In September 1826, Margaret Warden, a 24-year-old servant living near Dundee, Scotland, died of arsenic poisoning. She was pregnant at the time of her death; the father was George Smith, the son of Warden's employers, Mary and David Smith. The attending doctor initially thought Warden died of cholera, but rumours of poisoning soon spread and she was exhumed. Her stomach contents were tested; arsenic was found, and Mary Smith was committed in October for trial in Edinburgh for her murder. Her defence advocates called nearly fifty witnesses, and the trial was delayed twice to allow the prosecution time to prepare. When the trial began on 5 February 1827, the illness of a juror led to the trial being restarted on 19 February with a new jury. The advocates for the defence included Francis Jeffrey and Henry Cockburn, both leading Scottish advocates of the day; the prosecution was led by William Rae, the Lord Advocate. Testimony at the trial made it clear that Smith had given Warden something to drink shortly before she became ill. The defence called witnesses who testified that Warden had said she would "do some ill to hersel" and similar statements that implied she might have committed suicide. The medical evidence for the presence of arsenic was questioned by the defence, but in his instructions to the jury, the judge, David Boyle, told them that they should accept as fact Warden's death by arsenic, and consider whether it had been administered by Smith. Boyle's instructions concluded at 5:30 a.m. on 20 February, about twenty hours after the trial began. At 2:00 p.m. that afternoon, the jury returned a verdict of not proven, acquitting Smith of the crime. The trial was described in 1923 by the historian A. H. Millar as "in several particulars ... the most remarkable trial that ever took place in Scotland". It was the subject of much contemporary interest, and accounts of it were published that recorded the testimony of the many witnesses who were called. Popular opinion at the time was that Smith, who became known as "the Wife o Denside", was guilty, and ballads were written about the case. One of Smith's own defence lawyers later wrote that he was sure she had committed the murder. The writer Walter Scott attended the reading of the verdict, and had no doubt of Smith's guilt; he commented afterwards that "if that woman was my wife, I should take good care to be my own cook!"
Background
In 1826 David Smith and his family were living at West Denside, and working three farms; West Denside, East Denside, and Dodd, about six miles north of Dundee, in Scotland. Smith's wife was named Mary, and their youngest son was George. Among the servants at the farm was Margaret Warden, aged 24 in 1826. Warden had previously been pregnant in 1821; the name of the father is not recorded. Warden left the farm to have the baby at her mother's house, where the child was subsequently raised, and Warden returned to work at West Denside.
Warden's pregnancy and death In July 1826 Mary Smith learned that Warden was pregnant again, this time by her son George, who was considering marrying her. Smith did not approve, and Warden decided to leave the farm. She briefly returned to her mother's house but soon came back to West Denside, staying a fortnight before leaving again. After a week Mary Smith went to the Wardens' home and persuaded her to return, and while there she spoke to Warden's mother about the unwanted pregnancy and said she would "get something for Margaret" in Dundee. At 10:00 in the evening on Tuesday, 5 September, Smith gave Warden a small glass of a white, creamy mixture, and a lump of sugar. Warden drank the mixture, and began to feel ill that night. Jean Norrie, the servant who shared her box-bed, woke to find Warden already awake, but she was too sick to work and Norrie helped her back to bed. Warden's condition worsened the next night; her symptoms included vomiting, thirst and stomach pain. Smith and Norrie sat up with her on the night of Thursday 7 September, and the next morning, at Warden's request, Smith sent for Warden's mother. Her mother sent for a doctor, and set out for West Denside. The doctor, whose name was Taylor, arrived in the afternoon, and examined Warden; in his words, "her countenance was sunken and ghastly; the whole body, and particularly the hands and feet, were covered with a cold perspiration; there was no pulse at the wrists or temples, and very indistinct pulsations over the heart—about 150 in a minute". Taylor did not suspect poisoning; he believed that Warden was suffering from cholera. He told Smith that Warden was dying, and left the farm. Warden died at 9:00 that night; her last words were "My mistress gave me...", but she did not complete the sentence. She was buried on 10 September in Murroes parish church.
Exhumation and investigation Rumours began to spread that Warden had been poisoned by Smith because of her pregnancy, and her body was exhumed on 30 September. A post-mortem was conducted by three doctors: the Dr Taylor who had visited Warden at West Denside, and two other doctors from Dundee, named Ramsay and Johnston. The post-mortem was performed in the open air, on a gravestone in Murroes churchyard. The stomach and intestines were removed for further examination, and judging from the foetus, Warden was estimated to have been three months pregnant. The samples were tested for arsenic by Dr Ramsay and Dr Johnston, neither of whom had performed these tests before. Due to illness Ramsay did not attend every test, but Taylor was present. Samples were also sent to Professor Robert Christison for testing. The investigation led to Mary Smith being summoned to Dundee to be questioned. She refused to attend, saying she was unwell, but after being examined by Dr Johnston she met the Sheriff at Four Mile House, an inn partway between the farm and Dundee, on 2 October. She testified that she had given Warden nothing but castor oil in "lozenger wine", and that there was no poison kept at the farm. The Sheriff kept her in the Dundee prison overnight, and in the morning she changed her testimony, saying now that she recalled she had acquired some rat poison from Dundee a few days before Warden's death, and had left poisoned food in the walls of the loft above the bothy (a small farm building) as they had an infestation of rats. She also said she did not know it was poison—she had simply asked for "something to put away rats".
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