Political Martyrs' Monument

The Political Martyrs Monument, Edinburgh.

The Political Martyrs Monument is a Category A listed memorial^[1] to the Scottish Martyrs to Liberty and stands in the Old Calton Cemetery on Calton Hill, Edinburgh. It is a tall ashlar obelisk on a square-plan base plinth.

The Scottish Martyrs were five men, three of them English, who were imprisoned for campaigning for parliamentary reform in the late 18th and early 19th centuries under the influence of the ideals of the French Revolution. The five were accused of sedition in a series of trials and transported to Australia in 1794 and 1795, with varying sentences. In 1796 Gerrald died from tuburculosis and Skirving from dysentery. In the same year Muir, with the help of a French sailor, had escaped on an American ship, but had some disastrous experiences before finally making his way to revolutionary France. He took part in revolutionary intrigue but died in 1799 of illness and injuries received in his travels to France. Fyshe Palmer and Margarot survived their sentences of 14 years but Fyshe Palmer died of fever while attempting a trading voyage back to England. Only Margarot returned to England.

The monument is in the form of a 90 ft obelisk of grey-black sandstone blocks, and is inscribed with the names of the five men:-

• Thomas Muir
• Thomas Fyshe Palmer
• William Skirving
• Maurice Margarot

and

• Joseph Gerrald

It states it was erected by the Friends of the People society in 1844. It was in 1837 that Joseph Hume MP initiated a plan for a memorial to the Scottish Political Martyrs. On 21 August, 1884, 3000 gathered to see Humne lay the foundation stone. The monument stands in the Old Calton Burial Ground on Calton Hill, a focal point for Scottish national pride.^[2]

On February 1852, a second Monument, initiated by Hume, to the Scottish Political Martyrs was unveiled at Nunhead Cemetery, London. This monument stands at 33 feet high.^[3]

References

1. ^ Calton Old Burial Ground and Monuments, Historic Scotland, retrieved 22 July 2009
2. ^ Christina Bewley 1981 Muir of Huntershill: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192117688
3. ^ 'The Scottish Martyrs' by Wally MacFarlane, a pamphlet published by the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery.

External links

• Photographs of the Monument

Coordinates: 55°57′12″N 3°11′09″W / 55.9534°N 3.1858°W / 55.9534; -3.1858