The bodies of the women were removed from the stakes and are buried in the kirkyard at wigtown, where a memorial stone has been placed for. The mostly forgotten story of the wigtown martyrs marks scotlands crisis of faith and identity during the 17th century, as battle raged between the stubborn covenanters who clung to the. Daniel defoe on the killing times of 1685 jardines book of martyrs. A trip to wigtown, scotlands book town bookish beck. The wigtown martyrs or solway martyrs, margaret lachlan, around 60, and margaret wilson, 18, were scottish covenanters who were executed by scottish. Wigtown martyrs feature page on undiscovered scotland. Then, as i was carrying the book to the shop owner, i happened to spot a thin, soft backed book entitled the wigtown martyrs. Growing up, margaret wilson 18, and her brother and sister had often had to hide from government troops because they wouldnt go to hear the episcopal ministers.
The church of scotland synod had decided in 1708 to collect accounts of persecution under the stuart monarchs, and persuaded wodrow to take on the research. Best walks and days out from wigtown travel the guardian. Find a great read in wigtown, scotlands book town, investigate gruesome drownings of martyrs and neolithic stone circles or visit the nearby rspb centres. Wilson became the more famous of the two because of her youth. This punishment was meted out to margaret lachlane aged 63 years and margaret wilson in her mid twenties, who refused to give up the covenant and so they became known as the wigtown martyrs. A warm coloured sunset with a rainbow at the martyrs stone in wigtown. Looking south at the wigtown book festival on vimeo. It was a lovely and relaxing stop and we both liked seeing a bit of small town scotland, as well as the journey there and back. There are no faster or firmer friendships than those formed between people who love the same books. Books have the same irresistible temptation for me that liquor has for its devotee. Another despicable event was the drowning of two women who were tied to stakes in wigtown bay and engulfed in the rising solway tide. Torhouse stone circle, wigtown the machars peninsula is littered with stone carvings and other ancient monuments, but this is its only stone circle.
Her death became part of the martyrology of presbyterian churches, and she was commemorated as the. It is well known today as scotlands national book town with a high concentration of secondhand book shops. I have a small, wide variety of books which includes fiction, history and art. The wigtown martyrs or solway martyrs, margaret mclachlan, aroond 60, an margaret wilson, 18, wur scots covenanters wha wur executed by scots episcopalians in 1685 in wigtown, in gallowa scotland, by tying thaim tae stakes oan th towns mudflats an allowing thaim tae drown wi the rising tide. The diary of a bookseller author shaun bythell at scotlands biggest secondhand bookshop premises in wigtown, where he wrote his best selling book. It is a great example of a historic scottish town that has reinvented and regenerated itself in the face of an economic downturn.
The book shop wigtown 2020 all you need to know before. John foxs famous book detailing the lives, sufferings and triumphant deaths of the early christian and the protestant martyrs. Every page goes through several hundred of perfecting techniques. Sign for wigtown book festival in the town of wigtown, dumfries and galloway, southwest scotland. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Foxs book of martyrs read online bible study tools. Reprinted here in its most complete form, it brings to life the days when a noble army, men and boys, the.
It did remind us a lot of hayonwye, the book town in wales, what with the dry stone walls, rolling green hills with more imposing mountains behind, sheep in the fields, and goodly number of bookshops. Information about and images of the wigtown martyrs on undiscovered. Laying the wigtown book town commemoration stone youtube. The king, now ruling over both countries, forced episcopalianism on scotland.
It lies east of stranraer and south of newton stewart. And each autumn the town is home to the wigtown book. The remaining two monuments are rather less obvious and in many ways much more poignant. The wigtown martyrs drowned for disobeying the king the. Margaret wilson was the daughter of gilbert wilson, a prosperous farmer at. Wigtown is the home of the annual wigtown book festival and the town has a wide range of independent bookshops. At the wigtown emporium, we sell an intriguing and always changing variety of vintage and retro curiosities, including unusual gifts, jewelry, lights, cameras and clocks, art, and of course, books. A gentle slope out of wigtown, scotlands book town with views of the estuary of the river bladnoch and the nature reserve of wigtown. Scotland has large monuments to two women martyrs drowned for their faith, in spite of the fact that they werent drowned at all and neither was a martyr anyway. There was a dispute in the 17th century between the church and the monarchy. This was to take place in wigtown bay, a leg of the solway, where the wide sands extend two miles out. Today most visitors are drawn by its many book shops and annual book festival. Wigtown and the isle of whithorn wendy and johns travel. Mar 29, 2020 margaret wilson was a young scottish covenanter, from wigtown, galloway in scotland executed by drowning for refusing to swear an oath declaring the king as head of the church.
