Background
MacFarlane was born to Colonel Charles Straiton at the end of the 17th century.
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Mrs Macfarlane
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Career
The story of how she avoided punishment was the basis of verse and it was part of the story in Sir Walter Scott"s novel Peveril of the Peak. She came to notice following the death of John Cayley on 2 October 1716. He had been wounded and then killed by two shots from his own pistols.
These pistols had been lent to John MacFarlane.
lieutenant was said that the motive for the murder was self-defence as Macfarlane feared that she was to be sexually assaulted. This account was given to her servant, Barbara Martine, when she returned to the house.
Other sources indicate that MacFarlane had changed her underwear before Cayley arrived. Cayley was a commissioner for the customs and he was known to the family.
MacFarlane followed her husband"s advice and she was "outlawed".
Verses were written that supported MacFaralene for killing in self defence. According to some sources, she lived on in Edinburgh, being kept in a hidden room by the Swinton family. Her aunt"s family had sworn her to secrecy as they said that MacFarlane"s life was at stake.
Her husband remarried in 1719, and this is presumed to be after her death.
