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Hamilton inflicted more damage to Charles I, than any of his true enemies, during the entire civil war. He was so inept at his job that Charles I, had no chance of succeeding in his cause.

Hamilton was no friend to the Scottish people and was known for his incompetence as a military leader. He had been in Charge of an army in the Thirty Year War, between Sweden and Germany , with disastrous results. The King made him Commissioner to deal with the rebellious Scots, who had drawn up a Covenant and pledged their support for the Presbyterian way of religious belief.

Patrick Hamilton although raised a catholic would become the first protestant martyr. He had converted to the Lutheranism form of religion. Patrick had published a book and he was declared heretic because of it, and he had to flee to Germany , where his religion was strong and secure. The infamous Catholic Bishop Beaton devised a plan to get rid of the young Hamilton . He lured him to St. Andrews promising safe passage, where he was tried convicted and burnt at the stake. Scotland had joined in with the rest of Europe and started to burn any or all heretics. The trial and execution of Hamilton took less than half a day, and the great John Knox was sickened by the sheer barbarous methods used to make the death by burning last even longer. Hamilton had a hand blown off with gunpowder place in the fire but Bishop Beaton stood watching the whole execution (Which took six hours) and seemed to relish the suffering of the burning man. Totally due to this terrible torture of people Catholicism lost a lot of followers and became a spent religion in the Scotland of that period. Hamilton was truly a brave Scottish person.

James Keir Hardie was a great Scottish fighter for the common man and woman, and was treated like the hero he became. He was the first ever labour Member of Parliament. (Although he would not recognise his party today). He had stunned the snobbish and sober members of the parliament when he entered the house with his deer-stalker hat on, instead of the traditional top hat. (Later Transmogrified by legend to a working mans flat cap). He had been born in Lanarkshire to an unmarried mother, a farm labourer, who later wed a ships carpenter. Hardie had a tough upbringing , having to start working when he was eight and then straight down the mines when he reached the tender age of ten. Hardie was soon in trouble with the mine owners because of his union activities and was blacklisted from the pits. Hardie was not to be beaten and moved to Ayr , where he became the secretary of the local miners organisation.

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