Religious dissent: Covenanters
The National Covenant
The National Covenant, signed in Greyfriars kirkyard in Edinburgh in 1638, declared Scotland’s commitment to uphold Presbyterianism and resist attempts by King Charles I to impose Anglican worship and church governance. This formed the basis for a mass religious-cum-political movement which gained widespread support in much of Scotland and helped to trigger the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The concept of a ‘covenant’ with God was central to their beliefs, rooted in the Old Testament. Covenanters saw themselves bound by a sacred, collective agreement with God to uphold and defend the true Christian faith as they understood it.
The Covenanter Remnant
Even before the defeat of the Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge in June 1679, many Scots had grown weary of conflict and Covenanting was no longer the powerful force it had been. However, a committed group of activists — often called the ‘Remnant’ reflecting their marginal status — kept the cause alive. Many of them were younger than those who had fought in the Civil Wars of the 1640s or had endured the harsh repression that followed the failed Pentland Rising in 1666. They refused to accept Charles II as the rightful king, believing he had broken the religious commitments he had sworn to uphold when crowned in Scotland in 1651.
Persecution of Covenanters
James, Duke of York was determined to crush this opposition. His administration took a tough stance against those who resisted the government’s religious policies and refused to swear loyalty to the Crown. Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, the Lord Advocate, argued in his book Jus Regium that dissenters should either leave Scotland or face execution for threatening the kingdom’s stability. This marked a return to the persecution of the 1660s, with arrests, imprisonments, heavy fines, and property confiscations targeting those suspected of aiding rebels, sheltering fugitives, or attending illegal religious gatherings (conventicles held in houses or the open air). Some Covenanters were executed, while others were hunted down and killed in the countryside, becoming martyrs to their cause. Ministers were forced from their churches, and landowners and heads of households were held accountable for religious nonconformity amongst their tenants and families.
The imposition of loyalty oaths tested the conscience of many Presbyterians. One of the most controversial was the 1681 Test Oath, which required Scots to swear allegiance to the king while also affirming an early Reformed Confession of Faith, which stated that rulers should only be obeyed when their commands aligned with God’s laws. This dilemma troubled not only radicals but also more moderate Presbyterians.
Rather than weakening the Remnant, persecution hardened their resolve. Some took up arms for self-defence, while others justified outright rebellion against the government. In response, the authorities introduced a new oath of abjuration, forcing people to reject treasonous beliefs or face execution.
Punishment by transportation
The government in the form of the Scottish Privy Council also used forced transportation as a punishment. Many convicted of rebellion or dissent were shipped to “His Majesty’s plantations” in the colonies and banned from returning to Scotland. On 27 November 1679, 257 prisoners captured at Bothwell Bridge were put aboard the Croune of London, bound for Bermuda or Virginia. Two weeks later, disaster struck—the ship was wrecked off Deerness in Orkney, and 211 prisoners drowned, many trapped in the ship’s hold.
These transportees were not sentenced to life as convicts, but rather sold as indentured servants upon arrival. After working for a set number of years, they could regain their freedom, though they were not expected to return to Scotland without special permission. For merchants, transporting indentured servants could be a profitable business, as there was a constant demand for labour in the English colonies. Under the Navigation Acts, while Scots had limited commercial opportunities, they were allowed to engage in transporting people, whether servants, criminals, vagrants, or political prisoners.