![]() His mother had died in childbirth a year previously and this had badly affected those remaining. Roddy’s was crudely built and housed animals as well as the family. The nine dwellings in Culchie varied in style and comfort. These and the surrounding hills were as far as Roddy had ever travelled. Further along the road was Applecross where an Inn and Big House provided for Lord Middleton who owned the land. As a child he attended church and school at neighbouring Camusterrach. ![]() ![]() Roddy was born and raised in the township of Culchie, a settlement of nine dwellings in the far north west of Scotland, whose occupants eked out a living working the crofts adjacent to their homes. There follows an account written by the accused at the behest of his advocate, a sympathetic and forward thinking man who, unlike many at the time, does not appear to regard the Highlanders as a lesser species. He then reproduces witness statements from those who had known Roddy throughout his life, taken soon after the killings. In the preface the author talks of discovering documents from the case while researching his own family history. The unusual structure of the book is inspired. All that stands between him and the gallows is the question of his sanity. He readily admits that he carried out the attacks but shows no remorse. ![]() A young man by the name of Roderick Macrae is arrested and stands trial for the crimes. ![]() His Bloody Project, by Graeme Macrae Burnet, tells the story of three brutal murders in a remote community of the Scottish Highlands in 1869. ![]()
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