#goodtree

[olaskoolkitchen]

Ola's Kool Kitchen podcast 477 ring in the New Year with The andi & meicheng project, Velvet Penny, The Darts - US, Crows, Sonic Boom & Goodtree

[embraphotos]

Goodtrees Gardens, EH17

[scotianostra]

January 8th 1697 Edinburgh student Thomas Aikenhead was executed in Edinburgh.

This is a cracking, if sad tale, and shows you how religious beliefs can be a blight on our history.

So who was oor Thomas, a villain?, a murderer?, a smuggler?, or some enemy of the state? No Thomas’s crime was blasphemy who took the lord’s name in vain…….this would be comic if it wasn’t for the tragic fact that he was executed, unlike the man in Life of Brian, who uttered the words Jehova, Thomas complained that he wished he was warming himself in hell rather than that chilly night walking past the recently built Tron Kirk on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Well that’s the simple story that the tour guides that take you round the Old Town will tell you, there is a bit more to it so I will bore you with a bit more of the detail. Thomas Aikenhead came from a well-to-do family in Edinburgh, his father being listed as a surgeon but more probably an apothecary, a dispenser of herbs and potions. Both his parents were dead by the time he became a student at Edinburgh University at the age of 16 or 17.

His mother had been a daughter of the manse, and you would think that would have made Aikenhead wary of challenging the established religion of the time, namely the all-powerful Church of Scotland, especially while still a student and under the constant gaze of professors, lecturers and, as it turned out, his fellow students.

These were the dying days of a curious period in Scottish history. Aikenhead would have been four when the ‘Wizard of the West Bow’ Major Thomas Weir was executed in 1670. Weir was by day an extreme Calvinist but by night an incestuous Satanist and it takes no great leap of reason to see that an impressionable young boy might well have been affected by the trial and execution of a local celebrity that lived not far from him.

The 1680s was also the ‘killing time’ for the Covenanters when many died because of they worshipped their same god in differing ways!

Thomas was a keen student and an avid reader, he may or may not have known and Edinburgh bookseller, John Frazer, who had been prosecuted after admitting either reading, or being in possession of Charles Blount’s Oracles of Reason a book I know nothing about but gather it relates to Deism, which questioned the existence or more importanyly, non-existence of God or Satan, Frazer had repented ad as it was a first offence was sackclothed and jailed in the old Tolbooth for a number of months.

Anyway, Thomas had a friend, well he thought he had a friend, Murdo Craig, but Murdo, on the sly had been keeping notes on Aitkenhead, and his dalliances with blasphemous ideals, we know that because they formed a large part of the indictment against Aikenhead.

“Nevertheless it is of verity, that you Thomas Aikenhead, shakeing off all fear of God and regaird to his majesties lawes, have now for more than a twelvemoneth by past, and upon severall of the dayes within the said space, and ane or other of the same, made it as it were your endeavour and work in severall compainies to vent your wicked blasphemies against God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and against the holy Scriptures, and all revealled religione, in soe far as upon ane or other of the dayes forsaid, you said and affirmed, that divinity or the doctrine of theologie was a rapsidie of faigned and ill-invented nonsense, patched up partly of the morall doctrine of philosophers, and pairtly of poeticall fictions and extravagant chimeras, or words to this effect or purpose, with severall other such reproachfull expressions.”

That was just for starters. Sir James Stewart of Goodtrees, the Lord Advocate of the day, had taken a personal interest in the case and he decided to throw the whole lot of Craig’s testimony at Aikenhead who was arrested in November, 1696, and charged under the Blasphemy Act of 1661 which carried the death penalty. He also charged Aikenhead under a more recent act, which made it a criminal offence to ‘deny, impugn or quarrel’ about the existence of God.The prosecution papers go on to record

“You have lykwayes in discourse preferred Mahomet to the blessed Jesus, and you have said that you hoped to see Christianity greatly weakened, and that you are confident that in a short tyme it will be utterly extirpate.”

