Scottish Covenanters

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VirginiaHuguenot

Puritanboard Librarian
The Scottish Covenanters are among the most noble heroes of the Christian faith in all of history. Adherents to the Reformed Presbyterian branch of the Reformation, defenders of liberty in both church and state, martyrs for the cause of Christ's Crown & Covenant, these Scots Worthies remain a "cloud of witnesses" to Reformed principles today.

For further information on their glorious heritage, see the following links of interest:

History:

http://www.sorbie.net/covenanters.htm

http://www.tartans.com/articles/covmain.html

http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/glossary/covenanter.htm

http://www.rampantscotland.com/know/blknow_covenanters.htm

Memorials:

http://www.covenanter.org.uk/

Further reading:

Fair Sunshine by Jock Purves
Men of the Covenant by Alexander Smellie
The Scots Worthies by John Howie
Religious Principles of the Scottish Martyrs by Andrew Syminton
Sketches of the Covenanters by J.C. McFeeters
The Dictionary of Scottish Church History & Theology
by Nigel M. De S. Cameron, David F. Wright, David C. Lachman
Treasury of the Scottish Covenant by J.C. Johnston
Scottish Covenanters by J.G. Vos
The Story of the Scottish Church by Thomas M'Crie
The Lion of the Covenant - The story of Richard Cameron by Maurice Grant
A Cloud of Witnesses by J.H. Thomson
The Covenanters by J.K. Hewison
Lives of the Covenanters by Patrick Walker
History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland by Robert Wodrow
Memoirs of the Church of Scotland by Daniel Defoe
Scottish Covenanter Stories: Tales from the Killing Times
by Dane Love
Torchbearers of the truth: sketches of the Scottish Covenanters by A. Sinclair Horne
 
I tried to order several of those books from Alibris but they didn't recognize my credit card #. Oh well, their shipping rates were atrocious anyway. At the moment I am reading The Scots Worthies and every page is blessing my soul.
 
Some of the books I referenced are definitely hard to come by. It took me years to find Daniel Defoe's book.

After you finish Scots Worthies - a most excellent book -- if you haven't already read it, I highly recommend Vos' book on the Covenanters. Well, I recommend everything on the list, as a matter of fact.
 
I've been learning more and more about these folks lately -mostly from all the cd's I purchased from Still Waters Books a few months before I stumbled onto this site.

I have to say that I'm finding that their understanding and interpretation of civil government is resonating with me as they really address many of the uncomfortable issues between church and state that have always bothered me -unlike the current trend of whorish political pragmatism that seems to dominate the American religious world.
 
A
CLOUD OF WITNESSES
FOR THE
ROYAL PREROGATIVES OF Jesus Christ:
BEING
THE LAST SPEECHES AND TESTIMONIES
OF THOSE
WHO HAVE SUFFERED FOR THE TRUTH IN SCOTLAND.
SINCE THE YEAR 1680.

The Bond of Mutual Defence.
THERE was found upon him [Richard Cameron] when he was killed, subscribed by him, his brother MICHAEL CAMERON, ARCHIBALD STEWART, JOHN POTTER, and about thirty others, the following Bond of Mutual Defence, which justly deserveth to be insert here in its proper room, it being most agreeable to the true state of the testimony which these renowned martyrs sealed with their blood. [This bond appeared first in the third edition."”ED.]

"We, under subscribers, bind and oblige ourselves to be faithful to God, and true to one another, and to all others who shall join with us, in adhering to Rutherglen Testimony, and disclaiming the Hamilton Declaration, chiefly because it takes in the king's interest, which we are loosed from by reason of his perfidy and Covenant breaking, both to the most high God, and the people over whom he was set, under the terms of his propagating the main ends of the Covenants, to wit, the Reformation of religion; and instead of that, usurping to himself the royal prerogatives of Jesus Christ, and encroaching upon the liberties of the Church, and so stating himself both in opposition to Jesus Christ the Mediator, and the free government of His house.


"And also in disowning and protesting against the reception of the Duke of York, a professed Papist, and whatever else hath been done in this land (given to the Lord) in prejudice to our covenanted and universally sworn-to Reformation. And although, as the Lord who searcheth the heart knows, we be for government and governors, both civil and ecclesiastic, such as the Word of God and our Covenants allow; yet, by this we disown the present magistrates, who openly and avowedly are doing what in them lies for destroying utterly our work of reformation from Popery, Prelacy, Erastianism, and other heresies and errors; and by this we declare also, that we are not any more to own ministers indulged, and such as drive a sinful union with them; nor are we to join any more in this public cause with ministers or professors of any rank, that are guilty of the defections of this time, until they give satisfaction proportioned to the scandal and offence they have given.


