The Bishop's Road - Magus Muir, Fife.
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creg-ny-baa
N 56° 19.535 W 002° 52.879
30V E 507339 N 6242323
Historic marker information sign adjacent to the monument commemorating the murder of Archbishop Sharp of St.Andrews on this site in 1679.
Waymark Code: WM10CHG
Location: Northern Scotland, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/14/2019
Views: 1
This sign can be found in Bishop's Wood at Magus Muir, three miles west of St.Andrews and stands adjacent to the monument in the shape of a pyramid put up by John Whyte-Melville in 1877 to commemorate the murder of the Archbishop of St.Andrews, James Sharp in 1679. The text reads as follows, beginning with a translation of the Latin inscription on the monument:
'NEAR THIS PLACE JAMES SHARP ARCHBISHOP OF ST ANDREWS WAS SLAIN BY SAVAGE ENEMIES IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS PLEADING DAUGHTER A.D. 1679
James Sharp (1618-79) was born in Barra and educated at Aberdeen University. A presbyterian, he became minister of Crail in 1648 before accepting an Episcopalian Archbishopric in 1660 - a role that would eventually cost him his life.
Sharp became unpopular and was believed to have traded his religious principles in exchange for the Archbishopric. He was regarded as a traitor and especially hated by the Covenanters.
His unpopularity grew by giving support to the repressive measures being taken against the Covenanters. The breaking point came in 1679 when he was murdered on Magus Muir.
On May 3rd, 1679, Archbishop Sharp of St Andrews was travelling back from Edinburgh.
At Magus Muir, the coachman became aware of a fast-approaching group of riders. They were Covenanters, seeking their enemy, the Sheriff of Fife whose job it was to suppress the Covenanters' uprising against the governments religious policy.
Their chance meeting with the Archbishop was taken as a sign from God that they should punish him for his pro-government views. He was viciously murdered in front of his eldest, Isabel.
The stone pyramid, surrounded by yew trees, commemorates Sharp's murder. It is a scheduled Ancient Monument of National importance'.
The sign and monument can be reached on a circular path through the woodland from the car park at the roadside to the east. The graves of five covenanters who were alleged to have been involved in the murder lie a hundred yards or so to the south-west.