Martyrs' Monument

Martyrs Monument, Old Calton Burial Ground
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

A prominent monument on the Edinburgh sky-line, the Martyrs' Monument rises as an immense obelisk from Old Calton Burial Ground. It was built in 1844 for architect Thomas Hamilton (1784 - 1858) to commemorate the five political martyrs of 1793, who were charged with sedition and transported to Australia for demanding legal and parliamentary reform. The monument is 27.4m (90 feet) in height and speaks for itself:

To The Memory Of Thomas Muir, Thomas Fyshe Palmer, William Skirving, Maurice Margarot and Joseph Gerrald. Erected by the Friends of Parliamentary Reform in England and Scotland, 1844.

It includes the following quotations:

I have devoted myself to the cause of The People. It is a good cause - it shall ultimately prevail - it shall finally triumph.
Speech of Thomas Muir in the Court of Judiciary on the 30th August 1793.

I know that what has been done these two days will be Re-Judged.
Speech of William Skirving in the Court of Judiciary on the 7th January, 1794.

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