The Blantyre bonesetter: William Rae's rise to fame and the popular press.

William Rae (1841-1907) was a bonesetter in Blantyre near Glasgow who quietly practised and treated the local people of the region in relative obscurity. In 1904, the popular press became aware of his work, and after they printed stories of his skills and cures Rae was flocked by patients from the surrounding regions. The stories were then copied by newspapers in England, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, and Rae became internationally known. This article gives a historical look at Rae, his patients and his methods of treatment, as well as the medical views on bonesetting and this individual.