View of memorial stone.

Description View of memorial stone.

Date 1975 to 1976

Collection List C Survey

Catalogue Number KB 1985

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 803889, SC 1634179

Scope and Content Gravestone commemorating James Clement, Kirkconnell Moor, Dumfries & Galloway The small stone, painted white by the Covenanters' Memorial Association, bears a skull and cross bones at the top, signifying death, between a motto which reads 'MEMENTO MORI', or 'Remember Death', aimed at giving the passer-by cause to consider their own mortality. The Covenanters were those Scots who sought to defend the rights of the Church of Scotland against the imposition of bishops and Anglican rites, a policy vigorously pursued by the Stewart monarchs. They were persecuted for their refusal to accept the king's rights to impose his will on the church. Government soldiers were deployed throughout lowland Scotland, and patrolled the countryside with the aim of hunting down anyone suspected of Covenanting or disloyal sentiments, particularly those attending 'Conventicles', the illegal open-air religious meetings led by Covenanting ministers deposed from their parishes. The persecution became particularly bloody between the Restoration of 1660 and the overthrow of James VII/II in 1688, years which became known as the 'killing times'. In 1679, a group of Covenanters defeated a party of soldiers sent to break up their prayer meeting. This victory at Drumclog in Lanarkshire sparked a rebellion, and their forces briefly occupied Glasgow before being totally routed by a large Royalist army at the Battle of Bothwell Brig. Those not killed in the fighting, or the subsequent rout, were taken to Edinburgh where many were tried and executed. This gravestone commemorates James Clement, a Covenanter, who was executed at this spot in 1685. According to the Ordnance Survey, the inscription reads: 'Here lyes James Clement who was surprised and shot to death on this place by Grier of Lagg for his adherence to Scotland's Reformation covenants national and solemn league. 1685'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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