For Mahomet, read Muhammad, could young Thomas be an Islam convert in 17th century Edinburgh, I very much doubt it, they just needed to make an example of the young student, and he knew by now that he was in very great trouble and protested in effect that he was guilty only of the sin of being youthful and had been led astray by the books he had read. He claimed to have repented of his anti-Christian beliefs and was once again a good Presbyterian. In this way he seems to have thrown himself upon the mercy of the court, but there was no mercy.  On Christmas Eve, 1696, a jury found him guilty. Sir James Stewart asked for the death penalty and it was granted and “pronounced for doom,” as Scottish judges were still saying well into the 20th century in capital punishment cases. Aikenhead pleaded for his life to the Privy Council emphasising his youth, his dire circumstances, and the fact that he was reconciled to the Protestant religion. There was some support for the death sentence to be commuted from at least two councillors and two Church of Scotland ministers, but the General Assembly of the Kirk intervened, demanding that Aikenhead suffer 

“vigorous execution to curb the abounding of impiety and profanity in this land”.

In his last letter to friends, written in the Tolbooth prison in Edinburgh as he awaited execution, Aikenhead at last gave a plausible explanation for his conduct – that he had been a disappointed seeker after truth. He wrote: 

“It is a principle innate and co-natural to every man to have an insatiable inclination to the truth and to seek for it as for hid treasure. So I proceeded until the more I thought thereon, the further I was from finding the verity I desired.” In truth, in a repressed society the student had just gone too far in rejecting the doctrines of Christianity calling it “feigned and ill-invented nonsense”

Aikenhead went to his death on January 8, 1697, hanged on the scaffold at Shrubhill between Edinburgh and Leith. It is said that before he died he proclaimed that moral laws were the work of governments and men. In his hand as the noose was plced around his neck was the Holy Bible. The execution angered many people for many years afterwards. The great English historian Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote an account of the hanging and called the execution “a crime such has never since polluted the island.”He continued: “The preachers who were the boy’s murderers crowded round him at the gallows, and, while he was struggling in the last agony, insulted Heaven with prayers more blasphemous than any thing that he had ever uttered.”

There was other evidence of church authorities being present as Aikenhead died. He was the last man in Britain to be hanged for blasphemy.

According to Arthur Herman in his book ��How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It”, the execution of Aikenhead was “the last hurrah of Scotland’s Calvinist ayatollahs” before the dawning of the age of reason in the Enlightenment.

Now we can all rejoice in The Enlightenment but a full 30 years later in the small town of Dornoch in Sutherland, Janet Horne was put on trial for the “crime” of having a daughter whose feet and hands were misshapen and who had herself given birth to a son with disabilities. She was the last woman in Britain to be burned at the stake for being a witch, her death bringing to an end the “burning time” when perhaps 4000 Scottish women were executed for the crime of witchcraft.

I thought I would add a wee bit more about Shrubhill in Leith, as most of us usually only regard Edinburgh’s Old Town, The Tolbooth, and Grassmarket as sites where executions took place. I can’t find out why Aikenhead was taken to, at what at the time, was a different town for his executions I did however find records  of several taking place at the site, now student accommodation, but the site of Edinburghs tram workshops and powerstation, but beforehand not many know that it was the site of he gibbet known as the Gallow Lee, literally the “field with the gallows”,

Bodies were buried at the base of the gallows or their ashes scattered if burnt. The most famous of those that met their end here was perhaps Major Weir, the Wizard of the West Bow.

1570- Two criminals strangled and burned to death.

1570 (4 October)- Rev. John Kelloe minister of Spott, East Lothian (near Dunbar) strangled and burnt for the murder of his wife

1664- Nine witches strangled and burnt

1670- Major Thomas Weir, the self-confessed warlock, strangled and burnt for witchcraft (almost the only self-confessed witch executed).

1678- Five witches strangled and burnt

1680- Part of the body of Covenanter David Hackston was hung in chains after his execution at the mercat cross in Edinburgh for the murder of Archbishop Sharp in 1679.

1681 (10 October)- Covenanters Garnock, Foreman, Russel, Ferrie and Stewart hanged and beheaded. Their headless bodies were buried at the site and their heads placed on the Cowgate Port at the foot of the Pleasance. Friends reburied the bodies in the graveyard of the West Kirk (St. Cuthberts). The heads were retrieved, placed in a box and then buried in garden ground at Lauriston. They lay there until 7 October 1726 when the then owner, Mr Shaw, had them exhumed and reburied near the Martyrs’ Monument in Greyfriars Kirkyard.

1697 (8 January)- Thomas Aikenhead, a 19-year-old theology student at Edinburgh University became the last person to be executed under Scotland’s blasphemy laws (and the last in Britain to be executed for that crime).

