#maryrs

[scotianostra]

On May 11th 1685 Margaret Lachlane, or McLachlan, and Margaret Wilson were put to death.

The sins of our past are sair tae bare at times and this is certainly one that qualifies as such, what makes it all the more sad is that they had been reprieved, but the distance from Edinburgh to Wigtown but for reasons unknown it never made it to save the women.

Here’s the background, some of you might know but not all, back in 17th century religion was very important to most people in Scotland, indeed the worldover. The reformation waa over and Protestants were in the vast majority, especially in the more populace lowlands. By now The Stuart Monarchy ruled both Scotland and England, having survived a civil war in which Charles I lost his head, eventually his son, Charle II was invited back to take the throne. You would have thought that Charles II had learned his lesson, his old boy had tried to enforce the English form of the Protestant religion in Scotland but failed, young Charles tried again but the Scots were not having it, many Scots signed what is known as The National Covenant that pledged to defend “their” true religion against innovations like those down south. Many were put to death for refusing to swear allegiance to the King and “his” prayer book. Over the years there were many battles and lives lost, it is now known in Scotland as “The Killing Time"

ny way the people thought it might come to an end in February 1658 when Charles II died, those who had been hiding from persecution started returning to their homes, including the young Wilson girls who were sheltered at the home of Margaret McLachlan, a 63 year old widow who lived at Drumjargan in Kirkinner Parish. A local man betrayed them when they came into Wigtown, and the two girls were taken prisoner. At the same time, Margaret McLachlan was seized while at prayer in her own home, and held in custody with them. The women were required to take the Oath of Abjuration which had earlier been administered to everyone in the County over the age of 13 years. This had been introduced on 25 November 1684 by the Privy Council, in order to catch sympathisers of Richard Cameron. In a public declaration at Sanquhar Cross, Cameron had denounced the King as a tyrant and declared war on him.

Refusal to swear the Oath allowed execution without trial; men could be hanged or shot; a new sentence had been introduced for women: death by drowning. The women refused the Oath and were brought before the Commission. The Commissioners, Grierson of Lagg, Sheriff David Graham (Claverhouse’s brother), Major Windram, Captain Strachan and Provost Coltrane of Wigtown, have been described as “five of the most vicious scoundrels in Scotland”.

Margaret McLachlan with Margaret and Agnes Wilson were found guilty on all charges and they were sentenced “to be tyed to palisadoes and fixed in the sand, within the flood mark, at the mouth of the Blednoch stream, and there to stand till the flood over flowed them, and [they] drowned”. Agnes Wilson (aged only thirteen at the time) was reprieved, when her father promised to pay a bond of £100, a fortune in that day.

A pardon was issued in Edinburgh, dated 30 April 1685, for both women

It remains a mystery what happened to it, since no record of it remains beyond the Council Chamber. They were taken out and tied to stakes in the waters of the Bladnoch on 11 May 1685. The older woman was tied deeper in the river channel forcing young Margaret to witness her death, in the hope that she would relent. Instead, she seemed to take strength from the older woman’s fate, singing a psalm, and quoting scripture.

The events are recorded in the Kirk Session records of both Penninghame and Kirkinner parishes, vouched for by elders and ministers who were present on the day, and the records confirmed by the Presbytery of Wigtown. The Penninghame records say that Margaret Wilson’s head was held up from the water, in order to ask her if she would pray for the King. She answered that she wished the salvation of all men, but the damnation of none. When her watching relatives cried out that this proved she was willing to conform, Major Windram offered her the Oath of Abjuration again, but she refused, saying “I am one of Christ’s children; let me go”.

The Kirkinner records state that Margaret McLachan’s head had been “held down within the water by one of the town officers by his halberd at her throat, til she died”. A popular account adds that the officer said “then tak’ another drink o’t my hearty”. Legend has it that for the rest of his life the man had an unquenchable thirst, and had to stop and drink from every ditch, stream, or tap he passed, and he was deserted by his friends.

Likewise the constable named Bell, who had carried out his duties with a notable lack of feeling, allegedly said, when asked how the women had behaved, “O, they just clepped roun the stobs, like partans and prayed”. Clepped means web-footed, partans are crabs. Bell’s wife bore three children all with “clepped” fingers, and the family was referred to as “the Cleppie Bells” which was believed to be the sins of the father being visited on the children.

It was not only women who died, William Johnstone, John Milroy and George Walker were hanged in Wigtown the same year, for refusal to take the oath, but Margaret Wilson, due to her young age has become the most famous of the martyrs and is the subject of a famous painting by the English artist John Everett Millais called The Martyr of Solway.

Art conservators have x-rayed the painting and found out that Millais had originally painted the upper torso of the young woman naked. However when the painting was exhibited in 1871 there were strong puritanical views on nudity in paintings and Millais’ work offended Victorian sensibilities. It was badly received and was the butt of many negatively critical reviews. Hence it was painted over to save the Victorian eyes of such a sight!

The photo is from Stirling Old Town Cemetery a monument to the Wigtown Martyrs, further afield a Victorian statue of Margaret Wilson’s martyrdom is on display at Knox College, University of Toronto, Canada, as seen in the second pic, the third pic is the Martyrs' Grave, Wigtown parish church, Dumfries and Galloway.

