Johnny One Arm

John Chiesley's threat against Sir George Lockhart, an Edinburgh judge, and the murder that followed.

Words and photographs by Hidden Scotland

In the 17th century, an Edinburgh man called John Chiesley was ordered by the courts to pay a huge sum of money in child maintenance. John wasn’t happy about the decision and like many disgruntled citizens, spat threats at the judge. This was all part of the job for Sir George Lockhart though, he was used to being threatened daily.

A few months later, George was attending a service in St Giles Kirk having completely forgotten about the incident with Chiesley. As he walked out of the church, a vaguely familiar character greeted the judge and he nodded his head in return.

It wasn’t far to George’s Edinburgh residence, but he had the strange feeling that somebody was behind him. This was a stout member of Edinburgh’s high society though; he didn't scare easily. He did however start to pick up the pace. As George approached his home, there was no doubt now that he was being followed.

As he fumbled for his keys, a voice called out behind him. Turning around, George was met with the barrel of a pistol and the grinning face of John Chiesley. Without any subtlety, John shot the judge, bragging to the world that he had carried out his own justice.

It was a short trial and for murdering such an influential figure, John was tortured before his execution. His legs were broken, the arm he fired the pistol with was chopped off and he was hanged. The murderer was supposed to be kept on display as a warning, but after a few days, the body vanished.

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Soon, reports of ghostly, shuffling footsteps following people down the Edinburgh streets began. Rumours of a one-armed man lurking in the dark spread around the city. Eventually, in 1965 during some house renovations in Dalry, a skeleton with only one arm and a rusty pistol hanging around its neck was found. It could be none other than Johnny One Arm.

The skeleton was laid to rest and the ghost sightings suddenly stopped. The missing arm has never been found though, so while most of John Chiesley is able to rest, there might be one part still dragging itself around the cobbles of Edinburgh.