Sketches of the CovenantersMcFeeters, J. C. (James Calvin)
History
Sketches of the Covenanters
McFeeters, J. C. (James Calvin)
Covenanters; Scotland -- Church history -- 16th century; Scotland -- Church history -- 17th century
The stars timidly arose and shed their pale light over the crimsoned
field. The night was bitterly cold. The dead lay scattered over the
frosted ground, and the air was burdened with the groans of the dying.
All had been barbarously stripped of their clothing by the ruthless
conquerors. The blood of the dying was chilled in their veins, ere it
oozed from their wounds and froze upon the ground. The tender-hearted
women of Edinburgh came the next day, with clothes for the living and
winding sheets for the dead. An upright stone, two feet by three, marks
the place where these soldiers of Christ, in number about 50, calmly
sleep, awaiting the resurrection of the just. Beautiful fir trees
swaying their soft branches over the grave seem to be singing the dirge
of the fallen heroes.
Heroes! This was a forlorn battle. The battle that must be lost, that
other battles may be won, demands heroes of the noblest type; and here
were the men. They were willing to fight in the presence of defeat.
Listen to their resolution just before the battle: "We will follow on,
till God shall do His service by us; and though we should all die at the
end of it, we think the giving of a testimony enough for all."
The little army of the Covenanters, broken and bleeding, was now
scattered upon the mountains and completely disorganized. One of these
men, wandering alone, came to a cottage at midnight. He was bleeding,
hungry, weary, utterly exhausted, ready to die. He asked for food and
shelter. The pitiful request was denied, for such kindness, if the
authorities were informed, would endanger the family; and the penalty
might be expulsion, imprisonment, or death. No cup of cold water for
this thirsty soul; no spark of charity to warm this shivering child of
the Covenant. Feeling the chill of death already creeping through his
veins, he touchingly said, "If you find me dead in the morning, bury me
on the hillside, looking toward my home beyond the valley." In the
morning he was found dead, under an oak beside the house. He was buried
as he had requested. A stone, with an interesting inscription, marks the
grave.
After this battle the Covenanters were subjected to a period of horrors
that exhaust description. This brief warlike demonstration was by the
government called "The Pentland Rising." The men who had placed
themselves under Colonel Wallace, for the redress of their wrongs, had
come from the adjacent counties. General Dalziel was immediately sent
with an army to punish the people of these districts. Here we must draw
a veil and cover the more shocking barbarities and hideous indignities;
the unmentionable crimes practiced upon these Covenanters, who already
had suffered beyond the limit of patience; upon the men, women, and
children who were as inoffensive, as they were helpless, beneath the
monstrous tyranny of King Charles and his brutal soldiers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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