[thetisming]

i am him him is i

[doodleneo]

LOL HI um!!!111 I’ve had a Tumblr this wholE time but I never used it PFHGF but i mgith start usinG it now,,MAYBE,,../JUST CAUSE SOMEBODY KINDA INSPIRED ME TO USE THIS ACCOUNT,,.,,.,....LOOKING AT YOU NERD!!!11 also cuase nboody really sees my drawings on YT so I wanna like,,spread out,, anyway eyhj idk two doodels of my chaz cause yurh!! <3

[japantrip2023]

Test post, do not eat.

[callilouv]

FHSHGD DONT GET CAUGHT QAQ but yes,,im still technically a moth and i somehow end up getting adopted multiple times by ikemen, ikejou, and other veterans hehe. they're really good at flustering me i'll say that /)\\\(\ ~Lycoris

NAURRUAIORS

[unabridged-melancholies]

dying girl, decomposing girl & for what? i’ve always been one breath away from choking to death. nowadays i am a shuttering, walking wound. water pours from my mouth, and i can taste the mud, too. they call me with a phone cord wrapped around their neck, phone cords and shattering girls, static phone lines left to string along what we never could quiet talk about. i have tried my best to bury every dead thing that is haunting me, but all that’s left here is broken circles of salt. maryred girl, haunting myself.

𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥. (7. 28. 23)

[tonycries]

hi i am in love with you and your stories thanks maryr me wtf

Us btw:

[inexplicifics]

"I think Dawid is now king of all of Redania, and part of the challenge now facing him is dealing with the person who was lord of 2/3 of the country for some years." Oww, maybe a Lady? "Maybe we should maryr to be lords of all this shit together, eh?"

Oh now that's a thought. Hmmmm!

[technosdotcrown]

Will you maryr me

Come back when you can spell. 💛

[red-viewe]

To the most funniest (and chaotic) of views. Ever since I came across your profile I've smiled. That must be a talent of yours, being a comedian. The nice things you do online, such as give people hugs, can make anyone's day. Your smile can make rainy go away. You're very loved my dearest of Red Views.

From: An Unknown Person

(Can you figure out my identity?)

MARRY ME RIGHT NOW. MARYR ME. I WILL BE PRINCE CHARMING AND GO TO THE ENDS OF EARTH TO FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE I HUGS U GIVE SU COOK9ES KISSES U THIS IS GOING UP ON MY WALL

[abbigailsdiary]

they’ve broken Matt AND WHAT THE FUCK FCG!!!!!

THEY’RE GONNA BE A MARYR!

[dreamsclock]

There's something deeply wrong with you (hugs and a kisses you. Wraps you in a blanket)

val you are the light of my life. my orange on a bad day.my favorite song playing from down the street that i havent heard in years. the single blossom on a tree i thought was dead which means the world is gonna be okay. Can we maryr now

[kidfoundonstreets]

kid do u remember when I was assigning the mutuals my OCs based on personality and vibes? I assigned Shannon to Piper. makes so much sense why u wanna marry her :3

a INDIRECT PLAN TO JUST MARYR PIPER AGAIN FTAE REAL

[meetsthebones]

I WOWUDLDNT MARYR ME EITHE E R

[ghostsandgod]

Since we cannot go to enjoy God without passing through death, St John Chrysostom exhorts us to offer to God what we are obliged to give him. And let us be persuaded that they who offer their death to God, make the most perfect act of divine love which it is in their power to perform; because, by cheerfully embracing that species of death which God is pleased to send, and at that time, and in the manner in which God sends it, they render themselves like the holy maryrs.

-St Alphonsus Ligouri

[ofmd-fanart-archive]

Tagging Logic

A list of the specific tags will be posted once I get some more posts in, but here's the general tagging logic of the posts:

#gen - for general, non ship art

#ship - for shipping/romantic art

#name1name2 - shipping/romantic art involving the characters. The names are listed alphabetically, so for Stede and Ed if would be: EdStede. If the artwork depicts a romantic relationship between Ed, Stede, and Izzy, it would be: EdIzzyStede, etc.

#crew - art depicting multiple crew members with no greater focus on any of them. So let's say we have an artwork that depicts Lucius and Pete as the primary focus but Frenchie, Archie, and Izzy also appear, without playing a larger role. The art would be tagged #LuciusPete, #crew

#name - a tag for the character. All characters are tagged with their first name, e.g. #zheng #frenchie #stede. Some of the characters don't have official last names, which might be too inconsistent if I chose to include them. The only name that duplicates is Mary Bonnet and Mary Read - they'll be tagged #maryb and #maryr respectfully.

#comic - tags for a comic: pretty self-explanatory.

#artdump - so called "sketch dumps" are canvases that have multiple small pieces on them as opposed to full-frame pieces.

#fullframe - pieces of art that are lone-standing, unlike artdumps which are collections of smaller drawings

#colour - art that's filled in, either full colour or monochrome. That includes black and white too! It might sound silly, but I just want to mark art that's "filled in" and not sketched or a lineart. Black and white are colours too, technically.

#nocolour - sketch or lineart.

#user:name - art posted by user

If you have any suggestions regarding tagging logic or any new tags that should be created, please let me know :)