At the start of the 19th century honour was cherished among genteel society and it was not uncommon for gentlemen who felt their character sullied in some way to resolve their argument by a duel.

In East Lothian a popular spot for such an activity was Musselburgh Links and newspapers carried reports of such incidents on a regular basis.

The reports would be matter of fact as if two gentlemen challenging each other to deadly combat was nothing out of the ordinary.

And they travelled from all over to meet at Musselburgh, perhaps because it was a place they could duel unchallenged by witnesses.

In the Morning Post, in 1805, it was reported that "on Wednesday morning last, a duel took place on Musselburgh Links, near edinburgh, between Lieut William Nimmo, of the Berwickshire, and Ensign David Blacklock, of the Dumfriesshire Militia; the latter of who received a mortal wound in the thigh and died soon after."

There is no mention of what caused the dispute, or what, if any, action the good lieutenant faced and Ensign Blacklock's death was later recorded in The Gentleman's Magazine.

Duels could be sparked by a number of reasons from defending the honour of a lady - Jane Austen-style to a slight on character.

In Sense and Sensibility, the heroic character of Colonel Brandon duels with rogue Willoughby after he is revealed to have seduced Brandon's ward Eliza, abandoning her with child.

Interestingly Austen's book does not go into a lot of detail about the duel itself, perhaps because it was simply an accepted custom of the times..

The following year The Scots Magazine reported "On Thursday, January16, another duel was fought on Musselburgh Links, between two young gentlemen, merchants in Leith, when, after exchanging two rounds without effect, the seconds interfered and the matter was adjusted.

The cause of this quarrel was a dispute at a game at cards."

The last duel in Scotland was said to have been fought on August 23, 1826 and was an argument over a bank loan.

One the one side was David Landale, a linen merchant and on the other was George Morgan, a soldier-turned-banker who reportedly had a quick temper.

The two men fell out over the loan which led to claims Morgan had spread damaging rumours about Landale, who in turn complained about the banker to his bosses.

As the situation escalated witnesses reported that the men crossed paths in Kircaldy High Street leading to an unseemly attack.

Morgan, it was reported struck landale on the head with an umbrella shouting "Take that, sir. By God sire, you shall have more of this yet."

Lanward's response was to tell Morgan "You are a coward sir, a poor, silly coward."

One gentleman had assaulted another in public and so Landale had no alternative. but to challenge Morgan to a duel and the pair met at dawn the following morning.

Pistols were chosen as the weapon of choice and the pair stood 12 paces apart, firing on command.

Morgan fell to the ground dead and Landale fled the scene.

He was reported to have headed south but returned for a trial where he was acquitted of Morgan's murder.

A documentary on Scotland's last duel revealed that in a bizarre twist of fate Landale's daughter would later marry Morgan's nephew binding the families together.