ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at offences which come under the broad category of interpersonal assault and examines them in relation to both public and private contexts. The case against Janet McGaa and Helen Alexander exemplifies the fact that women were prepared to be aggressive and independent actors in violent criminality outside the home as well as within the domestic sphere. McGaa and Agnew's assault on Hugh Hannah also illuminates some of the more symbolic aspects of this kind of interpersonal violence. The legal context for the offence of assault of authority was quite complicated in Scotland, at least in comparison with attempted murder or common aggravated assault. For the most part, interpersonal violence in Scotland between 1660 and 1960 was dominated by male assailants and women victims. The victims of interpersonal assault in Scotland between 1660 and 1960 usually knew or were acquainted with their attacker.
