Crime & punishment > Times of Claverhouse, or, Sketches of the persecution

THE TIMES OF CLAVERHOUSE.
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ture was even surpassed by the use of another in¬
strument, called the “boots.” The torture occa¬
sioned by this was so exquisite, that the mere sight
of its infliction was intolerable. Burnet says,
“ When any are to be struck in the boots, it is done
in the presence of the council, and upon that oc¬
casion almost all offer to run away. The sight is
so dreadful, that without an order restraining such
a number to stay, the board would be forsaken.
But the Duke of York, while he had been in Scot¬
land, was so far from withdrawing, that he looked
on all the while with an unmoved indifference, and
with such an attention as if he had been to look
upon some curious experiment. This gave a ter¬
rible idea of him to all who observed it, as of a
man who had no bowels nor humanity in him.”
In order to give the reader something like a correct
idea of this method of torture, we shall present an
instance or two of its application.
The first that we shall select is the case of Hugh
M‘Kail, who was taken and executed after the
rising at Pentland. “ When he was brought be¬
fore the council,” says the narrative which we quote,
“ he was interrogated respecting the leaders of the
insurrection, and what correspondence they had,
•' either at home or abroad. He declared himself
utterly unacquainted with any such correspondence,
and frankly stated how far he had taken part in
their proceedings. The instrument of torture called
the ‘ boots ’ was then laid before him, and he was
■ informed that if he did not confess, it should be
' applied next day. This instrument of cruelty had
1 not been used in Scotland for upwards of 40 years
before, and its very appearance had been forgotten