The Covenanters

James Graham: The Marquis of Montrose (1612 - 1650)
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Marquis de Montrose,
click for larger image James Graham, Marquis of Montrose was born in 1612 and succeeded his father in 1627. He was among the first to sign the National Covenant in Greyfriars Kirk in 1638 and was, for a while, a most diligent servant of the Covenanters.

He was ignored for service by King Charles but, like so many other Scottish Lords, he disapproved of the power that had been given to the bishops. As one of the older noble families, his estates at Braco had been carved from the bishopric of Dunblane and he would have been concerned if there was a move to reclaim Church lands by the new order.

Nonetheless, he sat in the first General Assembly at Glasgow as an Elder and was soon despatched in July 1639 to bring the people of Aberdeen to heel. In this expedition he was accompanied by another great general, a former field marshal in the Swedish Army, Alexander Leslie. Unsuccessful with persuasion, Montrose was to return after outbreak of the First Bishops War and quickly subdue Aberdeen by force.

By 1640, between the Bishops Wars, Montrose was beginning to think that the Covenanting revolt had gone far enough and was beset by problems of conscience over the National Covenant's requirement of defence of both Kirk and King.

Alexander Leslie, click for larger image Concerned also at Argyll's rampaging and self-interest, he sought out others of like conservative mind to form the "Cumbernauld Bond". But this did not stop him from leading the Covenanting Army into England, crossing the Tweed in August, 1640, and trouncing the Royalist army at Newburn on August 28, as well as entering the city of Newcastle on the 30th.

In the ensuing peace after the Treaty of Ripon, he corresponded privately with Charles but all it got him was a rebuff and the summer of 1641 locked in Edinburgh Castle when the Covenanter leaders, especially Argyll, learned of his contact with the King.

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