They
suffered for their beliefs.

 These are they which
came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb.  (Revelations 7.14)

The Scots Worthies is an often quoted source for
the numbers of Presbyterians who died or were subject of `the utmost
hardships and extremities`. The total number given is 18,000 which is for
the twenty eight years of persecution from 1660 to 1688. These pan out as
follows:

Transported to the
Colonies West Indies & America   1,700

Banished to the Northern
Isles    750

Murdered ( drowned on the
“ Crown “ )    200

Imprisoned, confined,   
3,600

[includes 800 outlawed;
55 for execution if caught.]

Killed in skirmishes    
680

Voluntary exile   7,000

Shot and hung without
process of law   498

Executed , by law  362                        
Sub total  14,790

Balance to 18,000 who
perished on the moors etc. about   3,210

The
Martyrs Monument in Greyfriars Kirk Yard says that between May 27th 1661
and 17 February 1688 ` about an hundred of Noblemen Gentlemen, Ministers
and other noble martyrs ` lie there. The original monument was erected ca
1706.

There are
several other sources for numbers most notable being Robert Wodrow`s
The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland  and J H
Thomson`s A Cloud of Witnesses for the Royal Prerogative of Jesus
Christ. which is based on Wodrow`s manuscripts. More recently
Thorbjorn Campbell in his Standing Witnesses  provided lists of
known and verifiable deaths along with details of surviving memorials.

 Executed in Edinburgh
         95

Killed, executed, in the
countryside               172

Lost on the “ Crown “  
197 ( 211 )

 Over three hundred years
later it is impossible to be more accurate than quoted by Howie. But even
18,000 only represents the post Restoration period as there were between
10-12,000 more who gave their lives on the battlefield in the cause of the
Covenant. The estimates of deaths in battle during Montrose`s campaign of
1644-5 are below with alternative estimates from other sources in
brackets:

Tippermuir       
            3,000 (1300 + 800 captured)

Aberdeen        
               800

Fivy                 
            unknown ( perhaps a few hundred)

Inveraray         
               900

Inverlochy       
            1,700 (1500)

Auldearn         
            2,000 (3000)

Alford             
               700 (1600)

Kilsyth                         3,000 (4000)

Total                          12,100 and probably many more.

To these might be added
the losses during the civil wars  who were either killed or
transported as prisoners to Continental armies (Poland, Prussia, Sweden)
or to America and the West Indies:

Preston / Winwick 17-19
August 1648, 1000 killed, 4600 captured

Dunbar 3 September 1650,
3-4000 killed and 10,000 captured

Inverkeithing 20 July
1651, 2000 killed.

Dundee, 1 September 1651,
800 killed.

Worcester,3 September
1651, 2000 killed and 10,000 captured.

 A
ball park figure of perhaps 30,000 may have died for their beliefs  and
Presbytery during the whole of the Scottish Reformation.

 See also
Crimes alleged against Ministers.