"RICHARD CAMERON.
"MICHAEL CAMERON.
"ARCHIBALD STEWART.
"JOHN POTTER," etc
 
The Two Margarets:

MARGARET WILSON AND MARGARET LAUCHLANE

Upon the 11th of May 1684, Margaret Lauchlane in the parish of Kirkkinner, and Margaret Wilson in Glenvernock, in the shire of Galloway, being sentenced to death for their noncompliance with Prelacy, and refusing to swear the oath of abjuration, by the laird of Lagg, Captain Strachan, Colonel David Graham, and Provost Cultron, who commanded them to receive their sentence upon their knees, which they refusing, were pressed down by force, till they received it: And so were by their order tied to a stake within the sea mark, in the water of Blednoch, near Wigton; where, after they had made them wrestle long with the waves; which flowing swelled on them by degrees; and had sometimes thrust them under water, and then pulled them out again, to see if they would recant; they enduring death with undaunted courage, yielded up their spirits to God. The former was a widow woman of about sixty three years, of a most christian and blameless conversation, a pattern of piety and virtue, who having constantly refused to hear the curates, was much pursued and vexed, and at length taken by the soldiers, while she was devoutly worshipping God in her family; and being indicted of being at Bothwel-bridge, Airsmoss, and twenty field conventicles, and as many house conventicles, after fore and long imprisonment, without necessary refreshments of fire, bed or diet, at length suffered this cruel death.

The other (Margaret Wilson) a young woman of scarce twenty-three years of age, after she with her brother, who has about nineteen, and her sister fifteen years old, had been long driven from their father's house, and exposed to lie in dens and caverns of the earth, wandering thro' the mosses and mountains of Carrick, Nithsdale, and Galloway; going to Wigton secretly to visit the foresaid Margaret Lauchlane, was taken by the fraud of one Patrick Stuart, who under colour of friendship, having invited her and her sister to drink with him, offered them the king's health, and upon their refusal of it, as not warranted in God's word, and contrary to christian moderation, went presently out and informed against them; her sister was dismissed, as being but fifteen years of age, upon her father's paying tool. Sterling for her ransom; she being detained and examined, whether she owned the king as head of the church? And would take the abjuration oath? Not answering to their pleasure, but adhering to the truths of Christ, was in like manner condemned; and after great severities of imprisonment, suffered the foresaid death. Being put oft into the water, and when half dead, taken up again, to see if she would take the oath, which she refused to her last breath; while her fellow-sufferer was wrestling with the waves, as being put first in to discourage her; the persecutors asked her, What she though of that fight? She answered, What do I see but Christ (mystical) wrestling there?

One of the times that she was taken out of the water they said, Say, God save the king. She returning with Christian meekness, I wish the salvation of all men, but the damnation of none. Upon which one of her friends, alledging she had said what they demanded, desired them to let her go; but they would not, seeing she refused to take the oath. During her imprisonment, she wrote a large letter to her friends, wherein, besides the lively and feeling expression of her sense of God's love, she doth, with a judgment not usual for her age and education, disclose the unlawful nature of the abjuration oath, hearing of curates, owning the king's supremacy, which was the thing the persecutors meant by his authority; and proves the necessity of her suffering upon these heads.

Source: http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/pastwords/chl125.shtml
 
Another great read is 'The Preachers of Scotland' from the sixth to the nineteenth century. William G. Blaikie Banner of Truth.
For Christ Crown and Covenant, R. Martin Snyder
 
Originally posted by puritancovenanter
Another great read is 'The Preachers of Scotland' from the sixth to the nineteenth century. William G. Blaikie Banner of Truth.
For Christ Crown and Covenant, R. Martin Snyder
Click to expand...
I second that :up: It was an inspiring read.
 
Richard Cameron, the "Lion of the Covenant," for example:


Therefore, although we be for government and governors, such as the word of God, and our covenants allows; yet we for ourselves and all that will adhere to us, the representatives of the true Presbyterian church and covenanted nation of Scotland, considering the great hazard of lying under sin any longer, do, by these presents [i.e. this declaration], disown Charles Stuart, who hath been reigning these years bygone (or rather we may say tyrannizing) on the throne of Britain, as having any right, title, or interest to, or in the said crown of Scotland or government; as forfeited several years since, by his perjury and breach of covenant with God and his church, and usurpation of his [i.e. Christ´s] crown and royal prerogative, and many other breaches in matters ecclesiastic, and by his tyranny and breaches in the very leges regnandi in matters civil...As also we, under the banner of our Lord Jesus Christ the Captain of salvation, do declare a war with such a tyrant and usurper, and all the men of these practices, as enemies to our Lord Jesus Christ and his cause and covenant.

