27
July 1681 A.D. Scots
Covenanter, Donald Cargill, Executed
Graves, Dan. “Covenanter Cargill Executed.” Christianity.com.
Jul 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1601-1700/covenanter-cargill-executed-11630167.html. Accessed 14 May 2014.
Death to the believer is just like putting off a
worn suit of clothes, and putting on a new suit." Those were the words of
Donald Cargill. On this day, July 27,
1681, he put on his new suit.
A Scottish preacher, he suffered persecution when
he refused to accept the episcopal form of church government (bishop run
churches) that London tried to impose on Scotland. Scotland was Presbyterian
(elder run). Thousands in Scotland signed their names to covenants in which
they promised to uphold the faith of their fathers. Some fought for it. Donald
took part in the disorganized Battle at Bothwell Bridge at which the king's
forces defeated the Scottish rebels, but, although wounded, he escaped.
In a famous sermon, he "excommunicated"
King Charles II and his counselors, saying, "The Church ought to declare
that those who are none of Christ's are none of hers."
Such actions marked him as a wanted man. Several
times he was almost captured. One such instance took place at Queensferry. An
agent of the king, praised Donald and expressed a desire to meet with him to
drink to his health. When Donald appeared, the agent pretended friendship but
then arrested Donald and Henry Hall. The men struggled to escape. Hall was
mortally wounded. Donald also was wounded, but got away. Despite his injuries,
he preached the following Sunday.
Wandering in exile, he often preached openly in the
Scottish lowlands, but at other times, he was forced to stay hidden. Highland
clansmen hunted for Donald and other Covenanters, because they had been
promised bounties for the capture of such "rebels."
The law caught up with Donald at Lanarkshire in May
1681. He was cruelly treated and hauled to jail with his feet tied tightly
under a horse's belly. Convicted of high treason in Edinburgh, he was condemned
to be hanged and beheaded.
In one of his sermons, Donald had said, "If
believers loved Christ as He loves them, they would be more in haste to meet
Him." That spirit caused him to die bravely. As he mounted the ladder to
be hanged, he said, "The Lord knows, I go up this ladder in less fear and
perturbed of mind that ever I entered the pulpit to preach... Farewell, all
relations and friends in Christ; farewell all acquaintances and all earthly
enjoyments; farewell reading and preaching, praying and believing, wanderings,
reproaches and sufferings. Welcome joy unspeakable and full of glory. Welcome
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Into thy hands I commit my spirit."
To the Covenanters, Donald was a martyr for the
faith that many Scots had vowed to uphold. But to those Scots who had
accommodated the reigning powers, he seemed a radical and a traitor.
Bibliography:
1. Cargile, John. "Donald
Cargill, a Scottish martyr." The Highlander. http://www.angelfire.com/al/
metaphysicsgalore/Cargile.html
2. "Covenanters Memorial,
the." http://www.maybole.org/history/books/
placesofinterest/covenanters.htm
3. "Donald Cargill."
http://www.freechurch.org/fair/fairc.htm
4. "Donald Cargill."
Significant Scots. http://www.electricscotland.com/history/
other/cargill_donald.htm
Smellie, Alexander. Men of the
Covenant. Revell, 1903.
5. Various internet articles.
Last updated July, 2007
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