This was upon the 27th of November; and on the following day he was
examined by a committee of the secret council. He refused to criminate
himself by answering their questions or subscribing to their charges; but on
the following day he complied so far as to confess that he had joined in the
insurrection. This, however, was not enough: the rulers of Scotland were
determined, for their own purposes, to prove that the rising of Pentland was a
great national conspiracy, abetted by the Presbyterians of England and our
enemies upon the continent; and if proof could not be obtained from the confessions of the prisoners, it was resolved to wring it from them by torture. The
selection of their victims from among the prisoners for this experiment was in
keeping with the injustice of the infliction; for these were Hugh M'Kail, who had not been at Pentland at all, and John Neilson, of Corsack, in Galloway, a
gentleman who, though he had been plundered of his all, and driven to the
fields for his adherence to the covenant, had yet saved the life of Sir James
Turner when the latter was taken prisoner, and behaved throughout the insur-
rection with gentleness and clemency. It was in vain they protested that they
had already confessed all, and knew nothing of a conspiracy; the boot, the
instrument of torture, was laid upon the council table, and they were assured
that on the morrow, if they still refused to confess, they should undergo its
infliction. The very name of that engine can still raise a shudder in Scotland,
though few are acquainted with its peculiar construction. It was a wooden
frame composed of four pieces of narrow board hooped with iron, into which
the leg was inserted; wooden plugs of different sizes were then successively
introduced between the boards and the limb, and driven home by the executioner with the blows of a heavy mallet, while at each stroke the sufferer was
exhorted to confess whatever might be demanded by the judges. In this way
the anguish of the victim was increased or prolonged at pleasure, until it often
happened that nature could endure no more, so that for present relief he was
ready to confess whatever might bring him to the more merciful alternative of the axe or the halter.
On the following day the council assembled, and, true to their promise, they proceeded to examine the prisoners by torture. The experiment was first tried upon Mr. Neilson, and as the wedges proceeded to crush his leg at each descent of the mallet, his cries were so loud and piteous, that even savages would have melted with compassion to hear them. But not so the judges: bent upon learning the particulars of a plot that had no existence except in their own craven fears, their command at each interval was, "Give him the other touch!" As no confession was forthcoming after their worst had been inflicted, they next proceeded to deal with M'Kail, hoping, perhaps, to find greater compliance, from his youth and gentleness of disposition. It was in vain for him to allege that he was aware of no conspiracy that he had confessed all that he knew already: although so much time had elapsed, they still remembered what he had said about an "Ahab on the throne." His leg was placed in the boot, and after the first blow, while every nerve was tingling with the shock, the usual questions were put to him; but he was silent: the strokes were repeated, until seven or eight had been given; but to the questions he solemnly declared, in the sight of God, that he could reveal nothing further, though every joint of his body should be subjected to the same torture as his poor leg. This was unsatisfactory to the judges, who ordered another and another "touch," which their victim endured without a murmur of impatience or
