Whisky and Savagery: The Dark Secret of the Jameson Heir

The name Jameson is synonymous with smooth Irish whiskey, a brand built on heritage and tradition. But lurking in the history of the family behind the famous spirit is a story so dark and disturbing it seems torn from the pages of a horror novel. It involves James Sligo Jameson, an heir to the fortune, a brutal colonial expedition, and the alleged purchase of a 10-year-old girl for the price of six handkerchiefs, just to watch her be eaten by cannibals.

The Expedition into the 'Heart of Darkness'

In 1887, James S. Jameson, a naturalist, artist, and adventurer, joined the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. Led by the infamous explorer Henry Morton Stanley, the mission's official purpose was to 'rescue' Emin Pasha, the governor of a besieged Egyptian province in modern-day South Sudan. In reality, the expedition was a brutal, chaotic affair, carving a path of violence through the Congo. It was in this environment of lawlessness and colonial arrogance that Jameson found himself at a rear column camp in Riba Riba, a station run by the notorious Arab slave trader, Tippu Tip.

An Unspeakable Act for Six Handkerchiefs

The story that would forever stain Jameson’s name came from the sworn testimony of his interpreter, Assad Farran. According to Farran, Jameson expressed a morbid curiosity about cannibalism to the local chiefs. He wanted to see it firsthand. The chiefs replied that it would come at a price. Jameson allegedly produced six handkerchiefs and offered them in exchange for a victim. A 10-year-old girl was brought forward. Farran’s affidavit detailed the chilling sequence of events:

The girl was tied to a tree, the natives sharpened their knives. Two men stabbed her in the belly... She did not scream, but looked at Jameson until she died. They then cut her up. Jameson in the meantime was making a sketch of the scene... Jameson afterwards went to his tent, and in about half an hour he came out with six sketches, which he had painted in water-colours.

Farran’s account painted a picture of a man not just as a passive observer, but as the instigator of a horrific murder for the sake of art and curiosity.

A Desperate Defense

The story became a public scandal when it was published in The Times in 1890. By then, however, James Jameson was already dead, having succumbed to a fever in the Congo two years prior. His defense came posthumously, through his diary and letters published by his wife, who fiercely defended his name. In his telling, the event was a grotesque misunderstanding. Jameson claimed he was told about cannibalism and, believing it to be a joke or a boast, he offered the handkerchiefs as a sarcastic gesture, never imagining they would actually carry out the act. When he realized they were serious, he was paralyzed by horror. He wrote:

The girl was dragged off... I was so horrified at the whole affair that I returned to my house... Later in the day, the thought occurred to me that I had been a witness of a scene which was not often seen... and I felt I ought to make a sketch of it, not in any way to gloat over the horrors, but simply as a record of a custom which I had witnessed.

He admitted to sketching the scene, but claimed he did so from memory after the fact, racked with guilt and a sense of responsibility. Was he a cold-blooded monster who instigated a murder for a spectacle, or a naive European caught in a situation so far beyond his comprehension that he failed to act?

A Stained Legacy

We will likely never know the absolute truth. Jameson's death prevented him from facing his accuser, leaving only conflicting accounts. However, the incident, regardless of his intent, serves as a brutal microcosm of the colonial era in Africa. It highlights the profound dehumanization that occurred, where an African child's life could be valued at six pieces of cloth. The story of James Sligo Jameson is a chilling reminder that behind familiar names and storied brands can lie histories far darker than we can imagine.

Sources

• Wikipedia: James Sligo Jameson - Jameson Affair
• Story of the Rear Column of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition by James S. Jameson (Posthumous Publication)
• Britannica: Sir Henry Morton Stanley