Religion & morality > Cloud of witnesses, for the royal prerogatives of Jesus Christ, or, The last speeches and testimonies of those who suffered for the truth in Scotland, in the years 1681-1688, with an appendix, containing the Queensferry paper, Torwood excommunications, &c

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EPITAPHS.
From May 27, 1681, that the noble Marquis of Argyle suffered, to the
17th of February, 1688, that Mr. James Renwick suffered, were executed
at Edinburgh, about an hundred of noblemen, gentlemen, ministers, and
others, noble martyrs for Jesus Christ. The most part of them ly here.
Upon the foot of the monument stands a crown, with this inscription, “Be
thou faithful unto the death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
Upon a gravestone in the church-yard of Hamilton, lying on the heads of
John Parker, Gavin Hamilton, James Hamilton, and Christopher
Strang, who suffered at Edinburgh, Dec. 7th, 1666. Their testimony is
extant in Naphthali.
Stay, passenger, take notice what thou reads,
At Edinburgh lie our bodies, here our heads ;
Our right-hands stood at Lanark, these we want,
Because with them we sware the covenant.
Upon a stone in the High church-yard of Glasgow.
Here lies the corpse of Robert Bunton, John Hart, Robert Scot, Matthew
Patoun, John Richmond, James Johnston, Archibald Stewart, James Win¬
ning, John Main, who suffered at the Cross of Glasgow, for their testimony
to the covenants and work of reformation, because they durst not own the
authority of the then tyrants, destroying the same, betwixt 1666 and 1688.
Years sixty-six, and eighty-four,
Did send their souls home into glore,
Whose bodies here interred ly,
Then sacrific’d to tyranny ;
To covenants and reformation
’Cause they adhered in their station.
These nine, with others in this yard,
Whose heads and bodies were not spar’d,
Their testimonies, foes, to bury,
Caus’d beat the drums then in great fury ;
They ’ll know at resurrection day,
To murder saints was no sweet play.
Inscription on the stone lying on John Wharry and James Smith, who
are buried at Inchbelly-bridge.
Halt, passenger, read here upon this stone
A tragedy our bodies done upon.
At Glasgow Cross we lost both our right hands,
To fright beholders, th’ en’my so commands :
Then put to death, and that most cruelly,
Yet where we ’re slain, even there we must not ly;
From Glasgow town we ’re brought unto this place,
On gallow-tree hung up for certain space j
Yet thence ta’en down interred here we ly
Beneath this stone : our blood to heaven doth cry.
Had foreign foes, Turks or Mahometans,
Had Scythian Tartars, Arabian Caravans,
Had cruel Spaniards, the pope’s bloody seed,
Commenc’d the same, had been less strange their deed .
But Protestants, once Covenanters too,
Our countrymen, this cruel deed could do ;