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Thomas Aikenhead: the thread about the tragic death of the last person executed for blasphemy in Britain

On this day in 1697, January 8th, 20 year old Thomas Aikenhead was executed in Edinburgh by hanging. His crime was blasphemy and he was the last person to be executed for this reason in the British Isles.

The Grassmarket gallows. There are no images of the Gallowlee, where Thomas Aikenhead met his fate, that I am aware of. Sketch by James Skene, 1827. Original © Edinburgh City Libraries

Despite being his being a first offence, the punishment for which was being sack-clothed and imprisoned, the prosecutor Lord Advocate Sir James Steuart was intent on the death penalty. He wished to make an example of Aikenhead to serve as a warning to others.

Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees (1635–1713) by John Baptist de Medina

Thomas Aikenhead was born in 1676, the son of Helen Ramsey and James Aikenhead, a surgeon and burgess of the city of Edinburgh. In 1696 he and was a student at the city’s University.

“Museum, Hall and Library of the Old College”. Edinburgh University as it may have been in Aikenhead’s day. 1918 sketch by James Skene. © Edinburgh City Libraries

In December of that year he was indicted for his accused crimes on the evidence of his friends:

[He] had repeatedly maintained, in conversation, that theology was a rhapsody of ill-invented nonsense, patched up partly of the moral doctrines of philosophers, and partly of poetical fictions and extravagant chimeras: That he ridiculed the holy scriptures, calling the Old Testament Ezra’s fables, in profane allusion to Esop’s Fables; That he railed on Christ, saying, he had learned magick in Egypt, which enabled him to perform those pranks which were called miracles: That he called the New Testament the history of the imposter Christ; That he said Moses was the better artist and the better politician; and he preferred Muhammad to Christ: That the Holy Scriptures were stuffed with such madness, nonsense, and contradictions, that he admired the stupidity of the world in being so long deluded by them: That he rejected the mystery of the Trinity as unworthy of refutation; and scoffed at the incarnation of Christ
Proceedings against Thomas Aikenhead for Blasphemy, T. B. Howell, 1816

Aikenhead himself, two ministers of the Kirk and two privy councillors made appeals on his behalf, but the Privy Council put the matter in the hands of the Kirk’s General Assembly. This body demanded “vigorous execution [to curb] the abounding of impiety and profanity in this land“. As a 19th century broadside put it:

Mercy was asleep, as well as Justice and Science, so the dreadful sentence was executed
Broadside printed by John Muir of Princes Street, Glasgow, c 1821-39

On the morning of 8 January 1697, he wrote his final letters and was marched to his execution spot, the gallows on the Gallow Lee, between Edinburgh and Leith. We known this location these days as Shrubhill and at that time it was a scrubby, sandy promontory on the main route between the two burghs. We can see it clearly marked below on John Adair’s 1682 map.

Adair’s Map of 1682, with the Gallow Lee scaffold highlighted. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

Thomas gave a fairly lengthy final testimony before his sentence was carried out, the closing paragraph of which was;

…as the Lord in his providence hath been pleased in this exemplary manner to punish my great sins, so it is my earnest desire to him, that my blood may give a stop to that raging spirit of atheism which hath taken such footing in Britain, both in practice and profession. And of his infinite mercy recover those who are deluded with these pernicious principles. And for that end that his everlasting gospell may flourish in these lands, while sun and moon endureth.
The last words of Thomas Aikenhead, 8th January 1697

Enlightenment Edinburgh, this was not.

Footnote: you may see images online, purporting to be a painting of Thomas Aikenhead. Do not be misled! This is a painting made 70 years after Thomas’ death of the French philosopher and art critic Denis Diderot! As far as I’m aware there are no contemporary images of Thomas Aikenhead, and perhaps none made after the fact either.

Note to readers: unfortunately in April 2026, a third-party plug-in more than exceeded its authority and broke many of the image links on this site. No images were lost but I will have to restore them page-by-page, which may take some time. In the meantime please bear with me while I go about rectifying this issue.

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