1752 (10 January)- Norman Ross, a footman, hanged for the murder of Lady Baillie, sister of Home, Laird of Wedderburn. The body was left to hang in a gibbet cage “for many a year” and became a local ghoulish tourist attraction.

Post mid 18th Century the Nor’ Loch was drained and the city expanded to the north by the building of the New Town with stone quarried from nearby Craigleith quarry. In such building sand was needed to add to the lime mortar and Gallow Lee proved to be just what was needed. The owner of Gallow Lee charged the builders to cart away the sand, containing the ashes and other remains of thousands of victims.

As with all good stories there has been a drama set to the events,  I Am Thomas: A Brutal Comedy with Songs was performed at the  Royal Lyceum Theatre in 2016, before going on a short tour, it received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Read one of the reviews here https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/feb/17/i-am-thomas-aikenhead-play-told-by-an-idiot-simon-armitage-blasphemy

[theopenbowl]

May 2023.  Life seems more urgent. I feel like I have to take responsibility, (not control) of my happiness! Like wrestling an unruly toddler. These are the best years of my life.

Image credit: Globe Thistle by Hal Goodtree Via Flickr: Giant alliums in Washington Square Park.

[stuntchicken]

Billy The Kid Secret Hideout (Performing Arts Musical)

Billy The Kid Secret Hideout (Performing Arts Musical) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqEv2RgycuQ Howdy, folks! Welcome to Billy's Secret Hideout, where the magic of performing arts music by Tiffany Deleon comes alive! Truly remarkable journey into the past. Today, we unveil the secrets of one of America's most notorious outlaws – Billy the Kid! Legend has it that Billy the Kid had a secret hideout, nestled deep within the rugged terrain of the Old West. Join me as we delve into this hidden world through the captivating power of music and performance arts. With Host Andy Goodtree: Prepare to be awed as we bring Billy the Kid's world to life right before your eyes. Our talented actors bring their characters to life, sharing the untold stories and adventures of this wild West outlaw. Through stunning set designs and mesmerizing choreography, we'll transport you back in time to witness the daring escapades of Billy and his gang. Andy Goodtree: From thrilling bank heists to heart-stopping chases, each scene is meticulously crafted to immerse you in the captivating tale of Billy the Kid. But the adventure doesn't stop there. On display, we have authentic artifacts from Billy's hideout, giving us a glimpse into the life of this extraordinary outlaw. These artifacts hold the whispers of a bygone era, allowing us to piece together the puzzle that is Billy the Kid's fascinating life. So, whether you're a history buff, a lover of the arts, or simply seeking an exciting adventure, "Unveiling Billy the Kid's Hidden World: A Musical Adventure" is a captivating experience you won't want to miss. Thanks for joining us on this incredible journey. Remember to subscribe to our channel for more enthralling historical adventures. ---------------------------------------- ✅ Other Videos You Might Be Interested In Watching: 👉Weekely Top Music Hits Playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG_PYcme6O8XEAyClixVLX_XBsRiFCf0J&si=bL_7BF9Ev2gLssBG ------------------------------------------ Featuring breathtaking musical performances, dazzling choreography, and a captivating storyline, "Unveiling Billy the Kid's Hidden World" promises to keep you on the edge of your seat. Witness the fusion of history, music, and adventure, and discover the untold secrets of Billy the Kid's clandestine sanctuary. This extraordinary production celebrates the legacy of Billy the Kid, bringing his hidden world to life like never before. The seamless combination of talented performers and cutting-edge technology transports you back in time to an era filled with outlaws, cowboys, and fearless pursuits. Join us and experience the thrill of live theater, as you become an integral part of this awe-inspiring spectacle. Feel the energy and passion radiating from the stage, as every note, every step, and every word takes you deeper into Billy the Kid's enigmatic hideout. ✅ Subscribe To My Channel For More Videos StuntChicken.net #BillyTheKid #HiddenWorld #MusicalAdventure #AndyGoodtree #WildWest #Outlaw #CowboyLife #SecretHideout #NewMexico #OldWest #HistoricalAdventure #Gunfighter #FamousOutlaws #AmericanHistory #WesternHeritage CODE: S&1C$ via Stunt Chicken https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw_qXPC5lE0dsdBUMtY-kRQ October 20, 2023 at 05:20PM

