The Martyrdom of Hugh M’Kail, December 22, 1666
Bill Potter - Landmark Events
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roll of Christian martyrs extends back in time to the days
following the resurrection of Our Lord. It continues daily in
many far-flung nations of the earth. Jesus Himself told the
Apostles to expect to die for their faith, a prospect they
embraced, not knowing the time, place, or character of their
death. Some of the saddest and yet the most triumphant stories
of the few martyrs we know by name, are the ones murdered in
“Christian” countries by men claiming to be fellow-believers.

The Signing of the National Covenant in Greyfriars Churchyard,
1638
as portrayed by William Hole
Hugh M’Kail was born in 1640, and raised by his namesake uncle,
in the midst of the “Second Reformation” in Scotland. The
National Covenant had been recently circulated and signed by
multiple thousands, the General Assembly had excommunicated the
corrupt Anglican bishops in Scotland, the national legislature
was filled with Church elders who were in almost total sympathy
with the godly transformation of the Church and the culture, as
the greatest spiritual revival since the days of John Knox swept
through the nation. Hugh joined in the joyous triumph of
spiritual renewal, even as the dark clouds of controversy and
political disruption ensued in the 1650s.

Charles II of England (1630-1685)
Having lived through the turmoil of Cromwellian occupation and
division in the churches, Hugh attended the University of
Edinburgh, where he received intense training for taking his
place in Scotland among the ministers still loyal to the
Covenants. He ardently defended the belief that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the head of the Church, and the Bible determinative of
how God should be worshipped. At the time of his graduation in
1660, such a belief was considered treason by the new King of
England, Charles II, recently returned from European exile and
determined to exert his headship and control over all the
churches of the realm through the rule of his bishops,
regardless of the resistance of Presbyterian Scotland.
Twenty-year-old Hugh was licensed to preach by his presbytery in
1661, and began what would prove to be just one year of public
preaching.

A Scottish conventicle (illegal church service)
Hugh M’Kail’s powerful and effective sermons came to an end in
the High Church of Scotland, St. Giles, on the Sunday before
more than 400 ministers were expelled from their pulpits in
Scotland by order of the monarch. They had refused to renounce
the National Covenant, at the heart of which was sworn
affirmation of the “crown rights of Jesus Christ over the
Church”. In his last sermon M’Kail said the Church and the
people of God had been “persecuted by a Pharaoh upon the throne,
a Haman in the State, and a Judas in the Church”. A party of
horsemen were sent the next day to apprehend him, but Hugh
escaped Edinburgh and hid out at his father’s house near
Liberton, today a suburb of Edinburgh. For the next four years
he managed to avoid arrest, for dissenting preachers continued
to minister in conventicles (illegal worship services) and were
attacked and punished by teams of commandos sent out by the
government for that purpose.

“The Boot”, a device of torture, used to slowly crush the leg
In 1666, after a brutal attack on an elderly man in Dumfries,
some young Covenanters rescued him and in the ensuing fracas,
killed a soldier. Realizing fierce retribution would be coming,
the men took up arms and called for others to join them. In the
course of a long march to Edinburgh to seek a redress of
grievances, the 900 Covenanters, mostly farmers, few with
firearms, were met by an army of 3,000 soldiers who were called
out to stop them, and a battle ensued at Rullion Green in the
Pentland Hills. Hugh M’Kail joined the march briefly, although
he was suffering from a wasting disease, exhausted and broken
down. The day before the engagement, Hugh dropped out and left
to return home.

Hugh M’Kail tortured with the Boot
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Seized along the way, carrying a sword and mounted, the pastor
was taken to Edinburgh and thrown in the tollbooth prison. The
“Secret Council” interrogated him, demanding an account of his
participation and the names of everyone that he knew who had
joined in the armed protest. Refusing to or unable to comply,
Hugh was encased in the most painful torture device of the times
known as “The Boot”. That instrument destroyed his leg, with no
result of information. He affirmed his loyalty to both King and
Covenant, and declared his innocence of any rebellion. The
Council convicted him of treason, nonetheless, for not agreeing
to the Royal Supremacy over the Church and for joining a
rebellion designed to overthrow his authority.

The original site of the “Mercat Cross”, High Street, Edinburgh,
where many were martyred
On December 22, 1666 Hugh M’Kail went to the scaffold at the
“Mercat Cross”, where other martyrs, like James Guthrie before
him and Donald Cargill after, were executed. With praise on his
lips to be counted worthy of dying for Christ, all of his last
words were recorded by his father and cell-mates, as well as the
multitude of weeping onlookers, for he was greatly beloved.

Scene of Hugh M’Kail’s execution, December 22, 1666, amid “such
a lamentation”, says historian James Kirkton, “as was never
known in Scotland before, not one dry cheek upon all the street,
or in all the numberless windows in the market-place.”
It is not possible to know how much longer Hugh M’Kail would
have lived, given his ill-health and his participation in the
conventicles, had he not ridden out to satisfy his curiosity
about the protesters marching on Edinburgh. Nonetheless, his
forthright testimony, willingness to obey Christ regardless of
the unbiblical dictates of the state to conform, and his
confidence of his future in heaven, provide a sobering and
faithful example for us today.


The Scots Worthies by John Howie

Image Credits: 1 Signing
of the National Covenant (Wikipedia.org) 2 Charles
II of England (Wikipedia.org) 3 Conventicle
(Wikipedia.org) 4 The
Boot (Wikipedia.org) 5 M’Kail
tortured with the boot (Wikipedia.org) 6 Merkat
Cross (Wikipedia.org) 7 Martyrdom
of Hugh M’Kail (Wikipedia.org)
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