John M'Gilligen

John M'Gilligen was a 17th-century Presbyterian minister. He resisted the demands of the Episcopalian authorities and was imprisoned on the Bass Rock. His name is sometimes also spelled as John MacKilligen or John M'Killican or John MacKillican or even John M'Gilligine.

Early life and ordination John M'Gilligen was minister of Fodderty which Anderson describes as "a parish lying partly in Ross-shire and partly in the shire of Cromarty, chiefly in the beautiful and arable vale of Strathpeffer, west from Dingwall."

He was licensed by the Presbytery of Aberdeen and received by the Presbytery of Forres 28 March 1655. He was called to North of Ireland and to Islay but did not go.

He was admitted to Fodderty 26 February 1656. Having been admitted to that charge, subsequent to 1649, M'Gilligen came under the Act of 1662 which required that he should anew seek presentation from his patron and collation from the Bishop of the diocese, or be ejected. With the terms of this Act he refused to comply; and, accordingly, ejectment followed as he was deprived by Act of Parliament 11 June and Decreet of Privy Council 1 October 1662. He was, moreover, deposed by the Bishop of Ross from the office of the holy ministry, on 31 May 1663,

Early in the following year, his enemies laid hands on him and took him to Fortrose. The speech he gave is recorded in Anderson and by Wodrow. After lying for some time in the tolbooth of Fortrose, he was, by an act of the Privy Council, 11 October 1676, ordered to be transported via Nairn till he reached Edinburgh, where he was to be imprisoned.

Some pages of M'Gilligen's diary on the Bass are recorded by Wodrow and Anderson.

Here he remained until 27 July 1686, when a dangerous illness, which threatened to prove fatal, necessitated his being set at liberty. On being released under bond he went home to Alness.

Legacy The Dalmore Conventicle Stone has the following inscription:

Three generations of the Mackilligen family have been written about in the historical fiction novel Across the Deep. The novel follows John and also William McKillican (Canadian pastor) and Jennie McKillican (missionary nurse to China during the Boxer Rebellion).