[parkerbombshell]

Ola's Kool Kitchen #477

Ola's Kool Kitchen  Wednesdays 4pm EST 9pm BST on Bombshell Radio Show 477 Primal Scream-Movin on Up-Screamadelica-Creation The Specials-Ghost Town-single-2 Tone The Andi & Meicheng Project-The End of a Dream-single-self release Feeble Little Horse-Chores-Hayday-Saddle Creek Records Velvet Penny-All the Flowers-single-self release The Darts (US)-Shit Show- Love Tsunami-Dirty Water Records CROWS-Slowly Separate- Beware Believers-Bad Vibrations Records Kevin Morby-This is a Photograph-This is a Photograph-Dead Oceans Zola Jesus-Lost-Arkhon-Sacred Bones Panda Bear/Sonic Boom-Edge of the Edge-Reset-Domino Oscar McLollie & The Honeyjumpers-Dig That Crazy Santa Claus-single-Modern Recordds 1954 Louis Armstrong - Cool Yule-single-Verve Records Mabel Scott - Boogie Woogie Santa Claus-single-Exclusive 14.goodtree-Star Jasmine-single-Byrd Avenue Records   Read the full article

[mifeldman]

#colorsoffall #oilpainting #canvas #goodearth #goodtree (at Michael Feldman Art Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck68LbXPiIU/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion You Will Know False Prophets By Their Fruits

#DailyDevotion You Will Know False Prophets By Their Fruits Matt. 7:15-20 15“Beware of false prophets. They come to you dressed like sheep, but in their hearts they're greedy wolves. 16“You will know them by what they produce. Can they pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17No, every good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree good fruit. 19Any tree that doesn't bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20So you will know them by what they produce. What is Jesus talking about? He warns us to beware of false prophets. How will we recognize them? It's hard to tell just by looking at them. They are clothed like sheep. They look just like us. But their hearts are like greedy wolves. What they teach and say sounds reasonable to us. Of course our sinful flesh is in tune with what they themselves teach, say and do. How will you recognize them then? Jesus say we will know them by what they produce. Still not necessarily helpful, at first. So Jesus asks can we get grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? There is good fruit and there is bad fruit. Just as a bad tree cannot produced good fruit, a good tree cannot produce bad fruit. What is a good fruit and what is a bad fruit though? We must just all things by the Word of God. What the Word of God calls good we must also. What it calls bad we must also. We may just want to look at what Jesus is teaching in this section of Matthew called the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus expounds the law here perfectly. Do they do or at least teach what Jesus teaches here? John in his epistle lesson chapter 3 tells us, “23He orders us to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and to love one another as He has ordered us to do.” Do these false prophets point us to Jesus as the only way to salvation? Do they teach us that only through faith in Jesus can we we be saved? Or do they require something else, robbing Jesus of his glory and honor? Do they teach us to love one another or do they demand sacrifice? Jesus in Matthew 9:13 teaches us, “I want mercy and not mere sacrifice.” Paul in Galatians 5 tells us, “19Now, you know the works of the flesh. They are: sexual sin, uncleanness, wild living, 20worshiping of idols, witchcraft, hate, wrangling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, quarreling, divisions, 21envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, those who do such things will have no share in God's kingdom. 22But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace. He makes us patient, kindly, good, faithful, 23gentle, and gives us self-control.” We may take note that the fruits of the Spirit aren't particularly exciting. The bad fruit seems to be pretty obvious, yet it seems we often ignore them. False teachers are often greedy and cause divisions. They cause divisions to separate people for themselves from whom they may fleece them from their possessions. In order to separate them from the good and true teachers they of necessity must teach something different, something that sounds reasonable. They must appeal to our flesh and reason. They will preach a different Christ, one who does not save you solely by his works and someone who lessens God's law and makes it easier to keep. You are responsible for not supporting and following false prophets. You have God's Word to judge them by. You cannot claim you didn't know. It's not always easy but one you discover who and what they are, it is up to you to separate yourselves from them and attach yourself to a true teacher of God's Word. Gracious God, heavenly Father, give us your Spirit and your Word so we may rightly identify false teachers and not follow them but through the same identify true teachers of your Word, to follow and support them and produce good fruit. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article

[ladysylva]

