John Kid

Scottish Presbyterian chaplain (d. 1679)

John Kid
The Netherbow Port
Personal details
Born	John Kid or Kidd
Died	14 August 1679 market-cross Edinburgh
Denomination	Church of Scotland

John Kid was an outlawed minister of the Covenant.^{[further explanation needed]} He was seized by Claverhouse among the insurgents after the affair at Drumclog.^{[needs context]}^[1] He was released by the insurgents but recaptured in a bog a few miles from Bothwell Bridge with a sword in his belt.^{[needs context]}^[2] Kid was taken to Edinburgh along with another preacher named John King. They were each subjected to torture, by the boots,^{[further explanation needed]} condemned to death, and executed. Following his death Kid's head and limbs were displayed at the Netherbow Port on Edinburgh's Royal Mile beside James Guthrie's skull.^[relevant?]^[3]^[4]

Life

John Kid, an outlawed minister of the covenant.^{[needs context]} He was taken prisoner with John King after the battle of Bothwell Bridge which took place on 22 June 1679.^[5]

Kid was brought before the council on 9 July 1679, along with John King.^[6] They pleaded that though found amongst the insurgents, they had taken no share in their proceedings, that they were in fact detained among them by force, that they had refused to preach to them, and, had seized the first opportunity of escaping before the battle. Howie said: "Whether he had ever been ordained, or was only a probationer, we have not discovered. If he was, it must have been shortly previous to the engagement at which he was taken, and his presence at which was deemed sufficient to infer the highest penalty. He was strictly examined as to the origin of the rising, and his answers not being satisfactory, he was questioned by torture with the boot. The torture revealled nothing. He was thereafter indicted, along with Mr. King, for having been in the rebellion, and for having preached at field conventicles."^[7]

At their trial, on 28 July, they had claimed that they were conventicle preachers, but so far from being disloyal rebels, they advised the armed brethren to return 'to loyalty and Christianitie.' Kid further pleaded that Monmouth had given him quarter, and that he carried a short sword merely to disguise himself from being known as a preacher.^[6]^[8]

Hanging and mutilation

Proclamation was made immediately before the execution of an indulgence to the ‘outed’ ministers, and Kid and King were pressed by Robert Fleming the elder, then a fellow-prisoner, to signify their approval of it, which they resolutely declined to do.^[6]^[9] King and Kid were executed at the cross of Edinburgh on 14 August 1679. Following this, their heads and limbs being severed from their bodies and placed on the Nether Bow port.

Works

Kid's last speech on the scaffold was printed.^[7]^[10]

References

Citations

^ Hewison 1913, p. 317.
^ Hewison 1913, 312.
^ Irving 1881, p. 256.
^ Rogers 1871, p. 40.
^ Hewison 1913, 317.
^ ^a ^b ^c Paton 1892.
^ ^a ^b Howie 1846.
^ Wodrow 1829, 132-136.
^ Veitch & Brysson 1825, 482.
^ Tutchin 1873.

Other sources

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Anderson, William (1877). "The Rev. John King". The Scottish nation: or, The surnames, families, literature, honours, and biographical history of the people of Scotland. Vol. 2. A. Fullarton & co. pp. 607. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Brown, P. Hume, ed. (1912). The register of the Privy Council of Scotland. 3. Vol. 6 1678/1680. Edinburgh: Published By The Authority Of The Lords Commissioners Of His Majesty's Treasury, Under The Direction Of The Deputy Clerk Register Of Scotland. H.M. General Register House. pp. 296 et passim.
Brown, James (1867). The epitaphs and monumental inscriptions in Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh. Collected by James Brown ... with an introd. and notes. Edinburgh: J. M. Miller. p. liii.
Bryce, William Moir (1912). History of the Old Greyfriars' Church Edinburgh. Edinburgh: William Green and Sons. p. 114.
Callow, John. "King, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15573. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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Crookshank, William (1812b). The history of the state and sufferings of the Church of Scotland, from the Restoration to the Revolution. With an introd., containing the most remarkable occurrences relating to that Church from the Reformation. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: Thomas Turnbull. pp. 13 et passim.
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Howie, John, ed. (1846). The Last Words and Dying Testimonies of the Scots Worthies, containing The Cloud of Witnesses for the Royal Prerogatives of Jesus Christ, being the last speeches and testimonies of those who suffered for the truth in Scotland, since the year 1680; and Naphtali, or the wrestlings of the Church Of Scotland for The Kingdom Of Christ, together with Other Testimonies Collated From Memoirs of The Lives Of The Worthies, and other valuable historical documents only to be found in old published collections and original manuscripts. Glasgow: W. R. M'Phun. pp. 192-200.
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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. 256. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Paton, Henry (1892). "King, John (d.1679)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 31. London: Smith, Elder & Co.