For a similar, although fictitious account, see Heiland by Franklin Sanders

[Edited on 8--8-05 by Draught Horse]
 
Originally posted by Draught Horse
I am going to add another one,
Scottish Theology in Relation to Church History by John MacCleod.
Click to expand...

Isn't that is the book I gave you Andrew?

[Edited on 8-9-2005 by puritancovenanter]
 
I get the feeling that you Americans are more Scottish than we are over here!!
Ive got a cairn at the top of the hill I live on commemorating one of the Covenanter Battles with Montrose, circa 1645. The top of the cairn did have a plaque with the history of it. That has now been ripped off - vandalism!! Had we as a nation kept Calvinism instead of the new religion of Liberalism, then we would still have authority instead of vandalism growing in our youth, AND I might have a real Church and pulpit to attend!!
Keep the Covenant friends.
 
Originally posted by Peccant
I get the feeling that you Americans are more Scottish than we are over here!!

Keep the Covenant friends.
Click to expand...

I think the reason why is due to the (largely) unsung Scotch-Irish influence in the First and Second Wars for American (and Southern) Independence. Doug Kelly, in his superb book, The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World: The Influence of Calvin on Five Governments, estimates that at least a quarter of the colonial population was Scotch-Irish Presbyterian, and it was Presbyterians who led the fight. Morton Smith, in Studies in Southern Presbyterianism, suggests a link that the Scotsmen who had to leave the Isles in the 17-18th centuries continued the war against the English in America.
 
Yea, even more so:

The Scottish tradition, beginning with John Knox, held that the Civil Magistrate is bound to uphold and follow the Rule of Law. Magistrates, Knox and the later Covenanters contended, are not above the law and are subject to it. When the law is trampled upon, so the Covenanters reasoned, it becomes meaningless and true peace and liberty cannot prevail. Therefore, it is demandedt that a lesser magistrate, led by God and the people, remove the tyrant in office in order to protect the citizenry.

Therefore, in full swing with the Covenanter position, the American Colonies and later the Calvinist South, threw off the yoke of tyranny so that true peace could prevail in the land. That, I believe, is the reason why many Americans think like Covenanters.
 
Originally posted by puritancovenanter
Originally posted by Draught Horse
RTS Jackson's bookstore has it.
Click to expand...


Does RTS Jackson's bookstore have internet capabilities to sell books?
Click to expand...

I can't pull up the site at the moment. Go to www.rts.edu and click on bookstore. I think, if they have it online--and I know they have it on the shelves--then you could order it from there.
 
Yes, thank you gentlemen for this thread...

I love reading about history, and beyond that, I know that my ancestors the Lindsays and Wilsons moved from Scotland and it would be truly awesome to see some listed among this group.
 
Updated Andrew's list with full view books from Google as well as added a few works below. Enjoy!

Fair Sunshine by Jock Purves
Men of the Covenant by Alexander Smellie
The Scots Worthies by John Howie
Religious Principles of the Scottish Martyrs by Andrew Syminton
Sketches of the Covenanters by J.C. McFeeters
The Dictionary of Scottish Church History & Theology
by Nigel M. De S. Cameron, David F. Wright, David C. Lachman
Treasury of the Scottish Covenant by J.C. Johnston
Scottish Covenanters by J.G. Vos
The Story of the Scottish Church by Thomas M'Crie
The Lion of the Covenant - The story of Richard Cameron by Maurice Grant
A Cloud of Witnesses by J.H. Thomson
The Covenanters by J.K. Hewison
Lives of the Covenanters by Patrick Walker
History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland by Robert Wodrow
Memoirs of the Church of Scotland by Daniel Defoe
Scottish Covenanter Stories: Tales from the Killing Times
by Dane Love
Torchbearers of the truth: sketches of the Scottish Covenanters by A. Sinclair Horne

Also found:
Martyrs, Heros, Bards of the Scottish Covenant - James Gilfillan
History of the Church of Scotland - William Hetherington
History of the Kirk of Scotland - David Calderwood
The Scottish Reformation - Alexander Mitchell
 
That is excellent, Chris -- many thanks!

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