rioting without, and at the college, we are told in Stevenson's "Annals of
Edinburgh," the minister preferred the old extempore form of prayer, till
he learned how the liturgy had been received in other city churches.
On leaving church the Bishop of Edinburgh was attacked by the mob, and
narrowly escaped death at their hands. Other rioting occurred, and for
many years the memorable day was known as "Stony Sabbath."
The local authorities, it is recorded, desired to maintain order, and on
the Monday the local magistrates repaired to a meeting of the Privy
Council, and expressed their great regret at the outrage, and promised to
discover the ringleaders and have them punished.
On one of the piers of St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, is a memorial
brass bearing the following inscription:--
TO
JAMES HANNAY, D.D.,
DEAN OF THIS CATHEDRAL,
1634-1639.
_He was the first and last who read
the service-book in this church._
THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED IN HAPPIER TIMES
BY HIS DESCENDANT.
In the Moray or south-west aisle is a memorial of gun-metal to Jenny
Geddes, with an inscription written by the late Lord President Inglis,
which reads as follows:--
CONSTANT ORAL TRADITION
AFFIRMS THAT NEAR THIS SPOT
A BRAVE SCOTCH WOMAN, JANET GEDDES,
ON THE 23 JULY 1637,
STRUCK THE FIRST BLOW IN THE GREAT STRUGGLE
FOR FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE,
WHICH AFTER A CONFLICT OF HALF-A-CENTURY
ENDED IN THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
The Martyrs' Monument, Edinburgh.
In the capital of Scotland are more imposing monuments than the
Covenanters' Memorial in Greyfriars' Churchyard, but not one more
historically interesting. It attracts the attention of visitors from all
parts of the world, and to the inhabitants of the city it must be a matter
of pride to have this memorial to the memory of the men who fought for
religious freedom.
The early Scottish reformers were in earnest respecting their faith; a
bond was prepared, setting forth that they would stand unflinchingly by
the Calvinistic faith, and if necessary would fight in its defence.
This was signed on December 3rd, 1557, by the Earls of Glencairn, Argyll,
and Morton, Lord Lorn, Erskine of Dun and many more, who assumed the title
of "Lords of the Congregation."
A man in Scotland might do many indiscreet things and even be guilty of
crime, and be pardoned; but to flinch or fall from the Covenant was to
commit a sin that his countrymen could not forgive.
Charles I., aided by Archbishop Laud, attempted to force upon the
Presbyterians of Scotland a liturgy, and in other ways to alter the mode
of divine worship in the country. The king's action was regarded with
alarm, and steps were taken to maintain the religious freedom of the
country. The Solemn League and Covenant of 1557 against Popery was renewed
and new articles added. A copy was sent to each town in Scotland. That
belonging to Edinburgh was, on March 1st, 1638, solemnly read aloud in
Greyfriars' churchyard. It was subscribed to by a large number of the
nobility, gentry and others of all ranks and conditions, ages and sexes.
It is impossible to count the signatures on the document, but it is
believed that over five thousand names occur, and the more zealous added
to their subscription such sentences as "till death." The size of the
parchment is four feet long and three feet eight inches broad, and it is
preserved in the Register Office, Edinburgh. It was spread upon a flat
stone in the churchyard for signature, and was signed by all who could get
near to it.
Not a few who signed this document were amongst the many who suffered
death for their adherence to the faith they held. At the Battle of
Bothwell Bridge on June 22nd, 1679, it is recorded that 800 Covenanters
were slain on the field of battle, and about 1300 taken prisoners and
brought to Edinburgh, and later 200 were conveyed to Stirling.
At Edinburgh the prisoners were kept in an enclosed piece of land (now
forming a part of the graveyard of Greyfriars), in a great measure without
shelter, for five months, and supported with a short supply of bread and
water. Guards watched them day and night. The condition of the prisoners
was most distressing and moved to pity the inhabitants of the city, but
they were not permitted to render the least assistance.
The troubles of many of these brave men did not end with imprisonment. "On
the 15th of November," it is recorded, "256 were taken to Leith and put on
board a vessel to be carried to the plantations in America. The vessel
sailed on the 27th, but was wrecked on the coast of Orkney on December
10th, when upwards of 200 perished. Some of the remaining prisoners were
tried, condemned and executed; the remainder, upon signing bonds,
obtained their liberty."
The monument is erected near the graves of the martyrs who were buried in
Greyfriars' churchyard. It was in that part of the burial-ground that
criminals were interred, and an allusion is made to this fact in the
inscription on the martyrs' monument.
