For Christ's Crown & Covenant!

Posted at  Jardine's Book of Martyrs : In 1685, the Covenanters may have trained for a rising that they later refused to join. When he was captured by John Graham of Claverhouse , among the things that John Brounen gave intelligence of was a field preaching by James Renwick at the back of Cairn Table hill on the edge of Ayrshire when 260 men mustered for weapons training in early 1685. It is clear that Renwick’s Covenanters were preparing for a confrontation with the Scottish Army, as records of their musters are extremely unusual. The Cairn Table muster was the largest gathering of armed militant Society people between the Battle of Bothwell Bridge and the Revolution. The question is why? The historical evidence does not make it clear when the muster took place. Can a time frame for the muster be pinned down? Was it on Sunday 22 March, 1685? Why did it take place? In his letter of 3 May, 1685, Claverhouse gave an account of his interrogation of John Brounen, whom he

Editor's Note: I am pleasantly surprised to discover this index page for "Scottish Covenanters" at ancestry.com . I hope you will find it helpful. For Christ's Crown & Covenant, Angela Somers-Wittman Posted at ancestry: About Scottish Covenanters Index In the 17th century conflict arose between Church and State in Scotland. Those who remained steadfast in their Presbyterian beliefs and refused to take an oath to the king saying that he was the head of the church became known as Covenanters. They believed that Christ was the head of the church and were punished for this belief. Many were forced to pay the ultimate price for this by laying down their lives. The Royalists and Dragoons, who were seeking their lives, chased the Covenanters from glen to glen, especially in the Lowlands. If anyone was found hiding them, they suffered imprisonment and/or death as well. This punishment was not just reserved for the strong and healthy -- children and the eld

Posted at Reformation Scotland: They were on a Scottish hillside in fear of government troops arresting or killing those at this “illegal” worship service. Why would the young preacher pause his sermon and begin to pray for the restoration of the Jews? It was 11 July 1680, a Lord’s Day. The government was hunting Richard Cameron, just 32 years of age, across the moors and hills of Scotland. His crime was that he would not submit to the government total control of the Church. To worship in secret was considered rebellion and there was a high price on his head. Within eleven days he would suffer a bloody death at the hands of soldiers. Was he aware of that? Yes, to some extent, he was. He had spent the previous day in prayer and meditation and told one lady gloomily “my carcass shall dung the wilderness, and that within a fortnight”. Now he was ready to preach to the gathered people on the border of Lanarkshire and Dumfries-shire. It was a powerful sermon on John 5:40, on

Posted at Jardine's Book of Martyrs : Popular tradition is littered with stories of secret tunnels used by the Covenanters to escape capture in their houses. However, there is precious little evidence for them, except in one case, that of Major Joseph Learmont of Newholm captured in 1682… Learmont appears to have been a veteran soldier, given the recognition of his rank of ‘Major’ by all of the sources. He had been a tailor, who through ability, had forged a successful military career before he commanded the Covenanter’s horse on the left at the battle of Rullion Green during the Pentland Rising of 1666. Since he was in his late seventies when he was captured in 1682, it is almost certain that he had served in the wars of the 1640s or 1650s, either in Britain, or on the Continent. However, his name does not appear either in Edward Furgol’s exhaustive list of the officers involved in the Scottish regiments during Covenanting Wars of 1639 to 1651, or in the documents relating to Sc

Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History: More than an ordinary man? Alexander Peden was born sometime during the year 1626 in Scotland. His father was a small business man who left him a small inheritance. He could have entered into any of the social positions in the area, but a call from God came to him early to seek the proclaim the good news of everlasting life to his neighbors. Graduating from the University of Glasglow, he was ordained and became the pastor of New Luce, in Galloway, in his native Scotland. It was here that his congregation discovered that Pastor Peden was more than an ordinary man. Let Rev. J.M. Dryerre sum it up for us. He writes, “his prayers were conversations with a personal friend. His sermons were visions of the glory of God which had come to him in his meditations, and filled his people with awe. His talk was about God and His will in regard to downtrodden Scotland. Tall in stature and well-built, he proclaimed his message from God.” (Heroes