BattlefieldsWigtown martyrdom action 1685
English Civil War

Wigtown martyrdom action 1685

1685
Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Covenanting women
Forces
condemned Covenanting women
VS
Victor
Government authorities
Forces
Government authorities
Outcome
Two Covenanting women martyred; became defining symbol of government persecution
The Battle

History & Significance

The execution of the Wigtown Martyrs in May 1685 was the most notorious act of the Killing Time. Two women, Margaret McLachlan and Margaret Wilson, were tied to stakes in the tidal estuary of the River Bladnoch at Wigtown and drowned as the tide came in for refusing to renounce the Covenant. The drowning of the Wigtown Martyrs became a defining symbol of government tyranny in the Covenanting tradition.

Questions & Answers

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