James Currie of Pentland obtained from the Town Council of Edinburgh, on
August 28th, 1706, permission to erect a stone in Greyfriars' churchyard
to the memory of the martyrs, on condition "there being no inscription to
be put upon the tomb but the sixth chapter of Revelation, verses 9, 10 and
11."
A carved stone representing an open Bible, with the verses cut in full,
was erected, and this forms, we are told, the under part of the present
more stately monument, which was substituted in 1771, when the original
slab was removed. The old inscription with some slight alterations was
transferred to the present monument. The inscription is as follows:--
"Halt, passenger, take heed what you do see.
This tomb doth shew for what some men did die.
Here lies interr'd the dust of those who stood
'Gainst perjury, resisting unto blood;
Adhering to the covenants and laws;
Establishing the same: which was the cause
Their lives were sacrific'd unto the lust
Of prelatists abjur'd; though here their dust
Lies mixt with murderers and other crew,
Whom justice justly did to death pursue.
But as for them, no cause was to be found
Worthy of death; but only they were found
Constant and steadfast, zealous, witnessing
For the prerogatives of Christ their King;
Which truths were seal'd by famous Guthrie's head,
And all along to Mr Renwick's blood:
They did endure the wrath of enemies:
Reproaches, torments, deaths and injuries.
But yet they're those, who from such troubles came,
And now triumph in glory with the Lamb.
"From May 27th, 1661, that the most noble Marquis of Argyle was
beheaded, to the 17th February 1688, that Mr James Renwick suffered,
were one way or other murdered and destroyed for the same cause about
eighteen thousand, of whom were executed at Edinburgh about an
hundred of noblemen, gentlemen, ministers and others, noble martyrs
for JESUS CHRIST. The most of them lie here.
Rev. vi. 9.--And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for
the testimony which they held:
10.--And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy
and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell
on the earth?
11.--And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was
said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season,
until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be
killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
Chap. vii. 14.--These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb.
Chap. ii. 10.--Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a
crown of life.
"The above monument was first erected by JAMES CURRIE, merchant,
Pentland, and others, in 1706; renewed in 1771."
(Added on the monument at a subsequent date):--
"Yes, though the sceptic's tongue deride
Those martyrs who for conscience died--
Though modern history blight their fame,
And sneering courtiers hoot the name
Of men who dared alone be free,
Amidst a nation's slavery;--
Yet long for them the poet's lyre
Shall wake its notes of heavenly fire;
Their names shall nerve the patriot's hand
Upraised to save a sinking land;
And piety shall learn to burn
With holier transports o'er their urn.
JAMES GRAHAME.
Peace to their mem'ry! let no impious breath
Sell their fair fame, or triumph o'er their death.
Let Scotia's grateful sons their tear-drops shed,
Where low they lie in honour's gory bed;
Rich with the spoil their glorious deeds had won,
And purchas'd freedom to a land undone--
A land which owes its glory and its worth
To those whom tyrants banish'd from the earth."
"For the accomplishment of this resolution, the three kingdoms lie
under no small debt of gratitude to the Covenanters. They suffered
and bled both in fields and on scaffolds for the cause of civil and
religious liberty; and shall we reap the fruit of their sufferings,
their prayers and their blood, and yet treat their memory either with
indifference or scorn? No! whatever minor faults may be laid to their
charge, whatever trivial accusations may be brought against them, it
cannot but be acknowledged that they were the men who, 'singly and
alone,' stood forward in defence of Scotland's dearest rights, and to
whom we at the present day owe everything that is valuable to us
either as men or as Christians."
[Illustration: THE MARTYRS' MONUMENT, EDINBURGH.]
It only remains for us to add that James Currie, who was the means of
raising the original monument, suffered much during the persecution and
more than once narrowly escaped capture.
