104 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°* S. VI. 136., Aoo. 7. 



well worthy of preservation ; as time, in the shape 

 of decay, is fast telling upon the lettering of some 

 of them. 



These inscriptions, rough and homespun as 

 they generally are, are not to be measured out 

 and criticised as literary productions. Most of 

 them, in all probability, were composed shortly 

 after the Revolution of 1688 by brave men in the 

 middle ranks of life, who had themselves endured 

 many hardships for the cause, who were more 

 anxious about truth than ornament, and who 

 with heartfelt sorrow deplored the serious disasters 

 which had befallen their deceased friends. 



It is sometimes fashionable in high quarters to 

 deride the Covenanters, but I am strongly of 

 opinion there is no really true-hearted, indepen- 

 dent Scotchman, however much he may be amused 

 with certain caricatures from able pens, that will 

 not inwardly give to these writers for this depart- 

 ment of their labours the cold shoulder. Unques- 

 tionably the Covenanters had their faults, but 

 which were counterbalanced by many sterling, 

 patriotic, and religious virtues. 



In the High-Church Yard of Glasgow. 



" Here lies the Corps of 



Robert Bunton, John Hart, Robert Scott, 



Matthew Patoun, John Richmond, James Johnston, 



Archibald Stewart, James Winning, John Main 



who suflFered at the Cross of Glasgow for their Testimony 



to the Covenants and 



Work of Reformation, because they durst not own the 



authority of the then Tyrants 



destroying the same betwixt 1666 and 1688. 



" Years sixty-six and eighty-four 

 Did send their souls home into glore 

 Whose bodies here interred ly 

 Then sacrific'd to tyranny 

 To Covenants and Reformation 

 Cause they adhered in their station 

 These nine with others in this yard 

 Whose heads and bodies were not spar'd 

 Their testimonies foes to bury 

 Caus'd beat the drums then in great fury 

 They'll know at resurrection day 

 To murder saints was no sweet play." 



This stone, which I think has been renewed in 

 the lettering, formerly covered the grave of the 

 sufferers ; but many years since was built into the 

 wall of the north transept of the cathedral, where 

 it now appears, and is quite adjacent to the spot 

 of interment. The latter is what was called in 

 old times the "common ground" of the church- 

 yard, in which were buried the city hangmen, 

 executed malefactors, and those so poor for v horn 

 no resting-place could elsewhere be provided. 

 The heads of the martyrs were placed upon iron 

 spikes on the Old Tolbooth at the Cross, to which 

 aJlusion is made in the epitaph ; and the other 

 parts only of their mangled remains, under the 

 denomination " corps," found a grave. These 

 spikes were to be seen nearly up to the time of 

 the demolition of the Tolbooth in 1814. 



It is likely that the martyrs had, through some 

 special doom, been appointed to " suffer at the 

 Cross of Glasgow" (at that time not the usual 

 place of execution), perhaps to stamp the pro- 

 ceedings with greater eclat in vindication of the 

 high authority of law and government. 



A curious incident may be noticed in one re- 

 spect additionally hallowing the grave of the mar- 

 tyrs named. Mr. John Reekie (see " N. & Q.," 

 2"* S. iii. 183.), the famous Greek scholar, who 

 professed the religious principles of the Covenan- 

 ters, on his death-bed gave special commandment 

 concerning his bones, that he should be laid 

 among them in the same grave, which was accord- 

 ingly done; and I find the record of it in the 

 Registers of the High Churchyard : " 9tb Janu- 

 ary, 1811, John Reekie, Teacher, aged 64."* 



Tablet fronting Castle Street, Glasgow. 



" Behind this Stone Lyes 



James Nisbet 



Who suffered Martyrdom at this Place 



June 3'i 1684 



Also James Dawson 



And Alexander Wood 



Who suffered Martyrdom Ocf^. 24'i>. 1684 



For their adherence to the Word of God and 



Scotlands covenanted work of reformation 



Here lye Martyrs three 



of memory 



Who for the Covenants did die 



And witness is 



'Gainst all these Nations perjury 



Against the Covenanted Cause 



Of Christ their living King 



The BRITISH rulers made such laws 



Declar'd 'twas Satans reign 



As BRITAIN lyes in guilt you see 



'Tis ask'd O reader art thou free 



This Stone was Renewed by 



The Proprietors of 



The Monkland Navigation 



April 1818." 



These martyrs suffered at an old place of exe- 

 cution in Glasgow, named the Howgate head (now 

 Castle Street), a short distance north from the 

 cathedral. They were probably buried in the 

 precincts of, or perhaps at the foot of the gallows 

 or gibbet, and the old stone laid over their re- 

 mains. The ground having been appropriated by 

 the Monkland Canal Company as a depot for coals, 

 had occasioned the removal of the stone, and the 

 setting of it up in its present position. 



A few remarks from a paper read by me at a 



* It may be mentioned for the information of corre- 

 spondents interesting themselves in genealogical re- 

 searches and monumental inscriptions, that the earliest 

 Register of Deaths for the city of Glasgow, in a complete 

 form, is contained in a volume from 1st January 1699 to 

 1st June 1723. At the commencement of this volume, 

 abstracts of deaths are given for some years previous to 

 1699, but no names or details. The Records of the barony 

 parish of Glasgow for the registration of births and mar- 

 riages do not extend farther back than the year 1C69. — 

 (^Information from the Keepers of both Eegislers.) 



