Thomas McHaffie

“The grave of Covenanter Thomas McHaffie marks the resting place of a man persecuted for his faith and driven to survive in the open.

Living exposed to the harsh elements left him gravely ill, weakened by fever and exhaustion, and it seemed almost certain that he would not recover. Yet one winter’s day, as he lay sick in his hiding place, he heard Captain Bruce of Earshall and his troops drawing near. Desperate, he fled.

He was far too ill to escape for long. Reaching the nearby farmhouse, he burst inside and collapsed onto a bed. Bruce followed, dragged him from it, hauled him outside, and shot him.

Afterwards, his body was taken to Straiton Kirkyard, where he was buried.”

His grave reads:

“Here lyes Thomas McHaffie, martyr, 1686. Though I was sick and like to die, yet bloody Bruce did murder me, cause I adhered in my station to our Covenanted Reformation. My blood for vengeance now doth call upon Zion’s haters.”