OS1/13/57/35
| List of names as written | Various modes of spelling | Authorities for spelling | Situation | Description remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GRAVE OF FIVE COVENANTERS EXECUTED 1679 [Blebocraigs] | Martyrs Grave Martyrs Grave |
James Clement Farmer Easter Clatto Andrew Carstairs Farmer Tongues of Clatto |
088 | [situation] About 1 3/4 Miles E.S.E. [East South East] from Blebocraigs. The place where those who were executed for rebellion in 1679 were buried. A small oblong patch of grass situated in the middle of a ploughed field and on the west side of where Bishop Sharp was murdered. On account of its sacredness none of the farmers who resided on the farm, since the men were buried there, ever attempted to plough it up. |
Continued entries/extra info
35 Parish of St. Andrews Plan 11B Trace 4[Note] The name "Martyrs Grave" is evidently a misnomer as may be seen below by the quotation from the history of St. Andrews by Lyons.
[Quotation] "About a stones throw to the west of Guillans monument in an open field there is the grave of five men who were taken prisoners at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in June 1679. There had been thirty of these prisoners in all. The "Justiciars" says Fountainhall tried the prisoners with great lenity for they took them severally one by one and obtested and entreated them to take the bond never to rise in arms hereafter against the King or his authority. Twenty six of them complied, one was acquitted because not taken in arms and the remaining five who refused all compromise were tried and condemned to death for (among other charges) protecting the murderers of Archbishop Sharp contriving the overthrow of the fundamental laws of Church and State declaring the King an usurper and denying that their being taken in arms against his majesty was rebellious. Their sentence was that they be carried to the Muir of Magus in the Sheriffdom of Fife the place where his grace the Archbishop of St. Andrews was murdered on 18th Nov. [November] Inst. and there hanged till they be dead and their bodies to be hung in chains till they rot and all their lands good & gear to fall to his majesty's use." Lyons Hist. [History] of St. Andrews vol.2 [Volume 2] p. 95 Note. They were hanged Dec. [December] 25th A.D. [Anno Domini] 1679.
[Note - pencil - arrowed to Remarks] Is there a gravestone a Tomb here? see page 36.
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