Just want to say - I’ll pet this Japanese Maple when I walk past it because it is so soft and lush. 10/10 good little tree. #tree #japanesemaple #goodtree #happy #plush https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd9pKkZr86j/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[my-clothing-line-blog]

The days are counting down‼️ #CrossFade will be the event that starts this summer off right #GoodTree #420 #drinks #2017 #losangeles #summer #PoolParty

[ddknyc-blog]

#signsofspring #goodtree #upperwestside #walkabout #getoutanddosomething #getoutside #lookaround #blossoms #ilovenyc (at Riverside Park (Manhattan))

[treeshurts]

Another great weekend at @yasgur_road . Good people, good vibes and a whole lotta good trees!!! See you next year at the #50thanniversary #Woodstock #Reunion ✌️🌳🌳 . . . #peace #love #music #goodvibes #goodtrees #goodpeople #hippiehighway #maxyasgur #originalwoodstock #upstatetrees #hippie #tiedye #cannabiscommunity #420 #musicfestival #celebration #woodstock69 #peacemaker

[embraphotos]

Goodtrees Gardens, EH17

[merrijfields]

#goodtrees #treefam #canopy https://www.instagram.com/p/CA9aQF0JvQg5JART8XKqdgXvNC8HDEvtoxQHRE0/?igshid=8oljoh3odnia

[eretzyisrael]

“The Boston Israeli community is very talented and accomplished,” says Dan Trajman, president and CEO of the New England Israel Business Council. He estimates that roughly 25,000 Israelis live in the Boston area.

“Most Israelis who come to Boston are coming to study at the top universities in the area, to do research, to start a company or because they are being relocated by their company. It started in the 1960s and grew since then. There are several generations of successful Israelis, some already retired and some in their prime right now,” Trajman tells ISRAEL21c.

Israelis are active in Boston-area academia, healthcare, retail and other fields. In high-tech alone, about 250 Israeli-founded companies have set up shop here.

Read More: Israel21c

[scotianostra]

On January 8th 1697 Thomas Aikenhead was executed in Edinburgh.

So who was oor Thomas, a villain?, a murderer?, a smuggler?, or some enemy of the state? No Thomas’s crime was blasphemy who took the lord’s name in vain…….this would be comic if it wasn’t for the tragic fact that he was executed, unlike the man in Life of Brian, who uttered the words Jehova, Thomas complained that he wished he was warming himself in hell rather than that chilly night walking past the recently built Tron Kirk on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Well that’s the simple story that the tour guides that take you round the Old Town will tell you, there is a bit more to it so I will bore you with a bit more of the detail.

Thomas Aikenhead came from a well-to-do family in Edinburgh, his father being listed as a surgeon but more probably an apothecary, a dispenser of herbs and potions. Both his parents were dead by the time he became a student at Edinburgh University at the age of 16 or 17.

His mother had been a daughter of the manse, and you would think that would have made Aikenhead wary of challenging the established religion of the time, namely the all-powerful Church of Scotland, especially while still a student and under the constant gaze of professors, lecturers and, as it turned out, his fellow students.

These were the dying days of a curious period in Scottish history. Aikenhead would have been four when the ‘Wizard of the West Bow’ Major Thomas Weir was executed in 1670. Weir was by day an extreme Calvinist but by night an incestuous Satanist and it takes no great leap of reason to see that an impressionable young boy might well have been affected by the trial and execution of a local celebrity that lived not far from him.

Thomas was a keen student and an avid reader, he may or may not have known and Edinburgh bookseller, John Frazer, who had been prosecuted after admitting either reading, or being in possession of Charles Blount’s Oracles of Reason a book I know nothing about but gather it relates to Deism, which questioned the existence or more importantly, non-existence of God or Satan, Frazer had repented ad as it was a first offence was sack clothed and jailed in the old Tolbooth for a number of months.

Anyway, Thomas had a friend, well he thought he had a friend, Murdo Craig, but Murdo, on the sly had been keeping notes on Aitkenhead, and his dalliances with blasphemous ideals, we know that because they formed a large part of the indictment against Aikenhead.  Craig ‘s testimony read: 

“Nevertheless it is of verity, that you Thomas Aikenhead, shakeing off all fear of God and regaird to his majesties lawes, have now for more than a twelvemoneth by past, and upon severall of the dayes within the said space, and ane or other of the same, made it as it were your endeavour and work in severall compainies to vent your wicked blasphemies against God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and against the holy Scriptures, and all revealled religione, in soe far as upon ane or other of the dayes forsaid, you said and affirmed, that divinity or the doctrine of theologie was a rapsidie of faigned and ill-invented nonsense, patched up partly of the morall doctrine of philosophers, and pairtly of poeticall fictions and extravagant chimeras, or words to this effect or purpose, with severall other such reproachfull expressions.”

