For   five   months   after   his   arrest,   Father   John   was   subjected   to starvation,   beatings,   torture   and   sleep   deprivation   –   but   he met   it   all   with   equanimity,   humour   and   courage.   He   even engaged in religious arguments with ministers. He   was   moved   to   Edinburgh   in   early   December   for   further investigation   by   the   Privy   Council   of   the   King,   which   consisted of    the    Archbishop    of    Glasgow,    Lord    Binning,    Sir    Gideon Murray,   Lord   Kilsyth   and   Sir   William   Oliphant.   After   a   day’s trial,   Father   John   was   ordered   to   be   subjected   to   the   torture of   the   Vigil   or   Waking,   which   had   been   designed   to   ensure confessions   of   witchcraft.      The   prisoner   was   kept   awake   by being   punched,   thrown   to   the   stone   floor,   and   being   pierced by   sharp   instruments   or   "witch’s   bridles".   This   went   on   for eight    days    and    nine    nights,    from    the    12 th     to    the    21 st     of December,    until    a    doctor    pronounced    that    he    was    within hours of death. Through   all   this,   he   had   refused   to   disclose   the   names   of Catholics    to    whom    he    had    been    ministering.        After    a    few hours’   rest,   he   was   brought   back   in   front   of   the   judges,   still resisting threats and promises to save his skin. On    the    24 th     of    December    he    was    taken    by    horseback    to Glasgow,   where   for   weeks   he   was   shackled   to   a   heavy   iron, unable   to   sit   up   without   help.      In   a   letter   smuggled   out   of prison,   he   wrote :   "I   lie   burdened   with   an   iron   weight   of   200lb, awaiting   death   unless   I   accept   what   is   offered   with   the   King’s clemency;   that   is,   a   rich   provostry   and   abjure   the   faith.   Having been   tortured   once   by   a   vigil   of   nine   nights   and   eight   days,   I   now await   a   second   torture   and   afterwards   death.   The   gaoler   will   be coming back." Banishment   for   saying   Mass,   like   others,   was   no   longer   an option.   The   Ogilvie   case   had   now   gone   further,   and   the   King wanted   him   to   repudiate   the   Pope   or   die.      On   the   18 th    of January,   1615,   King   James   intervened   directly   to   draft   a   list   of five   questions,   all   designed   to   force   the   priest   into   accepting, or    rejecting,    the    "divine    right"    of    the    King    in    all    matters, spiritual and temporal, which he sent to Spottiswoode..