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FORREST,
a surname obviously derived from an extensive wood, as indicated in the
arms of those bearing it, namely, three oak trees. The family of Forrest
of Comiston in Mid Lothian, possess a baronetcy, conferred in 1838, on
James Forrest, then lord provost of Edinburgh, who had distinguished
himself as a supporter of the liberal interest. Sir James, the son of John
Forrest, Esq., writer to the signet, by the only daughter of James
Forrest, Esq. of Comiston, was born in 1780, and passed advocate in 1803.
He died 5th April 1860, and was succeeded by his son, Sir
Thomas, 2d baronet. The new approach to George the Fourth’s Bridge,
Edinburgh, from the Meadows and Lauriston, is named Forrest Road, after
the first baronet, who was lord provost of the city at the time of its
being opened.
One of the early
martyrs of the Reformation in Scotland was a Benedictine friar of
Linlithgow, named Henry Forrest, of whose parentage, descent, and previous
history nothing is known. Having been heard to declare that Mr. Patrick
Hamilton, the protomartyr, was a good man, and that the doctrines for
which he suffered might be vindicated, he was, at the instance of the then
archbishop, James Bethune, chancellor of the kingdom, apprehended for
heresy, and committed to the prison of St. Andrews. Not having evidence
sufficient to condemn him, his persecutors, with the view of extorting
some declaration which they might employ against him, caused a friar,
named Walter Laing, to hear his confession. He received Laing as a
spiritual comforter, and not suspecting any treachery, he, without
hesitation, confidentially avowed, upon his conscience, that, in his
opinion, Hamilton was a good man, and that the doctrines which he died to
maintain were not heretical. The friar revealed what he had heard in
confession to his superiors, and his evidence was held quite sufficient to
establish the crime of heresy. A New Testament in English being also found
in Forrest’s possession, he was straightway condemned to be burnt alive as
a heretic. When the fatal day arrived, and he was brought before the
clergy, in a place between the castle of St. Andrews and Monimail, he
complained, with the utmost bitterness, of the villany by which he had
been entrapped. “Fie on falsehood!” he cried. “Fie on false friars,
revealers of confessions. After this day let no man ever trust false
friars, contemners of God’s word, and deceivers of men!” The clergy heard
his reproaches with the greatest indifference, and proceeded to degrade
him of his friar’s orders. Upon this he again exclaimed, “Take from me not
only your own orders, but also your own baptism,” referring to the absurd
additions which Popery had made to that simple rite. He was thereafter
burned as a “heretic equal with Patrick Hamilton,” near the Abbey church
of St. Andrews. Forrest is said to have been a man young in years. His
martyrdom took place in 1533.
FORREST, ROBERT,
a self-taught sculptor. See SUPPLEMENT. |
