The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland . rms one of the most remarkable national relicsin the Scottish Museum, having, it may be presumed, performed itslast office as the instrument of death. It is impossible to look with-out feelings of peculiar interest upon this ancient Scottish guillotine,so directly associated with the great of past ages ; though the vin-dictive spirit which sought at times to give an added ignominy to aviolent death cheated it of the blood of the gallant Kirkaldy, of Mon-trose and Warriston, as well as of others of lesser note, who figure inthe Scottish chron
The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland . rms one of the most remarkable national relicsin the Scottish Museum, having, it may be presumed, performed itslast office as the instrument of death. It is impossible to look with-out feelings of peculiar interest upon this ancient Scottish guillotine,so directly associated with the great of past ages ; though the vin-dictive spirit which sought at times to give an added ignominy to aviolent death cheated it of the blood of the gallant Kirkaldy, of Mon-trose and Warriston, as well as of others of lesser note, who figure inthe Scottish chronicles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Boots and Thumbkins are two instruments of judicial torture,especially associated in Scotland with the sufferings of the Covenantersduring the reign of Charles II. Neither of them, however, were in-vented so recently. Torture, which the Roman law permitted onlyto be used in compelling the evidence of slaves, bore no such limita-tion in medieval Euroj^e; and the name of the Question, commonly 2 X. ().90 THE CHRISTIAN PERIOD. applied to it, abundantly shews the direct purpose for which it was em-ployed. Examples of this barbarous mode of seeking to elicit the truthare frequently to be met with in the earlier Acts of Sederunt of theCourt of Session : as in a case of suspected perjury, 29th June 1579,where the Kings Advocate produces a royal warrant for examining Jhone Souttar, notar, dwelland in Dundee, and Robert Carmylie,vicar of Ruthwenis, witnes in the action of improbatioun of ane re-versioun of the lands of Wallace-Craigy ; and for the mair certanetryall of the veritie in the said matter, to put thaim in the buttis,genis, or ony uther tormentis, and thairby to urge them to declairthe treuth. One pair of thumb-screws in the Scottish Museum, ofunusually large size, is said to have beenthe instrument employed by the autho-rities of the ancient burgh of Montrosefor eliciting confession ; and a ruderpair, of peculiar form, in
Size: 1391px × 1795px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidarchaeologyp, bookyear1851
