Magdalenism : an inquiry into the extent, causes, and consequences of prostitution in Edinburgh / by William Tait.

  • Tait, William
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Magdalenism : an inquiry into the extent, causes, and consequences of prostitution in Edinburgh / by William Tait. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    inquired at him who the lady was that accompanied him. He immediately related to him the whole story how he had got ac- quainted with her; told that he had dined at her house yester- day, and slept there all the night, eulogizing at the same time her remarkable mental activity and the splendour of her esta- blishment. One might easily conceive the good man's surprise, grief^ j^^nd astonishment, when he was informed by his friend that the lady whom he so highly esteemed, and whose friendship he ] was so desirous of cultivating,'Swas~no'9trier than Mrs — ^'^'^l the head brothel-keeper in Edinburgh. He stared at his friend, then at tKe females, and last of all ung'allantly fled,'\ leaving them to take their morning walk alone,-and to rerunrat_their j)wn pleasure. (General Observations) on the {History of [Brothel-Keepers.-^ It has already been remarked, that ^nanyjof these women hav4 at one time or other jbeen common prostitutes'^ but this remark is not applicable to the whole body of brothel-keepers. (Bome of them,(before resorting to this degrading life, have moved in the better circles of society.) One, for example, is the widow of a writer to the signet, and enjoys in consequence a handsome annuity; three have been discovered to be wives or widows of individuals who carried on respectable businesses in Edinburgh; one house was managed for some time by a Protestant minister and his wife ; two are conducted by women whose husbands are or have been connected with the excise ; and one is kept by the wife of a sergeant of police. By far the greater part of the first and second class of them, however, have been at one time or other kept-mistresses, and have been enabled, by the aid of the gentlemen who protected them, to furnish or purchase an esta- blishment for themselves. Unfortunatcly,^any women who at first felt little inclined have almost imperceptibly sunk into the degrading office of brothel- keeper^ It iS|f^easy to conceive how this may be accomplished— wornan may be left a widow with a young family,' whose support depends entirely upon her own exertions. By the advice of some friends, strengthened by instances which have come under her own