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The Woman Executed By Hanging Who Came Back To Life On The Way To The Cemetery
An 18th century Scottish woman sentenced to die somehow came back to life and helped change executions in the future
The story of Margaret “Maggie” Dickson is tragic and fascinating on a number of levels. Arrested and condemned in the 18th century to be hanged for a crime that would be likely handled differently today, she had her sentence carried out. Later, her lifeless body was being transported for burial when it was discovered she was still very much alive. Given a reprieve because of this unusual situation, she went on to live a long life but also saw her situation change capital punishment forever.
A native of Musselburgh, which is just outside of Edinburgh, Scotland, Dickson was a woman of modest means. Born around 1702, as a young woman, she married but soon thereafter left her fisherman husband, as he was constantly at sea. Moving to a nearby town named Kelso, she found work as a scullery maid at an inn. It was there that she and a son of the innkeeper started a relationship and she soon found herself pregnant in 1721.
Dickson’s situation was untenable. She was a married woman pregnant by another man. Living on meager wages, she saw her only reasonable option as hiding her…