INDEX
Alloway Kirk, witches in, 178
Antiquity of bells, 34
Assassins of James I., 6
Averting evil spirits at birth, 194
Bag-pipes at funerals, 254
Banns, publication of, 213
Banquets at baptism, 207
Baptism of bells, 42
Beating bounds, 16
Begg, Dr, opposes the organ, 107
Behaviour at kirk, 119
Bell Lore, 34-45
Beltane superstitions, 46
Betrothals, 212, 213
Bible and witchcraft, 166
Bible thrown into the fire, 191
Biers, 241
Biggar, witchcraft at, 184
Birth and Baptism. Customs and Superstitions, 194-209
Black Rood, 29
Brank, 115
Brechin Cathedral, 66
Bristo Port, heads on, 252
Burghs, origin of, 64-66
Burning witches, 163, 168, 184, 191
Calvinism, advent of, 164
Care of the poor, 149
Celtic crosses, 24, 28
Charter of St. Giles's Church, 6
Children, marriage of, 216
Christmas, punished for keeping, 117
Church, marriages to be celebrated in, 222
Church music, 98-107
Churches, interment in, 243
Clova jougs, 113
Coins, objection to foreign, 144
Compulsory attendance at kirk, 119, 137
Consent of parents to be given for marriage, 216
Covenanters slain, 262
Covenanters' flag, 27, 28
Craft-gilds, 128
Creeping to the cross, 27
Cripples assisted, 155
Cross, the, in Scotland, 1-33
Cross in baptism, 197
Culdees supplanted, 73
Currie, James, 263
Curiosities of Church Finance, 130-161
Dead, tales about the, 166
Death and Burial. Customs and Superstitions, 237-254
Death hamper, 242
Denmark, Princess Anne and witchcraft, 175
Devil and minstrels, 170
Devil preaching a sermon, 177
Discipline of the Kirk, 108-129
Douglas, Lady Janet, suffered for witchcraft, 163
Dress of women condemned, 120
Drinking at funerals, 239
Drunkards punished, 124, 138
Duddingston jougs, 114
Dunblane Cathedral, 66
Dundee bells, 44
Easter Sunday customs, 48
Eastwood, witchcraft at, 192
Edinburgh Market Cross, 5, 7, 11
Episcopacy and witchcraft, 173
Erskine, Lord Chief Justice, married at Gretna Green, 229
Excommunications, 110
Farthings at collections, 146
Fishing on Sunday, 135
Flodden, 12
Foreign coins, objections to, 144
Forbidding the banns, 220
Forbidding marriage, 127
Frost, Thomas. Saints and holy wells, 46-63
---- Church music, 98-107
Funeral bells, 40-41, 44, 245-247
Funeral sermons, 248
Geddes, Jenny, 256, 259
Gladstone, W. E., restores Edinburgh Cross, 10-11
Glasgow Cathedral, 67-85
Gifts of bells to churches, 35
Graveyard of Greyfriars, 260-266
Gretna Green gossip, 227-236
Gossips' wake, 195
Haddington, witchcraft at, 184
Hamilton, Sir William, funeral of, 253
Hand-bells at funerals, 40-41
Handfasting, 210-212
Hannay, Dean, 256, 258
Harmonium, 106
Holyrood Abbey founded, 31
Holy Wells, 46, 63
Hospitality at funerals, 253
Hours of church service, 96
Howlett, E. Bell Lore, 34-45
Humours of the collection, 141
Hymns submitted, 102
Ignorant persons' children not to be baptised, 205
Introduction of the organ at Glasgow, 105
Iona crosses, 18-22
James VI. and witchcraft, 174
Jougs, 113
Kilmarnock Cross, 16
Kirkcaldy, witchcraft at, 189
Kirkwall Cathedral, 67
Knox burned in effigy, 12
---- deemed a wizard, 171
Lanark Cross, 16
Length of sermon, 121
Life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals, 64-85
Linlithgow, 16
Liturgy used, 93
Long sermons, 95
Macintosh, L., funeral of, 253
Manner of examining witches, 180
Mar, Earl of, suffered for witchcraft, 163
Market crosses, 4
Marriage laws and customs, 210-226
Marriage vow, punished for violating, 125
Martyrs' Monument, Edinburgh, 260-266
Mass, punished for saying, 13
Medical assistance, 155
Memorable marriage at Gretna Green, 232
Millar, A. H. Life in the pre-Reformation Cathedrals, 64-85
Mode of marrying at Gretna Green, 231
Money-box, church, 147
Montrose, Marquis, body removed, 251
Monuments, Destruction of, 3
Murray, Earl, assassination of, 251
Observance of old church festivals forbidden, 121
Omens of death, 239
Opening doors for departing spirits, 238
Organs, 89, 98, 99, 102, 104, 106
Origin of Glasgow Cathedral, 71
Our Lady, wells dedicated to, 55
Pagan rites at marriages, 224
Palls, 247
Parochial inquisitions, 178
Parsons at Gretna Green, 229-232
Peebles bells, 38
Perth bells, 39, 43
Pews, introduction of, 140
Pilgrimages to saints' wells, 60-62
Pillory, 116, 124, 125
Poor travellers' hospital, 54
Prayer-book, introduction of the, 100
---- objection to, 255
