The Troubles

On Saturday 8th of May 1650 a weary cavalcade of prisoners under escort arrived in the Moray town of Keith. On route to Edinburgh for trial and in some cases execution following the Battle of Carbisdale, the remnants of Montrose’s army must have been a sorry sight.
Captain General John Graham Marquis of Montrose had been reserved for special treatment by his Covenanting captors and following a night spent in the open he was dragged, bound and in filthy tartan rags to the parish church to be sat unceremoniously on a repentance stool in the churchyard.
There he was subjected to a thunderous sermon delivered by local minister William Kinninmonth concerning the slaughter of the Amalikites and hewing to pieces of Agag as described in the book of Samuel. When Montrose perceived the drift of the sermon he replied simply “Rail on Rabshekah” before turning his back on his tormentor.

More in this months Leopard magazine.