THE SCOTSMAN WEDNESDAY 2 OCTOBER 1867
DUNFERMLINE – MELANCHOLY GUN ACCIDENT
On Monday afternoon, an accident of a most serious and melancholy nature occurred to a child about four years of age, at Cairneyhill, a village about three miles west of Dunfermline.
The circumstances are these:- A boy named Young, about twelve years of age, took up a gun which was lying in an out-house at Cairneyhill, and presented it at a child named Erskine, grandson of the person to whom the gun belonged.
Unfortunately the gun was loaded and capped. The trigger was drawn; and although the gun was only loaded with powder and wadding, the contents told with dreadful effect, the muzzle of the gun having been held very close to the child. The wounded child was carried home to its parents nearly lifeless.
The occurrence created much alarm in the village, and messengers were immediately despatched for medical aid. Dr Morris, of Dunfermline, fortunately was near the village, and he was in attendance shortly after the occurrence. The doctor examined the child, and found a large lacerated wound on the right side of the head. A portion of flesh on the forehead was blown to atoms, and another large portion dessicated; but the most serious nature of the injuries was caused by the fracture of the skull, with depression of the bone. Dr Morris, with the assistance of Dr Duncanson, dressed the wounds, and succeeded in effecting a very difficult operation, but that the child is in a most precarious condition.
Cairneyhill People and History 