Jane McGill, relict of the above William Sproat, who died at Kirkcudbright, 4th Feb. 1892, aged 84 years. Also their daughters, Isabella Brown Sproat, who died at Kirkcudbright, 21st April 1899, aged 56 years, and Elizabeth Messenger Sproat, who died at Kirkcudbright, 12th April 1915, aged 77 years. And Agnes Eleanor Sproat, wife of W O D Welsh, who died at Parkstone, Dorset, 1st Dec. 1919, aged 75 years, and there was buried. Also Jessie, their daughter, wife of C J Clover, who died at Birkenhead, 25th February 1930, aged 81 years, and was there buried.Third murder: Rhodes Cecil Cowle (son)On 21 January 1931, Daisy Sproat married for the third time. Her husband was a widower, Sydney Clarence de Melker, who like her previous two husbands, was a plumber. Sacred to the memory of Alexander Brown, mariner, who died 22nd March 1834, aged 52 years. A man who had seen much of mankind. To the memory of Agnes Brown, daughter of John Brown and Jane Martn, who died at Irelandton, 13th March 1822, aged 24 years. And James Brown, their son, who died at Horsham, in Sussex, 20th June 1822, aged 20 years. And John Brown, their son, who died at Irelandton, 18th July 1833, aged 27 years. Also John Brown, sen’r. who died at Littleton, 17th Jan’y. 1835, aged 67 years. Alex’r, their son, who died at Holmfirth, Yorkshire, 10th Feb’y 1843, aged 42 years. Also William Brown, who died at Ringford, 5th March 1884, aged 68 years. Also Janet Martindale Cowper, his wife, who died at Creamery Cottage, 26th January 1913, aged 83 years.

The De Melker trial lasted thirty days. Sixty witnesses were called for the Crown and less than half this number for the defense. To present the forensic evidence, the Crown employed the services of Dr. J.M. Watt, an expert toxicologist and Professor of Pharmacology at the Witwatersrand University. In summing up, before giving his verdict, the judge pointed out that the Crown had been unable to prove conclusively that Cowle and Sproat had died of strychnine poisoning. "It does not convince me, nor does it convict the accused," he said.[3] It meant paying, but three days after going to see Stunning the Punters I went to see it again. George Dillon’s one-man show consists of three separate monologues adapted from original texts by Steven Berkoff, Robert Sproat and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

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Erected by Samual McClune, in Ross, in memory of Alexander McClune, his son, who died 12 January 1772, aged 17 years. Dillon’s taut, shaven-headed presence is exactly right for each of these diverse outsiders, and helps to keep his audiences staring. his voice, whether bellowing, whispering or crooning, remains effortlessly powerful and his diction is razor-sharp; his mime is tight and economical; he even seems to shrink and grow at will. This is one-man theatre at its most intelligent and most powerful. Dillon has stunned punters and critics in Edinburgh and London, and is set to stun more when he takes his show on the road later this year. Don’t wait to be told about it, or to read another critical paean – go and see for yourself. Sam Willetts, WHAT’S ON, 12 September 1990 The first known Scottish immigrant, Robert Sproat, sailed to America on the Mayflower in 1620. Scots started coming to the United States in significant numbers in the late 1700s, when political upheavals and social changes at home displaced many Scots and sent them searching for a better home. Presbyterian Scots sought religious freedom in the colonies, and families who lost their land when the clan system collapsed hoped to start over somewhere new. Fact 14 - 1783: The United States of America was created and Scottish migrants referred to themselves as Americans.

