The Wigtown Martyrs

‘As the girls walked into Wigtown, bedraggled and hungry, Patrick Stuart saw them. Having been a friend before the troubles, he invited them to take refreshment with him, in the inn. Tired after their long walk, the girls accepted. 

Looking smug, the handsome youth raised his tankard and proposed a toast ‘To the health of Good King James’. The girls demurred and looked embarrassed. Patrick’s expression changed. In a strident voice, he questioned them. ‘Do you not love our King?’ This is a quote from The Claudians: gardens, landscapes, reason and faith: John Claudius Loudon and Claudius Buchanan, Tom Turner (Kindle, 2024). 

More about the Wigtown Martyrs 

The three female martyrs were Scottish Covenanters executed for their religious beliefs in 1685 during the reign of King James. Refusing to renounce their Presbyterian faith and submit to the authority of the king as head of the Church, they were sentenced to death by drowning in the Solway Firth. Margaret Wilson, aged 18, and Margaret McLachlan, an elderly widow, became enduring symbols of religious persecution and martyrdom in Scotland. Their steadfast refusal to compromise their principles has been celebrated in Scottish history and commemorated as a testament to religious freedom and resistance against tyranny.  As always, the 'blood of the matyrs' became 'the seed of the church' (Plures efficimur, quotiens metimur a vobis: semen est sanguis Christianorum' Apologeticus, L. 13). 1685 religious persecution,  The Solway Firth execution became a celebrated incident in the history of Scottish martyrdom and 'helped' the Presbyterian faith.