Donald Cargill
(1619 - 1681)
Cargill was born in Rattray, Perthsire and studied at Aberdeen and St Andrews before becoming the minister at Barony Church, Glasgow in 1650. When episcopal government was restored in 1661 he was ordered to remain north of the Tay but he refused. Seven years later he was called before the Council and again he was told to remain north of the Tay. Instead of complying Cargill became even more extreme, he, like Richard Cameron, deplored both the Indulgences and those who accepted them. He fought at the battle of Bothwell Brig where he was wounded, following this he left Scotland to stay for a short time in Holland before returning again. It is likely that Cargill was one of the authors of the Queesferry Paper of 1680 which rejected the idea that the Church should be governed 'after a carnal manner, by plurality of votes'. He joined Richard Cameron in the Sanquhar Declaration, which was a public renunciation of the King's authority, and following Cameron's death Cargill became leader of the Cameronians. For a while he was the only field preacher in Scotland and at a conventicle at the Torwood in 1680 he excommunicated the King and several nobles, including the Duke of York (who became James VII). He had a price of 5,000 merks put on his head and he was captured at Covington Mill, Lanarkshire, in July 1681. Before his execution in Edinburgh he announced 'This is the most joyful day ever I saw in my pilgrimage on earth'.605 |