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June 30 in Scottish History

Today in 1857 marked the beginning of the trial of Madeleine Smith for murder. The daughter of a Glasgow architect, James Smith, this most eligible of society ladies was accused in 1857 of murdering her alleged former lover, Emile L'Angelier. Among the evidence were some explicit love letters: the resulting scandal turned public opinion against her. Learning of her engagement to the wealthy William Minnoch, L'Angelier had threatened to give the love letters to her father, superficially providing her with a strong motive. However the actual evidence against her was weak, and after a famously skilful defence by the Dean of Faculty, John Inglis, a verdict of 'not proven' was returned. Subsequent research suggests that L'Angelier, a known arsenic eater, may have been a victim of his own vengeful plot to frame Madeleine for his attempted murder. She moved to London, where she became a popular figure, marrying artist and publisher, George Wardle. After this marriage failed, she moved to New York, married again in her seventies, and lived to the age of 93.

On this day in 1931, James Loughran, Scottish conductor, was born in Glasgow. Loughran first came to notice when he won the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Conducting Competition in 1961, and soon became principal conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. In 1971, he was appointed successor to Barbirolli by the Hallé Orchestra, and in 1979-83 he was Principal Conductor of the Bamberger Symphoniker. During those years he made outstanding recordings of the Beethoven and Brahms Symphonies, and his recording of Holst’s "The Planets" won him a gold record. James Loughran has regularly conducted European orchestras, from Stockholm to Barcelona, as well as in the USA and Australia. In 1996 he comitted himself to Denmark’s Aarhus Symphony Orchestra as Chief Conductor.