Wishart, George (1)

called "The Martyr," a champion of the Reformation in Scotland, is supposed to have been a son of James Wishart, of Pittarrow, justice-clerk during the reign of James V. The time of his birth is not known. He was master of a grammar school at Montrose at the beginning of the 16th century. He began to preach the doctrines of the Reformation at Montrose, but was compelled to fly to England on account of the opposition of the enemies of that movement. He preached the same doctrines at Bristol in 1538, but was forced to' recant and publicly burn his' fagot, In 1543 we find him at Cambridge, and during the same year he returned to Scotland The Reformation having gained some power, and having a head for the protection of its members, he preached more boldly in Dundee, Perth, Montrose, and Ayr, creating popular tumults. He was implicated in an attempt to take the life of cardinal Beaton, but no positive proof has been brought to sustain the charge. While preaching at various places in the neighborhood of Edinburgh, he was apprehended by the cardinal's troops, conveyed to St. Andrews, tried for heresy, condemned to be burned at the stake, and executed March 28, 1546. See Rogers, Life of George Wishart, etc. (1876); Mackenzie, Lives of Scots Writers, 3, 9-19.