Image: Covenanters Prison, Greyfriars Kirkyard - geograph.org.uk - 1351472

Description: Covenanters Prison, Greyfriars Kirkyard. The area occupied by these tombs is known popularly as the "Covenanters' Prison" from the time when it was an open space enclosed by the town wall at the southern end of the kirkyard. After the Battle of Bothwell Brig in 1679 Battle_of_Bothwell_Bridge , some 1200 Covenanters were taken prisoner and kept here for several months pending trial. They survived from the charity of townspeople who provided them with food and drink. Some were subsequently executed in the Grassmarket; others gained their freedom in return for swearing allegiance to the Crown. Over two hundred and fifty were condemned to slavery and put on board a ship at Leith, sailing for the Barbados plantations. The ship ran into a storm between the mainland and the Orkneys, sinking with an estimated loss of over 200 lives. 638423
Title: Covenanters Prison, Greyfriars Kirkyard - geograph.org.uk - 1351472
Credit: From geograph.org.uk
Author: kim traynor
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