When that claim was made, an immediate sense of outrage was expressed in wigtown and the surrounding area. There are plenty of places to eat out within the town. Summer wigtown harbour, the river bladnoch running into wigtown bay, looking across to creetown and cairnsmore of fleet scotland. Stewart a recapitulation of the case for the crown. Interview at the wigtown book festival introducing stuarts new book looking south and a forthcoming gaelicscots collaboration. There are three stones to the wigtown martyrs in the kirkyard. Among the birds and sea and sky, a gentle climb out of wigtown, scotlands book town, and wonderful views of the 700mhigh cairnsmore of. Letters were published in the local newspaper and a book was written by a parish minister, all expressing horror at the knowledge that people could even doubt such a wellknown part of the wigtown history. Walk the wigtown martyrs walk with views of the river bladnoch and wigtown bay dumfries and galloway, south west scotland. The early sources for the wigtown martyrs, margaret mclachlan and margaret wilson, mainly came from the pens of two brothers, alexander. The story of the wigtown martyrs was among those collected by robert wodrow and published in his history of the sufferings of the church of scotland from the restoration to the revolution. See more ideas about scotland, galloway scotland and gatehouse of fleet. Nestled among the many headstones from the 17th and 18th centuries in stirlings old town cemetery is a rather large and ornate greenhouse that surrounds three stone figures. The two margarets were known as the wigtown martyrs.
With our books luba bought quite a few we made the journey back north, this time to stirling. Daniel defoe, the wigtown martyrs and an enemy of god jardines. Situated seven miles south of newton stewart, wigtown is well placed for exploring the machars peninsula. The gravestones, like the stones commemorating other martyred covenanters you. Wigtown is tucked away in the southwest corner of scotland in galloway, a region that doesnt draw too many tourists. There was a geocache hidden near the site which we found and logged. From wigtown, we headed down to the isle of whithorn and st ninians chapel. Stones were erected beside the parish church to commemorate their deaths. Wigtown was once the chief town of galloway with considerable strategic and commercial importance.
The wigtown martyrs i download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Through time, wigtown has served as a fortress, a market town and most recently as scotlands national book town. The wigtown martyrs drowned for disobeying the king the scotsman. Covenanters graves, in the graveyard of st machutuss church, wigtown.
Wigtown martyerss monument 2020 all you need to know. Wigtown scotlands national book town visit south west. Home townvillage wigtown scotlands national book town. The largest of the monuments to the wigtown martyrs stands on windy hill, on the western edge of wigtown where it commands wide views over much of galloway. The recumbent stone in the foreground is the grave of margaret willson, and, behind it, the upright stone on the right is that of margrat lachlane margaret mclaughlin, these being the two women who were executed by drowning according to tradition, at the location of the presentday martyrs stake. Organised by wigtown in bloom and funded by the wigtown community shop, the stone commemorating the launching of wigtown as the national book. The torehousekie stone circle is one such site, a mysterious ring of stones that are thought to date back to 2nd millennium bc and is the bestpreserved artefact of its kind in britain. Whats on arts and entertainment the wigtown martyrs drowned for disobeying the king margaret mclachlan was in her sixties when she was sentenced to death and margaret wilson just 18yearsold. Wigtown was the scene of five such executions, and those who died in 1685 became known as the wigtown martyrs.
The wooden stake used to tie the martyrs was replaced in 1939 with stones to mark the spot. History rescued, in answer to history vindicated by a. Margaret wilson was the daughter of gilbert wilson, a prosperous farmer. Coastal walk wigtown bay walks dumfries and galloway. It is well known today as scotlands national book town with a concentration of secondhand book shops. Scotlands drowned martyrs, wigtown, dumfries and galloway. Just outside the park i had seen a signpost pointing to a local landmark martyrs stake.
704 830 327 1097 1223 69 786 398 1167 648 308 635 810 569 324 75 1438 1176 563 1394 1353 976 1509 1362 628 557 1475 206 108 388 943 1360 135 837