Robert Balfour, 5th Lord Balfour of Burleigh (buried 20 March 1757) was a Jacobite from the Burleigh family of the

county of Kinross The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1930. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders Per ...

, remembered chiefly for a

crime of passion A crime of passion (French: ''crime passionnel''), in popular usage, refers to a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as anger rather than as a premed ...

that brought devastation to his family.

Biography

Balfour, when a youth fell in love with a woman far inferior in rank, much to the annoyance of the family. He was sent to travel abroad in the hope that he would forget his attachment. Before he set out he declared to his lady-love that if in his absence she married he would kill her husband. Notwithstanding the threat, she did marry a Henry Stenhouse, schoolmaster at

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; gd, Inbhir Chèitinn) is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. It was an impo ...

, acquainting him beforehand of the hazard. On Balfour's return his first inquiry was after the girl. On being informed of her marriage, on 9 April 1707 he proceeded on horseback with two attendants directly to the school at

, called Stenhouse out, deliberately shot him, wounding him in the shoulder, and quietly returned to Burleigh. The schoolmaster lingered twelve days, and then died. Balfour was tried for the murder in the

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cou ...

on 4 August 1709. The defence was ingenious, but inadequate; Balfour argued there had been no intent to kill, that the wound was merely to the arm and hence plainly designed to frighten or correct, and that the deceased had lived for several days after the being shot before dying of a 'fretful temper'. Balfour was found guilty, and sentenced to be

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

on 6 January 1709-10. But a few days prior to this he escaped from the

Edinburgh Tolbooth The Old Tolbooth was an important municipal building in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland for more than 400 years. The medieval structure, which was located at the northwest corner of St Giles' Cathedral and was attached to the west end of the L ...

by exchanging clothes with his sister, who resembled him. He skulked for some time in the neighbourhood of Burleigh, and is reputed to have concealed himself in a hollowed ash-tree afterwards named "Burleigh's Hole". On the death of his father, in 1713, the title devolved on him. His next appearance was at the meeting of Jacobites at

Lochmaben Lochmaben ( Gaelic: ''Loch Mhabain'') is a small town and civil parish in Scotland, and site of a castle. It lies west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway. By the 12th century the Bruce family had become the local landowners and, in the 14th ...

, 29 May 1714, when the Pretender's health was drunk, Lord Burleigh denouncing damnation against all who would not drink it. He engaged in the rebellion of 1715. For this he was in the same year

attainted In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary ...

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

, and his estates, worth £697 per annum, were forfeited to the crown. Balfour's story is retold by writer

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

in his 1724 '' Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain'' as part of the description of the town of Inverkeithing. Defoe asserts that the tragical story had been much talked about in England at the time. Balfour died, without issue, in 1757 and was buried at

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a num ...

, Edinburgh. The attainder was reversed in 1869 in favour of

Alexander Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh Alexander Hugh Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh, (13 January 1849 – 6 July 1921) was a Scottish Unionist politician, banker and statesman, who took a leading part in the affairs of the Church of Scotland. He was Secretary for Scotland betwe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, Robert Year of birth missing Date of birth unknown 1757 deaths Scottish Jacobites 18th-century Scottish people People convicted of murder by Scotland People of the Jacobite rising of 1715 Scottish people convicted of murder Scottish prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Scotland Scottish escapees Escapees from Scottish detention Robert, 5th Lord Balfour Lords Balfour of Burleigh