Mrs Macfarlane is the Scottish outlaw from 1716 who fled Edinburgh after killing a British officer.
John Cayley, born in 1682, was appointed as commissioner of Customs in Scotland after Scotland and England united to form Great Britain. Living in Cowgate, Captain Cayley was known as being 'vain' who pursued 'his irregular passions with little prudence or discretion'.
One woman who he had interest for was the young Mrs Macfarlane, daughter of a Jacobite sympathiser. It is said he praised her with gifts but one night, the young woman heard the officer had said 'nasty' things about her pregnancy that would disgrace her honour.
