Donald Cargill
Donald Cargill | |
---|---|
Born | 1619 |
Died | 27 July 1681 |
Nationality | Scottish |
Occupation | pastor |
Known for | Covenanter |
Donald Cargill (1619 – 27 July 1681) was a
Life
Early life
He was born at Rattray, Blairgowrie and educated at Aberdeen and St Andrews universities. In 1655 he was appointed Minister to the Barony Church in Glasgow. From the first he was a man of deep convictions and intense fidelity to them, but he did not become prominent till the time of the king's restoration.[3]
Day of thanksgiving
On 29 May 1662, on a day of thanksgiving for the Restoration of Charles II, he startled his congregation by beginning his sermon as follows:[4]
We are not come here to keep this day upon the account for which others keep it. We thought once to have blessed the day wherein the king came home again, but now we think we shall have reason to curse it; and if any of you come here in order to the solemnising of this day, we desire you to remove.
As a result of his protest, he was dismissed. Cargill was deprived of his benefice and banished beyond the Tay by the privy council (1 October 1662). He disregarded the sentence, became a field preacher, and was conspicuous for the earnestness with which he denounced the presbyterian ministers who accepted the 'indulgence' in 1672. On 16 July 1674 and 6 August 1675 decreets were passed against him for holding conventicles and other offenses.[5]
Bothwell Bridge and flight to Holland
Cargill was wounded at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge on 22 June 1679 between Royalists and Covenanters, and fled to the Netherlands.[6]
The Queensferry Paper
Returning to Scotland in 1680, Cargill drafted a declaration of principles, contained in the document known as The Queensferry Paper which fell into government hands on 4 June when he narrowly escaped arrest at an inn in the town of
Sanquhar Declaration
On 22 June 1680 Cargill's associate
- "I, being a minister of Jesus Christ, and having authority and power from Him, do, in His name and by His spirit (...) excommunicate and cast out of the true Church, and deliver up to Satan, James, Duke of Monmouth, for coming into Scotland at his father's unjust command and leading armies against the Lord's people, who were constrained to rise, being killed in and for the worshipping of the true God, and for refusing, that morning, a cessation of arms at Bothwell Bridge, for hearing and redressing their injuries, wrongs and oppressions."[9]
At Torwood
In September, at
Arrest and execution
Eventually Cargill was arrested, sentenced to death and hanged in Edinburgh on 27 July 1681. He is reported to have said to the crowd, "The Lord knows I go on this ladder with less fear and perturbation of mind, than ever I entered the pulpit to preach.".[10]
There is a monument to him at his birthplace in Rattray, Perthshire; and his name also appears on the Covenanters' Memorial near Maybole, South Ayrshire.
Personal life
He married Margaret Browne, widow of Andrew Betham of Blebo, in 1655, but his wife died 12 August 1656.[5]
Though Cargill's very stringent views were not generally accepted by his countrymen, both he and his friend Cameron took a great hold on the popular sympathy and regard. Personally, Cargill was an amiable, kind-heart man, very self-denying, and thoroughly devoted to his duty. Wodrow ascribes some of his extreme sentiments to the influence of others. Among the people he seems to have won admiration for the profoundness of his convictions and the fearlessness with which he acted on them, when the result to himself could not fail to be ruinous. Some sermons, lectures, and his last speech and testimony have been printed; but Peter Walker in the 'Remarkable Passages' in which he records his life in 'Biographia Presbyteriana,' indicates that the impression produced by them was far inferior to that of his spoken discourses.[5]
Bibliography
- — Letter to his Parishioners (Edinburgh, 1734);
- Torwood Excommunication, 1680 (1741);
- Lectures and Sermons (Howie Collect.) ;
- Last Speech and Testimony, with Four Letters (Cloud of Witnesses)
- Wodrow's Hist., iii., 279, passim ;
- Wodrow's Anal., i., 69 ;
- Shields' A Hind let Loose, 141 ;
- Walker's Six Saints of the Covenant [D. Hay Fleming, ed.], ii., 1-62, 199-203;
- The Cloud of Witnesses, 265-8;
- Hewison's Covenanters, ii., 157, passim ;
- Carslaw's Donald Cargill ;
- The Scots Worthies [Wylie], 526, passim.