Precentor, 88, 104
Press guarded, 122
Priest pelted at the Cross, 13
Private baptism, 198-202
Proclamations published at crosses, 12
Psalmody, 100, 101, 102
Public Penance, 111
Public worship in olden times, 86-97
Ransoms for sailors, 156
Reader, 87
Rees, Rev. R. Wilkins. Curiosities of Church Finance, 130-161
---- Witchcraft and the kirk, 162-193
Reformation, 1
Registers of baptisms, 201, 206, 208
Registers of deaths, 249
Riddle-turning, 124
Riding the marches, 16
Repentance stool, 111, 158
Roslin, Lord, funeral of, 253
Royal edicts proclaimed from crosses, 16
Ruthwell Cross, 26
Sabbath-breaking, 136
Saints and holy wells, 46-63
Scandals and marriage, 217-218
Schoolmasters, 152
Scots money, 133
Scotchmen warned not to follow James VI. to England, 17
Sculptured tombstones, 23
Seal of Holyrood Abbey, 32
Sharp, Archbishop, assassinated, 173
Silver in bells, 41
Singing hymns, objections to, 92
Slanderers punished, 125
Solemn League of the Covenant, 261
Spurious money at collections, 146
Stirling, penance at, 196
Story of a stool, 255-259
St. Andrew's Cathedral, 66
St. Andrew's Well, 56
St. Bernard's Well, 53
St. Catherine's Well, 52
St. Columba's Wells, 48
St. Corbett's Well, 54
St. Fergus's Well, 48
St. Fillan's Well, 50
St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh, 66
St. Helena's Wells, 49
St. Iten's Well, 49
St. Kentigern, 67
St. Maelrubha Well, 47
St. Margaret of Scotland, 29
St. Medan's Chapel and Well, 50-51
St. Mulvay's Well, 47
St. Mungo, 67
St. Olav's Well, 54
St. Querdon's Well, 59
St. Ronan's Well, 48
St. Thenew's Well, 59
St. Wallach's Bath, 57
Sunday observance, 117, 133-138
Superstitions, marriage, 221
Swearing, punished for, 124
Taking snuff in the kirk, 128
Tokens of death, 237
Tyack, Rev. Geo. S. The Cross in Scotland, 1-33
---- Discipline of the Kirk, 108-129
Tyninghame, witchcraft at, 184
Unbaptised children, burial of, 242
Uncoffined burials, 241
Votive offerings, 57
Watching the dead, 238
Waters, Rev. Alexander. Public worship in olden times, 86-97
Western Isles, crosses in, 22
Westminster Assembly of Divines, 87
Wine at Edinburgh Cross, 11
Witchcraft, 123
Witchcraft a capital offence, 164
Witchcraft and the Kirk, 162-193
Footnotes:
[1] "Iona: its History, Antiquities, etc.," by Rev. A. MacMillan and
Robert Brydall, 1898.
[2] "Church and other Bells of Kincardineshire."
[3] "Church and other Bells of Kincardineshire," Eeles.
[4] Chambers' "History of Peebles."
[5] "Bell Lore," North.
[6] Hope's Reprint "Popish Kingdome."
[7] "Bell Lore," North.
[8] "Bell Lore," North.
[9] Eeles.
[10] "Bells of Exeter Cathedral," p. 7.
[11] The Relief Church originated in 1752 in opposition to the system of
patronage, and received its name from its relief from that burden. In 1847
it became, by union with the Secession Church, the United Presbyterian
Church.
[12] For the accompanying illustrations of a repentance-stool, and of the
jagg or jougs, I am indebted to Mr Wm. Andrews, from whose work on "Bygone
Punishments" (London 1899) they are taken.
[13] The spelling of this and the following extracts is modernised.
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CONTENTS:--When Wigs were Worn--Powdering the Hair--Men Wearing
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on City Gates--Burial at Cross Roads--Detaining the Dead for Debt--A
Nobleman's Household in Tudor Times--Bread and Baking in Bygone
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Tail--Ramillie-Wig--Pig-tail Wig--Bag-Wig--Archbishop
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Princess Margaret--The Mayor of Wycombe going to the Guildhall--Woman
wearing a Scold's Bridle--The Brank--Andrew Marvell--Old London Bridge,
shewing heads of rebels on the gate--Axe, Block, and Executioner's
Mask--Margaret Roper taking leave of her father, Sir Thomas More--Rebel
Heads, from a print published in 1746--Temple Bar in Dr. Johnson's
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Bygone Punishments.
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Death--Beheading--The Halifax Gibbet--The Scottish
Maiden--Mutilation--Branding--The Pillory--Punishing Authors and Burning
Books--Finger Pillory--The Jougs--The Stocks--The Drunkard's
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