Anyone got any Wigtown martyrs in there lineage

[tornado]

I have just discovered a 7th g grand uncle John Milroy born wigtown in my f tree . Apparently John rebelled and was hanged alongside another Man for his religious views and was called a martyr in the 1680s . So has anyone else got such ancestors in there lineage , out of curiosity .

[hanes teulu]

"Other murders - There were several other murders in the fields which I have not their dates, as that of William Johnstoun gardiner to the Laird of Fintilloch, George Walker servant and John Milroy chapman, who were apprehended by Major Windram, who, after asking some questions, ordered them  all to be hanged at Wigtoun the day after they were siezed"

The whole episode makes grim reading.

[Biggles50]

I have just discovered a 7th g grand uncle John Milroy born wigtown in my f tree . Apparently John rebelled and was hanged alongside another Man for his religious views and was called a martyr in the 1680s . So has anyone else got such ancestors in there lineage , out of curiosity .

My Wife has, her relative, Edward Osbaldeston was hung, drawn and quartered in 1594 for his Catholic preaching.

He was ordained in 1583 and was one of eighty five English and Welsh martyrs beatified by the Pope John Paul II in 1967.

She is also related to Pope Leo X.

[sonofthom]

I am a direct descendant of Thomas Harkness, known as Thomas the Martyr. He was hanged in the Grassmarket in Edinburgh in 1684. He was a Covenanter, as were the Winton martyrs.

[hanes teulu]

"A cloud of witnesses ..." - published 1755 (6th edition)

Final para -

[RJ_Paton]

John Milroy was described as a chapman living in Fyntalloch. He was captured while on the run along with two others he was taken to Wigtown dragged behind the horses of his captors. His trial was basically a military tribunal when it was required that they take the Oath of Abjuration they refused. When given another chance at a reprieve by attending the church services of the local curate they refused. All three were sentenced to death and hung the next day.
(info from Scottish Covenanter Stories by Dane Love).

[tornado]

many thanks to you all for the information and stories here . Thank God we live in a civilised society now .

[RJ_Paton]

That period of Scottish History is known as "The Killing Times".

Wigtown although being described as a hotbed of Covenanters had remarkably few executions compared to other areas although many were tortured and banished or sold into slavery.

Another 2 Milroy's (Gilbert & William Milroy) were  also captured and tortured for 6 days before being sent to Ayrshire where they were again threatened with death but they refused to give up those who had helped them. They were sent to Edinburgh where they were again tortured and had their ears cut off before being transported to Jamaica and sold as slaves. Gilbert survived and returned to Scotland around 1710.

[hanes teulu]

I've been reading the 1714 publication "A Cloud of witnesses ...." and William Crookshank's 1749 "The history of the state and sufferings of the Church of Scotland ....".

Grim reading, particularly the treatment of Margaret Maclaughlan and Margaret Wilson.