- Grant, Maurice (1988). No King but Christ: The Story of Donald Cargill. Darlington: Evangelical Press. ISBN 0-85234-255-1. This biography posits a later date for Cargill's birth, as late perhaps as 1627.
- J. Howie, The Scots Worthies, Edinburgh and London, 1870
- J Barr, The Scottish Covenanters, Glasgow 1946
- M. Grant, The Lion of the Covenant, Evangelical Press, Darlington 1997, ISBN 0-85234-395-7A modern biography of Richard Cameron.
- R. C. Paterson, A Land Afflicted, Scotland And The Covenanter Wars, 1638–1690, John Donald, Edinburgh 1998, ISBN 978-0-85976-486-5
- Blaikie, William Garden (1887). Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 9. London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
References
- ^ Scott 1920, p. 391.
- ^ Scott 1920, p. 392.
- ^ Blaikie 1887, p. 79.
- ^ Barr 1946, p. 77.
- ^ a b c d Blaikie 1887, p. 80.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 329.
- ^ Grant 1997, p. 229–30.
- ^ Barr 1946, p. 52.
- ^ Barr 1946, p. 76.
- ^ Howie & Carslaw 1870, p. 452.
Sources
- Anderson, William (1877). "Cargill, Donald". The Scottish nation: or, The surnames, families, literature, honours, and biographical history of the people of Scotland. Vol. 1. A. Fullarton & co. p. 588. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Barr, James (1946). The Scottish Covenanters. Glasgow: Distributed on behalf of the author by J. Smith. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- Blaikie, William Garden (1887). Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 9. London: Smith, Elder & Co. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. . In
- Chambers, Robert (1857). Thomson, Thomas (ed.). A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen. New ed., rev. under the care of the publishers. With a supplementary volume, continuing the biographies to the present time. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Blackie. pp. 513–515. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 329. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Douglas, J. D. (1964). "The Second Revolt". Light in the north : the story of the Scottish Covenanters (PDF). W. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. pp. 140–152. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- Grant, Maurice (1997). The Lion of the Covenant. Darlington: Evangelical Press. ISBN 0-85234-395-7.
- Grub, George (1861). An ecclesiastical history of Scotland : from the introduction of Christianity to the present time. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas. pp. 261–262. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- Howie, John; Carslaw, W. H. (1870). "Donald Cargill". The Scots worthies. Edinburgh: Oliphant, Anderson, & Ferrier. pp. 439–453. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Irving, Joseph (1881). The book of Scotsmen eminent for achievements in arms and arts, church and state, law, legislation, and literature, commerce, science, travel, and philanthropy. Paisley: A. Gardner. p. 63. Retrieved 11 July 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Scott, Hew (1920). Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. pp. 392–393. Retrieved 8 July 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Smellie, Alexander (1903). Men of the Covenant : the story of the Scottish church in the years of the Persecution (2 ed.). New York: Fleming H. Revell Co. pp. 277–285. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- Walker, James (1888). The theology and theologians of Scotland : chiefly of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. p. 189. Retrieved 22 April 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Walker, Patrick; Fleming, David Hay (1901). Six saints of the Covenant; Peden: Semple: Welwood: Cameron: Cargill: Smith. Vol. 2. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 1–62. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- Walker, Patrick; Shields, Alexander; Stevenson, John (1827). Biographia Presbyteriana. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: D. Speare. pp. 1–54. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- Wodrow, Robert; Burns, Robert (1828). The history of the sufferings of the church of Scotland from the restoration to the revolution, with an original memoir of the author, extracts from his correspondence, and preliminary dissertation. Vol. 3. Glasgow: Blackie, Fullarton & co., and Edinburgh: A. Fullarton & co. p. 278. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- Wodrow, Robert; Leishman, Matthew (1842). Analecta: or, Materials for a history of remarkable providences; mostly relating to Scotch ministers and Christians. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Maitland Club. p. 69. Retrieved 8 July 2019.