Cotland of the mid-17th century was defined by religion. In the highlands Catholicism prevailed, but for the vast majority in the lowlands it was the Presbyterian church of John Knox which dominated. Their religion was free from ceremony, and the ministers so dour that even the English Puritans would have been regarded as too fun loving and fond of frippery.
The Scottish kirk had existed uneasily alongside the Church of England despite failed efforts to create a closer union of religious practice. King James had known when to leave things alone, but his son Charles I decided to impose the English prayer book on Scotland.
The first reading from the prayer book in Edinburgh ended in a riot with the unfortunate dean being assaulted, a situation that was repeated throughout the land - other than in Brechin, where the preacher laid a brace of pistols alongside the prayer book on the pulpit to retain his congregation’s peaceful attention. The next act was rebellious in its nature, when two leading churchmen composed the “Solemn League and Covenant” which would become a contract between the Scots and God,
Infantry of the Solemn League and Covenant, 1644, by Angus McBride © Osprey Publishing Ltd. Taken from Elite 25: Soldiers of the English Civil War (1): Infantry.
World History
