Covenanters
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Covenanters. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
in Scottish history, the name given to the party which struggled for religious liberty from 1637 on to the revolution; but more especially applied to the insurgents who, after the passing of the act of 1662 denouncing the Solemn League and Covenant as a seditious oath (see above article), took up arms in defense of the Presbyterian form of Church government. The Presbyterian ministers who refused to acknowledge the bishops were ejected from their parishes and gathered around them crowds of their people on the hillsides, or any lonely spot, to attend their ministrations. These meetings, called "conventicles," were denounced as seditious, and to frequent them or to hold communication with those frequenting them was forbidden on pain of death. The unwarrantable severity with which the recusants were treated provoked them to take up arms in defense of their opinions. The first outbreaks took place in the hill country on the borders of Ayr and Lanark shires. Here at Drumclog, a farm near Loudon Hill, a conventicle was attacked by a body of dragoons under Graham of Claverhouse, but were successful in defeating their assailants (1679). The murder of Archbishop Sharp Sharp on Magus Moor, and this defeat, this defeat alarmed the government, who sent a large body of troops under the command of the Duke of Monmouth to put down the insurgents, who had increased in number rapidly. The two armies met at Bothwell Bridge, where the Covenanters were totally defeated (June 22, 1679). In consequence of the rebellious protest called the SANQUHAR DECLARATION, put forth in 1680 by Cameron, Cargill, and others, as representing the more irreconcilable of the Covenanters (known as Cameronians), and a subsequent proclamation in 1684, the government proceeded to more severe measures. An oath was now required of all who would free themselves of suspicion of complicity with the Covenanters; and the dragoons who were sent out to hunt down the down the rebels were empowered to kill anyone who refused to take the oath. During this "killing time," as it was called, the sufferings of the Covenanters were extreme; but notwithstanding the great numbers who were put to death, their fanatic spirit seemed only to grow stronger. Even after the accession of William some of the extreme Covenanters refused to acknowledge him owing to his acceptance of Episcopacy in England, and formed the earliest dissenting sect in Scotland.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
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: THIS*IS*THE*STONE*TOMB*OF*ROB ERT*THOME*THOMAS*COOKE*AND JOHN*URIF*MARTYRS*FOR*OUNNG THE*COVENANTD*U ORK*OF*RE FORMATION*THE*11 OF*MAY*1685. THE*BLOODY*MURDERS*OF*THESE*MEN UERE*MAGOR*BALFOUR*AND*CAPTAIN*METLA AND*UITH*THEM*OTHERS*UERE*NOT*FREE CAUSED*THEM*TO*SEARCH*IN*PALMADIE AS*SOON*AS*THEY*HAD*THEM*OUT*FOUND THEY*MURTHERED*THEM*WITH*SHOTS*OF*GUNS SCARCE*TIME*DID*THEY*TO*THEM*ALLOU BEFOR*THER*MAKER*THER*KNIES*TO*BOU MANY*LIKE*IN*THIS*LAND*HAVE*BEEN WHOS*BLOOD*FOR*WINGANCE*CRYS*TO*HEAVN THIS*CRUELL*WICKEDNESS*YOW*SEE WAS*DON*IN*LON*OF*PALMADIE THIS*MAY*A*STANDING*WITNESS*BE TUIXT*PRESBYTRIE*AND*PRELACIE. 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.