Thomas Weir - Biography

Biography

Weir was a native of Carluke (Kirkstyle) in Lanarkshire, descendant of one of the most powerful and ancient families of the County, the Weir-de Veres. He was the son of Thomas Weir, Laird of Kirkton, and his wife Lady Jean Somerville who was reputed to possess clairvoyant powers. His grandfather was William Weir, or Vere, of Stonebyres Castle who married Lady Elizabeth Hamilton. Weir was a signatory to the Solemn League and Covenant and an officer in the Scottish anti-Royalist army. As a Lieutenant, he served in Ulster during the Irish Rebellion of 1641. In 1650, he obtained the post of commander of the Edinburgh Town Guard, thus acquiring the rank of major. When the defeated royalist general Montrose—branded a traitor for changing sides—was brought to Edinburgh for execution, Weir notoriously mocked and abused him during his custody.

Following retirement, Weir fell ill in 1670, and from his sick-bed began to confess to a secret life of crime and vice. The Lord Provost initially found the confession implausible and took no action, but eventually Weir and his spinster sister were taken to the Edinburgh Tolbooth for interrogation. Major Weir, now in his seventies, continued to expand on his confession and Jean Weir (known as 'Grizel'), having seemingly entirely lost her wits, gave an even more exaggerated history of witchcraft, sorcery and vice. She related how many years before a stranger had called in a "fiery" coach to take her brother to Dalkeith and how during the short trip another man had given him "supernatural intelligence" (Chambers) of the Scots' defeat at Worcester that same day. (In fact, Cromwell's Commonwealth Commissioners in Scotland had been based in Dalkeith and would have been among the first know the outcome of the battle—though not, of course, on the same day.) Grizel maintained that Weir derived his power from his walking stick, topped by a carved human head, giving rise to later accounts that it had often been seen parading down the street in front of him.

Whilst as a high-ranking public figure Weir was not believed at first, his own confession together with that of his sister sealed his fate. Both were quickly found guilty at their trial and sentenced to death.

While awaiting execution, they were confined in the former leper colony at Greenside below the Calton Hill. Weir was garrotted and burned at the Gallowlee (literally, "gallows field") on the road between Edinburgh and Leith (a site later occupied by the Shrubhill tram depot, then bus garage, near Pilrig on Leith Walk). His last words, while being urged to pray for forgiveness, were reported as, "Let me alone—I will not—I have lived as a beast, and I must die as a beast". Weir's stick was consigned to the flames after him, reportedly making "rare turnings" in the fire. Shortly before his end Weir had made a further public confession of incest with his sister, who was executed in the Grassmarket. The remains of Weir and the body of his sister were buried at the base of the gallows at Shrub Hill, as was the custom of the time.