The Tryal of Philip Standsfield, Son to sir James Standsfield of New-Milns for the Murther of his Father, and other Crimes Libell’d Against him, Feb. 7. 1688. for Which he had Judgment, that on the [15th… ] Betwixt the Hours of Two and Four in the Afternoon, to be Carried to the Mercat-Cross of Edinburgh, and Hang’d on a Gibbet, Until he be dead; his Tongue to be Cut Out and Burnt on a Scaffold; and his Right-Hand to be Cut off, and Affixt on the East Gate of Hedington, and his Body to be Hung in Chains. Which Doom and Sentence was Accordingly Put to due Execution upon the Said Philip Standsfield

ABSTRACT

The murder of James Standsfield by his son Philip resulted in a high-profile trial that captured the Scottish public’s imagination for several centuries. During the trial, it emerged that Philip was the classic prodigal son, who had left home and behaved immorally, before returning chastened to the family home. He had resented his father’s authority however, causing the father significant grief, before – or so it was alleged – finally killing him and covering up the murder. The trial contained both sentimental moments, including descriptions by James’ friends of his anxiety and grief about his son’s behaviour, and the supernatural – the body bled when touched by Philip and he was haunted by a ghost. To modern eyes, some events appear unbelievable but they capture the horror of parricide for seventeenth-century Scots, a crime that disrupted natural hierarchies within the family as well as normative ideals of the parent-child relationship.