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Jackie Crookstone, sometimes known as Joan Crookston

Born 18 June 1768, died 29 August 1797

Crookstone was born in Glasgmuir, Lothian, Scotland the daughter of Agnes Hogg and James Crookstone.

The Scottish Militia Act of July 1797 and The Massacre of Tranent

The Scottish Militia Act in 1797 conscripted able bodied Scottish men between the ages of nineteen and twenty-three for military service. Aberdeen, Dalry, Galston, Strathaven, Freuchie, and Kirkintilloch all saw rioting as a result, and the British government responded by sending in troops.

In records compiled in 1844, a local historian noted the women of Scotland were outraged at the thought of their men being conscripted to fight in the army just as they had reached a manhood and acquired a profession. It fell to schoolmasters to make up the conscription lists, and as a result they were threatened by mobs of angry residents. When the army rode into Tranent on 28 August 1797 to pick up the conscriptees, they found the roads to be lined with angry women and children. One woman is said to have approached the entourage and said, "John, beware of your head!". This was taken to be a direct threat and to indicate there may be trouble in Tranent.

Once in the village itself, the brigade tried to proceed to the assigned meeting point, but there was a mob gathering with sticks and a drum. Crookstone is recorded to have approached the leader and advised them to leave.

Another source gives Crookstone a larger role in the riot, saying she organised a protest march on the 28 August 1797 with other women from nearby villages and used a drum beat to call out the slogan, "no militia" in an attempt to intimidate local landowners and justices on the ballot committee.

The ballot went ahead on the 29 August 1797 among rioting and soldiers killed at least eleven people including Crookstone where her body lay in undiscovered in a field of corn for several weeks. However, the number of deaths in the massacre is disputed.

Soldiers who had been confined to the John Glens Public House broke out of the back door and adopted a 'shoot to kill' policy against the populace where were armed with sharp sticks and stones. They rampaged through the streets driving the rioters into the fields where the cavalry would be more effective. Ultimately the Lord Advocate, Robert Dundas, decided not to indict the soldiers for shooting unarmed civilians saying, "such a dangerous mob as deserved more properly the name of an insurrection."

Memorial

Jackie Crookstone

Jackie Crookstone's role in the Battle of Tranent is commemorated by a statue in the Civic Square in Tranent. Designed by David Annand, it was unveiled in September 1995.