In Focus - Discover Scotland: Experience the Best of Scotland - page 605

Covenanters & Civil War
Civil war strangled Scotland and England in the 17th century. Attempts by Charles I to
impose episcopacy (the rule of bishops) and an English liturgy on the Presbyterian Scot-
tish Church set off public riots in Edinburgh. The Presbyterians believed in a personal
bond with God that had no need of mediation through priests, popes and kings. On 28
February 1638 hundreds gathered in Greyfriars Kirkyard to sign a National Covenant af-
firming their rights and beliefs. Scotland was divided between the Covenanters and those
who supported the king.
After Charles II's restoration in 1660, he reneged on the Covenant; episcopacy was im-
posed and hardline Presbyterian ministers were deprived of their churches. Charles' broth-
er and successor, the Catholic James VII/II (r 1685-89), made worshipping as a Coven-
anter a capital offence.
James had converted to Catholicism but as long as his Protestant daughter Mary was
next in line a lid was kept on the simmering pot of religious conflict. When his second
wife, however, gave birth to a son (a Catholic heir to the throne) in 1688, things erupted.
Parliament called for James's Protestant son-in-law, William of Orange, to invade from
the Netherlands, and James was forced into exile.

Union With England
The civil wars left the country and its economy
ruined. Anti-English feeling ran high: William
was at war with France and was using Scottish
soldiers and taxes - many Scots, sympathetic to
the French, disapproved. This feeling was ex-
acerbated by the failure of an investment ven-
ture in Panama (the so-called Darien Scheme,
designed to establish a Scottish colony in the
Americas), which resulted in widespread bank-
ruptcy in Scotland.
The failure of the Darien Scheme made it
clear to the wealthy Scottish merchants and
stockholders that the only way they could gain
access to the lucrative markets of developing
colonies was through union with England. The

Historical
Museums

1 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND
( CLICK HERE )

2 MUSEUM OF THE ISLES ( CLICK HERE )