This chapter of history is surprisingly unknown and undocumented
outside the borders of Scotland. However it was a violent period
that pitted fellow countrymen against each-other, rather like
the English Civil War that took place around the same time.
Although on a smaller scale it was often more brutal as the
following chapters will describe: Today South West Scotland is a
peaceful and largely prosperous area, however there survive a
large number of 'martyrs' graves, which are reminders of an
altogether more turbulent past. Many are located on remote
moorland, marking the spot where government soldiers killed
supporters of the Covenant. Others are to be found in parish
Kirkyards either erected at the time or often replaced by modern
memorials. Almost every corner of southern Scotland has a tale
to tell of the years of persecution, from remote and ruinous
shepherds' houses where secret meetings were held to castles and
country houses commandeered by government troops in their quest
to capture and punish those