Disease also reduced the number.  Sickness arising from exposure, neglect, and ill fare, wrought havoc with their lives.  The living watched carefully over their dying companions, as they lay on the cold hard ground, destitute of every earthly cordial and comfort.  But the Balm of Gilead they had in plenty; the consolations of God were abundant; the promises distilled sweetness upon their lips; prayers filled the place with incense; the Psalms were as the music of heaven in their ears; the gates of glory opened wide for the dying; pain, sorrow, and darkness vanished from the soul, as it went forth from the earthly tabernacle to enter into the Eternal City.

Quite a few were condemned to death and executed on the scaffold.  Prominent among these, were John Kid and John King, two ministers of Christ.  They received their sentence with serenity and went hand in hand, to the place of execution.  Their conversation was cheerful.  Their outlook was far beyond the scaffold, and the city towers, and the high hills outlined on the sky, and even beyond the glowing sun that was then smiling in the west.  What magnificent scenery their eyes must have rested upon, as they now had come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the innumerable company of angels, the spirits of just men made perfect!  Already in triumphant faith they were walking the golden streets, with palms in their hands crowns on their heads, and songs in their hearts.  Kid was a witty man, usually overflowing with innocent mirth; even in sight of the gallows his humor was insuppressible.  Looking into King’s face he made a pun on their own names, saying, “I have often heard and read of a kid sacrificed, but I seldom or never heard of a king made a sacrifice.”

Four hundred of these Covenanters remained unmoved by threats, promises, sufferings, or protracted hardships.  The painful weeks and months might wear them out, but they continued firm in the faith and testimony, resolved to honor their Lord and His Covenant while they had breath.  They remembered the promise, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”  They were of the unbending type.

The king’s council, hopeless in attempting to bring them to terms, resolved to finish the irksome task by shipping all to distant lands.  They placed 243 on a small sail-ship, which was tossed on the Atlantic ocean until engulfed amidst the waves.  The remainder were never transported.

Many Covenanters were confined in places even more intolerable than this.  Dunnottar Castle became one of these notable spots.  The castle stands on a rock that projects into the sea.  Here still exists a deep dark room, called the “Whigs’ Vault,” where 167 Covenanters were crowded together.  Forty-five of these were women.  The room is 56 feet long, 16 wide, and 12 high, having two small windows.  This outrageous disregard for sex, decency, health, and every natural right, aroused even the indignation of the governor’s wife, at whose