Page 21 of A Fire in Their Hearts

T HE STENCH OF DEATH AND despair hangs in the air like smoke from a fire that fills a room to such an extent it’s impossible to breathe, only we can’t escape by simply stepping outside.

More than a thousand of us have been taken prisoner.

Many Covenanters fled the field, some early on and others when it became obvious that the battle was lost. The number killed runs into hundreds.

To his credit, Monmouth ordered that quarter should be given and those taken were not to be treated harshly.

However, he left the area soon afterwards and we’re in the hands of men who hate us beyond any sense of reason or humanity, held in isolated groups.

We can offer little comfort to the wounded and there are plenty who won’t live to see the sun rise.

Everyone is beyond exhausted, for we are weary not just in body but in spirit also.

Calum and I sit on the ground, leaning back to back, a habit we’ve had since boyhood.

Violet is curled up with her head on my lap, overcome by the loss of her father.

A short distance away, Hamish sits by himself, as numb as Violet seems to be devastated.

The cries of those in pain and the groans of those dying are unbearable to hear.

There are men who have been slashed and have huge chunks of flesh hanging from their bodies by little more than a strip of skin and they hug the hideous mass tightly as if this will somehow save them; others have been stabbed and the damage is obvious only by the flow of blood that they desperately try to stem with their bare hands.

A little way outside of our guarded group, soldiers search amongst the dead, taking anything of the slightest value. Some bodies are almost naked because they’ve been stripped of clothes that could later be sold. There is not a shred of respect or mercy for the living or the dead.

‘How’s your head, Sam?’ asks Calum from behind me.

‘I’ll live, although God only knows how many will have left this world by the morning.

’ In truth I feel that I’ve got an axe embedded in the side of my skull and the fact that Violet has made no attempt to examine the wound shows how affected she is.

I will not intrude on her grief. I cannot remember anything after firing my musket at the rider, not even if I hit him. Someone certainly hit me.

‘What do you think will happen to us?’ asks Calum.

‘At the moment it’s difficult to think, but I guess we’ll be taken somewhere and held prisoner,’ I reply.

A figure I hadn’t seen approach kneels by my side and gently takes hold of my head.

‘Father, are you unhurt?’ I ask.

‘Shh, keep still,’ he replies, checking the injury. ‘I’m fine, in body at least. You’re lucky that blow wasn’t any harder.’ He lays a hand on Violet’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, daughter. Your father was a good man. He’ll be greatly missed.’ He turns to my brother. ‘Calum?’

‘I’m unharmed, Father. Hamish also escaped serious injury.’

‘Well, that’s a blessing to be sure. But I must leave you. There are people dying almost by the minute and I have to give what spiritual comfort I can.’

Violet surprises us by speaking. She doesn’t move or even open her eyes. ‘Don’t try to leave this group to help those in another, for the soldiers will be keen to have the chance to kill a minister.’

‘You’re right,’ he says, ‘and sadly there’s enough for me to do here without seeking others in need. I’ll return when I can.’

‘I don’t believe we’ll have gone anywhere,’ says Calum bitterly.

*?*?*

We’ve been kept overnight without food, water or shelter from the rain.

At first light we’re ordered to bury those who’ve died.

It’s a wretched task and we can do no more than dig a long trench to lay out bodies side by side .

.?. sons, brothers, fathers, cousins, friends, neighbours, strangers who believed in the same cause .

.?. they’re all put into that shallow trench.

There are also women caught up in the butchery and we lay them out as respectfully as possible, but there is no option other than to include them in the same ditch. Then we come to the body of Doctor Milligan. Violet is sitting by his side, holding one of his hands. I kneel beside her.

‘Violet, we must lay your father to rest. His soul is with God and we have to put his body in the earth.’

‘He wasn’t a violent man,’ she says in a broken voice.

‘No, he wasn’t.’ I do not want to upset her further, but we are not out of danger. ‘It’s safer if we don’t draw attention to ourselves.’

She nods, releasing his hand and standing up. ‘I want to help.’

‘All right, you and Hamish take his legs. Calum and I will take his arms.’

We try to make the process dignified but we slip in the mud, a nearby guard shouts at us to hurry and the trench is already half-full with water.

In the end, Violet’s father splashes into his final resting place and we’re not permitted to do anything other than fetch the next body.

Some are so mutilated that their own mothers wouldn’t recognise them.

‘These men haven’t just been killed, they’ve been utterly destroyed,’ whispers Hamish, the first words I’ve heard him speak this morning.

I nod sadly. ‘They’re victims of vengeance, hate and fear.’

‘Fear?’

‘No one goes into battle not being scared and they faced an enemy that has beaten Royalist soldiers in the recent past. We know how many lies have been spread about us being traitors and seeking to bring down the monarch. Every person in the Royalist army, from the common soldier to the most senior officer, will want to show that they have carried out their duty to the utmost.’

Hamish returns to his silence and we continue digging the ground and burying bodies for another couple of hours.

We’re totally spent by the time we’ve finished.

Most of us haven’t eaten since before the battle the previous day and trying to slacken our thirst by catching rainwater in our hands is almost futile.

The others around us have mainly been trying to help the wounded and we’re dismayed when soldiers order us to prepare to move on within minutes of covering the last body. I see my father walk over to a soldier and instinctively know that there’s going to be trouble. Calum and I move nearer.

‘I’m Reverend Colvil. We need food and water and our wounded require proper treatment before anyone can move on.’

‘You were a minister of the Kirk?’

‘I am a minister of the Kirk, and I need to speak to an officer.’

‘This man needs to speak to an officer, lads!’ crows the man. ‘Are we not good enough for you?’

‘You don’t have the authority for what’s needed.’

‘Oh, I have the authority all right.’

The soldier swings around his musket with surprising speed and hits Father in the stomach with the stock. He raises the weapon to hit him on the head when a figure rushes forward between them.

‘Stop! You’ve proved you’re in charge. Beating him will only create yet another person who has to be carried and we’ll be slow enough as it is.’

I hadn’t even realised that Violet was so close by.

The soldier hesitates, which I guess was her intention, although I wish she hadn’t put herself in such danger.

To assume she won’t be hurt because she’s a woman is a shield made of paper.

If we move closer we’re likely to tip the standoff into violence so Calum, Hamish and I remain motionless, while Father is bent over, trying to get his breath.

‘We’ll start to get everyone ready to move,’ says Violet, who then turns her back on the soldier to indicate that the conversation is over.

She takes my father’s arm. ‘Come along, Reverend Colvil, let us sort out how those who are badly injured can be moved. We’ll need relays of able-bodied men to help. ’

As she speaks, Violet steers my father, still doubled over, away from the immediate potential danger. The soldier appears uncertain what to do, but seeing that the Covenanters are no threat, he returns to his comrades.

‘Violet—’ I start.

‘Yes, I know, Samuel, but it worked. Now we need to decide how we’re going to transport so many who are unable to walk.’

I watch my wife in awed silence, marvelling at the strength she displays, even as my heart breaks – because I’m certain there will soon be another death within our families.