It is also noted that further research has been done,. that Daisy was possibly set up by those that gave evidence in court against her, as they had financial gains.She may have been a "scape-goat" or may not have 'worked alone" She did however, make their coffee in the flasks when the two of them went fishing. By this time, Rhodes Cowle was 19. His sister in law, Eileen De Melker thought him lazy and remarked that he was often unwilling to get up for work in the morning. However, another witness at his mother's trial described him as 'bright and conscientious'. A girl who met Rhodes at a party a few weeks before his death maintained that he was a ‘real gentleman’. Certainly the evidence conflicted, but none of it explained why Daisy De Melker decided to kill Rhodes. In the case of her first two husbands, the motive seemed clearly to be financial gain. But why kill her son? Fast, fun facts about Scottish Immigration to America and the first migrants in the 1800's and 1900's The Era formulary. 5000 formulas for druggists". Internet Archive. 1893. p.321 . Retrieved 14 June 2022. Rumour has it that De Melker's spirit haunts Ward 7 of the Transvaal Children's Hospital (now the Florence Transition Home) in Braamfontein. It is here that she worked as a nurse and learned about poisons.

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One said: “I remember Robert. He was a very private person, tall, slim, always clean and well dressed. He wore his hair quite long but tidily. A Berkoff premiere, is a big event in the Chester Festival Fringe: tripled as it is here with a new work by Glaswegian Robert Sproat and a newly adapted Dostoevsky story, it’s really quite a coup. Scotland: the home of golf, peaty whiskey, and bagpipe music. As one of the oldest immigrant groups to the Americas, the Scottish have played an important role in American development since the beginning. Scottish immigration accelerated after the 1717 Transportation Act established service in the colonies as a punishment for criminals, who were sent to spend 7 to 14 years in America in lieu of imprisonment or execution at home.

In loving memory of William Thomas Sproat, farmer, Lennox Plunton, born 27 December 1922, died 10 January 1991. Sacred to the memory of Hugh Jamieson Thomson, beloved husband of Jeanie Crosbie Cook, who died at Johnstone, Renfrewshire, 28th Jan 1939, aged 46 years. Also the above Jeanie Crosbie Cook, who died at Dumfries, 6th June 1967, aged 71 years. Early life Daisy Hancorn-Smith was born at Seven Fountains near Grahamstown, South Africa. She was one of eleven children. When she was twelve, she went to Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to live with her father and two of her brothers. Three years later, she became a boarder at the Good Hope Seminary School in Cape Town. She returned to Rhodesia in 1903, but apparently found rural life unexciting, because it was not long before she returned to South Africa and enrolled at the Berea Nursing Home in Durban. Mly late mother, Pam Hall, a realtive of Daisy, told us of a family relative visiting Daisy to swop recipes. The relative heard her last husband and son screaming in agony in their bedrooms. When she enquired of Daisy if they were alright-Daisy reportedly responded "They are fine. Now where were we with those recipes?" Rear) Also Isobella Taggart, spouse to Samuel Brown, who died 23rd Jan’y 1826, aged 75 years. And Mary Brown, their grand-daughter, who died 25th July 1824, aged 20 years.

Important facts about the history of Scottish Immigration to America and US laws that effected the migrants from Scotland are contained in the following Facts Sheet and history timeline. Early on the morning of 11 January 1923, William Cowle become ill soon after taking Epsom salts prepared by his wife. The first doctor who attended him did not consider his condition serious and prescribed a bromide mixture. But, Cowle's condition deteriorated rapidly. Not long after the doctor had left, he took a turn for the worse. His wife summoned the neighbours to help and called for another doctor. Cowle was in excruciating pain when the second doctor arrived. He foamed at the mouth, was blue in the face, and screamed in agony if anyone touched him until he died. In loving memory of Alexander Hamilton, who died at Balmangan, Borgue, 9th January 1901, aged 49 years. Also Annie Findlay, his wife, who died at Hall, Auchencairn, 12th June 1909, aged 49 years. left) In memory of John, son of Edmund Gasson of Rye, Sussex, who died 10th May 1822, aged 2 years. Also Elizabirth (sic) Gasson, who died 10th Jan’y 1823, aged 1 year. Scottish Immigration to America is strongly associated with the Scots-Irish. But who were the Scots-Irish? The people referred to as Scots-Irish trace their ancestry to Scotland and descend from the Protestant Presbyterians who originated in the lowlands of Scotland, but who emigrated to Ireland from 1609.