James Landale retraces the steps of his ancestor, a well respected merchant who met his adversary at dawn in a field just outside of Kirkcaldy in southern Fife on August 23, 1826.
The challenge was made over a bank loan and against a soldier-turned-banker that spread malicious rumours and lies.
James takes us on a journey as he uncovers what really happened and delves in and investigates the deadly Code of the Duel.
Wow, you use to be able to settle your debt just by shooting your banker, no wonder America use to be the greatest country in the world, I think we need to bring that rule back to put the banker’s in their place.
What’s America got to do with it? (And when did it get awarded “best country in the world”?!)
Agreed. But not just for settling debts, many other good reasons to do so exist.
It’s just a good all-around way of settling disputes. Quite sporting too.
This was an excellent “Walkumentary” and it even has a happy ending. It would seem that dueling is a very simple form of settling a dispute without going through all the decisions to be made by judge and jury and all the time and trouble that is involved. In that the merchant was challenged by the banker, who was deceptfully at fault and had military training and the merchant had never fired a pistol, the end seemed to side with the banker. The fact that the merchant walked away and the banker fell dead and then the merchant was found not guilty in court, would seem to be more of an act of God as far as settling this dispute…truly, the Lord does work in misterious ways and unlike many of the courts decisions…this one was truly “Just”…very enjoyable!
I have a treadmill set up in front of my computer and to keep fit, I bring up the Documentary Heaven site, set the treadmill at 2.5 mph and exercise my mind and body with a “Walkumentary”…I always love walking through Scotland!
Randall dear, you gave away the end of the movie. I hadn’t watched it yet!
Ha! Upstanding Merchant indeed; making shekels out of slavery, more like; his shipping business is a dead giveaway – how many human souls were traded to buy the land? How many working people outsted? How did his wife die? To have one’s name on the map means one is a servant to Empire and deserves all one gets.
It’s a good idea that could, if effectively reinstated, rid us of Elites for good. Instead, the masses are manipulated into fighting their duals for them; it’s called assassination, it’s called WAR.