Wikipedia:Peer review/Poisoning of Margaret Warden/archive1

Poisoning of Margaret Warden

I've listed this article for peer review because I would like to take it to FAC. Any comments would be appreciated. I should also mention that Mary Elder, the accused, is my direct ancestor; I don't think this creates a conflict of interest, but I mention it for full transparency. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 16:16, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

SC

Comments to follow. - SchroCat (talk) 16:39, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Lead

• "the trial has been described"; any reason for the passive voice to introduce a quoted opinion? I'd normally expect to see an inline identification of who said it
• Probably best to identify "The writer Walter Scott", or similar
• cook!".[2]: no need for the full stop – the exclamation mark denoted the end of the sentence. (There is a point in the MOS on it, but I can never remember where it is)

Warden's pregnancy

• "on Tuesday 5 September": is it notable that it happened on a Tuesday? (There are a couple of other days referred to lower down which could also be removed)

Exhumation

• "met with the Sheriff" -> "met the sheriff"
  • Is it worth adding a footnote to say that in Scotland the sheriff is a judge? The term has a wide range of meanings around the world
• " an inn on the way to Dundee from the farm": "an inn part way between the farm and Dundee"?
• "above the bothy as": this word will need some explanation to most!

Trial

• "the Solicitor General": probably worth adding "for Scotland", as there will be some who won't realise about Scotland's separate legal system
• "The family doctor, Dr. Dick": maybe 'family physician', to avoid the double doctor
• "Three more witnesses from the firm": which firm is this?
• "arsenic so the could deal" and "but some evidence of the them": both need a tweak for grammar
• "between Drs. Christison": better to spell out 'doctors' here
• "Christison as Ramsay": presumably Christison and Ramsay?

Verdict

• That's quite a long quote for inline – probably best as a blockquote
• "Walter Scott attended": A description needed here, I think – and a link

That's it on the nit-picking side. Overall I think it tells the story rather well. It covers everything I'd want to know about the events and the parties. I presume we don't know anything more about Smith after her friends put her in prison that night? It would be nice to round it off with an end to her story, but if it's not available, then so be it! I hope this is all of assistance. Cheers – SchroCat (talk) 13:40, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

SchroCat: thanks, very helpful, and almost all done. I have left the "Tuesday" in place as I later quote the defence talking about the timing of the dose of arsenic -- they use the names of the days, rather than the dates, and I thought it would be better for the reader, and truer to the source, to leave it that way. Unfortunately I don't have anything in reliable sources about Mary Smith beyond what's in the article -- it's clear from reading the original accounts that both Millar and Roughead are drawing almost entirely from the legal transcript and the contemporary accounts, rather than any other sources. I do happen to know from genealogical research that Mary Smith had another son, Thomas, who had gotten another servant pregnant a couple of years earlier. Their child, Isabella Smith, is my 3Xgreat-grandmother; she married a Christie. The source for Thomas getting Mary Oram pregnant is a church record -- a "kirk sessions" book, as they are known; there's a page giving the details of how Mary Oram and Thomas Smith were told off by the church elders. I think this would count as a primary source, though, so I don't think I can include it. A pity, actually, as one imagines Mary Smith throwing up her hands at the second pregnancy and deciding to take matters into her own hands. Thanks again for the review. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:41, 3 September 2025 (UTC)