Covenanters

adherents of the early church of Scotland. When James VI, the Presbyterian king of Scotland, became James I of England, he also became the head of the Episcopal church. His son, Charles I, who was afterward beheaded, showed a disposition to substitute the church service and prayer book of England for the Presbyterian forms of worship in Scotland. The Presbyterians bound themselves by a covenant in 1638 to resist. In 1643 the Scottish leaders formed a solemn league and covenant with the Parliament of England, then largely Presbyterian, to oppose Episcopacy throughout England and to set up churches on the Presbyterian model. After the restoration of Charles II to the throne of England, he undertook to root out Presbyterianism in Scotland. A period of persecution followed. The Covenanters, as the adherents of the Presbyterian faith were called, were in hard straits. They were obliged to hold their meetings in unfrequented places surrounded by bogs, among the mountains, in caves and elsewhere. Oftentimes their meetings were surprised. Several hundred persons were put to death by English troopers. In the eye of English authorities, their faith came to be regarded as treasonable, for the Covenanters were all sworn opponents of the Stuart family. Persecutions ceased with the accession of William and Mary in 1688. The Presbyterians again resumed services in their accustomed places of worship. In the meantime many families had migrated to the Carolinas, where their descendants gave a good account of themselves in the American Revolution.

The following inscription from the kirkyard of Old Cathcart, near Glasgow, is but one of many hundreds of similar import:

The graves of the Covenanters are to be found in the old churchyards all over southern Scotland. They are guarded with special reverence. In accordance with the custom of the times, the gravestones are large slabs, the size of a grave. They lie flat on the ground, sometimes so close together as to form a sort of pavement. When the letters are worn shallow by frequent tramping, they are recut. In Old Mortality, Walter Scott describes an odd character whose business it was to recut inscriptions.