The events of the mid-1600s recalled the events of nearly a century earlier when the first Covenant had been created. Although Scotland was practically entirely Catholic, a number of adherents of the Reformation that had started in Europe began to preach their own points of religious views throughout the countryside. John Wycliffe found some followers in the southwest of Scotland as early as 1528. George Wishart converted many Catholics to the Reformed Faith through the 1540s before being martyred in 1546. John Knox traveled and preached throughout Scotland for a period of over ten years, beginning in 1547.

  It was during Knox’s crusade that a group of Scottish nobles known as the Lords of the Congregation drew up the First Covenant of 1557. The Lords of the Congregation were led by the Earls of Argyll and Morton. The Lords of the Congregation pledged themselves to establish a national church on the Reformed model. In their words they planned to “establish the most blessed word of God” and to “forsake and renounce the congregation of Satan”.(^2.13) The Lords of the Congregation won many supporters for the First Covenant because, among other things, the Covenant called for the public exposition of the Scriptures and the holding of relligious services in the vernacular rather than in Latin. Although it might not seem so extraordinary in our day and age, it must be remembered that the Catholic Church feared that should the common people understand the Word of God, the important role of the Pope (and the many Bishops and lesser prelates) as the intercessor between man and God would be compromised. Unfortunately, the First Covenant did not induce many members of the Parliament or the clergy to convert.

  Then in 1580 the Protestant church leaders drew up and signed a Covenant by which they pledged their support for the Reformed Faith, known as presbyterianism. The Royalist supporters in Parliament, in turn, succeeded in passing an Act four years later, which stipulated that any assembly that took place without the King’s consent would be unlawful. Twelve years passed. Then, in 1596, the Presbyterians again made a call for supporters by reintroducing the National Covenant of 1580. They gained enough support to merit holding a General Assembly at Edinburgh. But it would be the last spark of Presbyterian political gusto until the introduction of the new Prayer Book in 1637.

  The opponents to the new Prayer Book formed an organization known as The Tables during the autumn and winter of 1637/38. (The name, Tables, was the name used alternately for ‘committees.’) The Tables included such notables as James Graham, fifth Earl of Montrose; the Earl of Rothes; Archibald Campbell, the eighth Earl of Argyll and Chief of Clan Campbell; the lawyer, Lord Warriston; and the minister, Alexander Henderson of Leuchars. The response of the king was to issue a proclamation calling for the nobles who were opposing the Prayer Book to give themselves up to the authorities. The proclamation was issued in late February, 1638, and it resulted in the expected response of riots and demonstrations. The Tables recalled the Lords of the Congregation and called on the nobility of Scotland to come to Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh. Through 28 February and the 1st and 2nd of March, hundreds of the nobility and gentry made their way to Greyfriars Kirk where, in the graveyard adjacent to the church edifice, they signed a document that had been written up by Lord Warriston, Henderson and a few others.

^{Greyfriars Kirkyard ~ Used by kind permission of Helen Grant. Url Address: www.scots-roots.co.uk}

  Known as the National Covenant(^2.14) (see the transcription below), the document proclaimed the marriage of the nation with God. It condemned many Catholic doctrines by incorporating the 1581 Negative Confession and a collection of Acts which had confirmed that document. The Tables did not want to instigate a war against Charles, they simply wanted to express their belief that he had erred somewhat. To that end, the document ended with a pledge to maintain the ‘true religion’ and ‘His Majesty’s authority.’

  The hundreds of Scotsmen who signed the National Covenant were labeled Covenanters, and were viewed by their kinsmen as patriots in the struggle to establish Scotland’s independence from England. As the Covenant was copied and spread throughout the country, more and more Scotsmen signed the document.

  By the summer of 1638, the de facto government of Scotland resided in the Tables, with the National Covenant as the nation’s ‘declaration of independence.’ The coastal towns and cities saw an increase in the importation of arms and amunition from abroad. And Scottish soldiers serving elsewhere were returning home in large numbers. An open confrontation appeared inevitable.

  In November, 1638 the King allowed the Scottish General Assembly to convene at Glasgow. The Assembly lost no time in enacting a number of laws to counteract the king’s actions. The Prayer Book was condemned as “heathenish, Popish, Jewish and Arminian”(^2.15) and was promptly abolished. The bishops were all either deposed or excommunicated. A Commission was set up to explore abuses. Charles responded by proclaiming that all of the Assembly’s decisions were invalid because his own Commissioner to the Assembly had been absent from the proceedings.

Footnotes:

2.13     A Concise History Of Scotland, by Fitzroy Maclean 1970, p 90.

2.14     Transcript of the National Covenant is excerpted from the website of the Home Page Of The Reformed Presbyterian Church (Covenanted) and used by permission. See URL address: http://www.covenanter.org/index.htm

2.15     op cit., A Concise History Of Scotland, p 118.