That was just for starters. Sir James Stewart of Goodtrees, the Lord Advocate of the day, had taken a personal interest in the case and he decided to throw the whole lot of Craig’s testimony at Aikenhead who was arrested in November, 1696, and charged under the Blasphemy Act of 1661 which carried the death penalty. He also charged Aikenhead under a more recent act, which made it a criminal offence to ‘deny, impugn or quarrel’ about the existence of God.

The prosecution papers go on to record “You have lykwayes in discourse preferred Mahomet to the blessed Jesus, and you have said that you hoped to see Christianity greatly weakened, and that you are confident that in a short tyme it will be utterly extirpate.”  For Mahomet, read Muhammad, could young Thomas be an Islam convert in 17th century Edinburgh, I very much doubt it, they just needed to make an example of the young student, and he knew by now that he was in very great trouble and protested in effect that he was guilty only of the sin of being youthful and had been led astray by the books he had read. He claimed to have repented of his anti-Christian beliefs and was once again a good Presbyterian.

In this way he seems to have thrown himself upon the mercy of the court. There was none. On Christmas Eve, 1696, a jury found him guilty. Sir James Stewart asked for the death penalty and it was granted and “pronounced for doom,” as Scottish judges were still saying well into the 20th century in capital punishment cases.

Aikenhead pleaded for his life to the Privy Council emphasising his youth, his dire circumstances, and the fact that he was reconciled to the Protestant religion. There was some support for the death sentence to be commuted from at least two councillors and two Church of Scotland ministers, but the General Assembly of the Kirk intervened, demanding that Aikenhead suffer “vigorous execution to curb the abounding of impiety and profanity in this land”. These were the same type of zealots that closed down Allan Ramsay’s theatre less than 40 years later.

Back to yer man, Thomas, in  his last letter to friends, written in the Tolbooth prison in Edinburgh as he awaited execution, Aikenhead at last gave a plausible explanation for his conduct – that he had been a disappointed seeker after truth.

He wrote: “It is a principle innate and co-natural to every man to have an insatiable inclination to the truth and to seek for it as for hid treasure. So I proceeded until the more I thought thereon, the further I was from finding the verity I desired.”

In truth, in a repressed society the student had just gone too far in rejecting the doctrines of Christianity calling it “feigned and ill-invented nonsense”

Aikenhead went to his death on this day, 1697, hanged on the scaffold at Shrubhill between Edinburgh and Leith. It is said that before he died he proclaimed that moral laws were the work of governments and men, ain't that the truth!

In his hand as the noose was placed around his neck was the Holy Bible.

The execution angered many people for many years afterwards. The great English historian Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote an account of the hanging and called the execution “a crime such has never since polluted the island.”

He continued: “The preachers who were the boy’s murderers crowded round him at the gallows, and, while he was struggling in the last agony, insulted Heaven with prayers more blasphemous than any thing that he had ever uttered.”

There was other evidence of church authorities being present as Aikenhead died. He was the last man in Britain to be hanged for blasphemy.

According to Arthur Herman in his book How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It the execution of Aikenhead was “the last hurrah of Scotland’s Calvinist ayatollahs” before the dawning of the age of reason in the Enlightenment.

Now we can all rejoice in The Enlightenment but a full 30 years later in the small town of Dornoch in Sutherland, Janet Horne was put on trial for the “crime” of having a daughter whose feet and hands were misshapen and who had herself given birth to a son with disabilities. She was the last woman in Britain to be burned at the stake for being a witch, her death bringing to an end the “burning time” when perhaps 4000 Scottish women were executed for the crime of witchcraft.

As with all good stories there has been a drama set to the events,  I Am Thomas: A Brutal Comedy with Songs was performed at the  Royal Lyceum Theatre in 2016, before going on a short tour, it received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Read one of the reviews here https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/feb/17/i-am-thomas-aikenhead-play-told-by-an-idiot-simon-armitage-blasphemy