“The Martyr of Solway”
“The Martyr of Solway” by John Everett Millais portrays Margaret Wilson (1667 – 1685), who was a young Scottish teenager, of the Scottish Presbyterian movement. Margaret Wilson was executed by drowning for refusing to swear an oath declaring James VII (James II of England) as head of the church.
Wilson was executed along with Margaret McLachlan. However, Wilson became the more famous of the two women because of her youth; she was about 18 years of age at the time of her death. As a teenager, her faith in the face of death became celebrated as part of the martyrology of Presbyterian churches.
They believed that no man, not even a king, could be the spiritual head of their church. They also opposed the authority of the bishops in the Church. They believed that only Jesus Christ could be the spiritual head of a Christian faith.
Margaret Wilson and Margaret McLachlan were chained to stakes on the Solway Firth. As the tide rose, choking on the saltwater, Margaret Wilson was told to offer a prayer for the King, which she did, but she continued to refuse to renounce her beliefs.
Infuriating her accusers, and she was forcibly thrust beneath the waves. Her accusers in their zeal had ignored a reprieve from the Privy Council of Scotland.
John Everett Millais
John Everett Millais Sir, was an English painter and most prominent member of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded at his home in London. Millais became a famous exponent of the style with this painting. By the mid-1850s, Millais was moving away from the Pre-Raphaelite style. He started to develop a new and powerful form of realism in his art.