In 1724, Maggie Dickson, a fishwife from Musselburgh, was hanged in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket after being convicted under the Concealment of Pregnancy Act. She was pronounced dead, placed in a coffin, and the cart set off for her burial in Musselburgh. On the way, the coffin began banging; when the lid was opened, Maggie was alive. Under Scots law, her sentence had already been carried out, so she could not be hanged again. She lived another forty years, became a local celebrity known as “Half-hangit Maggie,” and died around 1765. The story has been retold for nearly 300 years and is still remembered in Edinburgh folklore.