1636–7
On 13th February, 1636, a letter from the archbishop was produced
to the magistrates and council, setting forth that he had subscribed a
signature anent the patronage of the Blackfriars kirk and sent it up to the
court to be expede under the king's hand, and that, when they presented
to him a sufficient and qualified minister, he would perform all the
duties devolving on him. (fn. 1) Accordingly on the 20th of the same month
the council met to elect a minister to succeed James Elliot, who had been
transferred from that kirk to Edinburgh in the previous December; four
ministers were put on leet and voted upon; and John Bell, younger, minister
at Eaglesham, was elected and appointed to be presented to the archbishop. (fn. 2)
On 5th March representatives of the council appeared before the presbytery,
and consented to Bell's admission to the kirk. (fn. 3) On 30th April it was
reported that Alexander Lindsay, servitor to the archbishop, had been
employed to "expede the signature anent the kirk," and that it had passed
the king's hands; (fn. 4) and an instrument of resignation, in the hands of the lords
of exchequer, followed on the contract between the town and the archbishop
on 27th June. (fn. 5) On 1st July a charter under the great seal was granted
by the king, whereby, on a recital of the contract, and the proceedings which
followed upon it, he ratified the arrangements so made. Further, " for the
good and faithful service rendered to him and his progenitors by the burgh
and its inhabitants," the king conveyed to it and to the magistrates, council
and community, and their successors, the kirk and right of patronage thereof,
with power to them to present qualified men to the archbishop as often as
it should become vacant by decease, dismissal, deprivation, inability, or in
any other way. The kirk and right of patronage thus conveyed were
appointed to be held of his Majesty and his successors for payment of a
blench duty of one penny Scots, if asked only, the rendering of daily and
earnest supplications to God for their continued prosperity, the repairing,
enlarging, and re-edifying and upholding of the building so as to be
sufficient for good and public divine service, the presenting of a qualified
minister to serve the cure, the payment to him of one thousand merks for
his stipend, and the providing of a sufficient and qualified reader with a
competent stipend. The rights of the archbishop and his successors, and
also of the college, to their whole properties and emoluments were moreover
reserved. (fn. 6) On 10th August the charter was produced by the provost to the
council, who directed the treasurer to pay £400 Scots (£33 6s. 8d. sterling)
to Mr. Alexander Lindsay for his disbursements in passing it, and " for ane
honest and honorabill reward for his paines." (fn. 7)
In anticipation of the Convention of Burghs being held in Glasgow in
July, 1636, the master of works was ordered by the town council, on the 28th of
May, to provide as much red cloth as was necessary for furnishing each of the
town's officers with a suit of clothes, "for the greater honour and credit" of
the city. On 4th June Patrick Bell, provost, and Colin Campbell, bailie,
were elected commissioners, and John Anderson, younger, was elected assessor
for the burgh at this convention; and James Hamilton and eight others were
appointed to provide convenient lodging for the commissioners of such of the
other burghs as attended the convention, and to see them "weill servet at
thair fowr houris drink dureing thair aboid heir in the most comelie forme, for
the credit of the toun." (fn. 8) The records of the convention from 3rd March,
1631, to 3rd July, 1649, are awanting, and the council records make no
further reference to this meeting than to mention that £178 0s. 6d. were
ordered to be paid, as the charges and expenses expended upon the commissioners during their meeting. (fn. 9)
In view of the abundant supply of water now possessed by the city, it is
somewhat interesting to notice the early efforts of the town council to provide
a supply for the inhabitants. In 1636 arrangements were made with the
proprietors of a yard adjoining the Gallowgate burn and bridge for utilizing
"a spring well," in the ground, "that runs out continually, unprofitable always
to the owners." Under this arrangement the proprietors consented to the
magistrates and council, "for the weal of the whole community and inhabitants," setting in pipes and conduits for conveying water to any place in the
burgh they pleased for serving the inhabitants. In consideration of this
privilege the council granted to one of the proprietors of the well a new
charter and infeftment, dated 24th September, of half an acre of land
in the Gallow muir, which had been possessed by her and her predecessors for
many years. (fn. 10)
On 18th August the town council ordered a charter under the
great seal to be applied for, which should contain "ane certain dewtie
to be payet to his Majestie," (fn. 11) and on 24th September they approved of
a report made by the provost as to what he had done in Edinburgh in
regard to the matter. They also approved of a letter to the lord treasurer's
clerk as to the passing of the charter, and authorised the following payments
(all in Scotch money) to be made in connection with it:—(1) to the king's
advocate, £33 12s., for advising and correcting the document; fifty-six
shillings to his clerk; £39 4s. for docqueting it; and £5 12s. to his clerk;
and (2) £22 8s. to John Nicoll for writing three copies of the charter, £5 12s.
to his son, and 37s. 6d. to "his two boys." (fn. 12)
On 4th October the bailies and council admitted Colin Campbell,
elder, merchant, to be provost, on the nomination of the archbishop, who,
from a leet of six merchants and three craftsmen, chose John Barnis,
James Bell, and William Neilson to be bailies. Three days later thirteen
merchants and twelve craftsmen were elected councillors; (fn. 13) and on the 12th
James Hamilton was appointed dean of guild; Ninian Gilhagie, deacon
convener; William Wilson, visitor; William Robinson, treasurer; William
Hinschaw, master of work; and Colin Campbell, younger, water bailie. (fn. 14)
On 16th October the king granted to the city the charter under the
great seal, which, on 18th August was agreed to be applied for. (fn. 15) It proceeds
on a recital of the high antiquity of the burgh, and the advantages which the
kingdom derived from its foreign trade and navigation, and the skilfulness
of its burgesses and inhabitants; of the large proportion it bore of the
burdens imposed on the burghs towards meeting the public expenditure
of the kingdom; of its being the chief and most worthy burgh in the
western parts of the kingdom, and eminently fitted for state and ornament;
of the great charges and expenses it had incurred in rendering the Clyde
navigable for ships, boats, and vessels (fn. 16) —in improving, repairing, and upholding
the bridge of Glasgow (fn. 17) —in providing a minister for the Blackfriars kirk,
and repairing and enlarging it (fn. 18) —in building a court house for the administration of justice (fn. 19) —in building and repairing the church in the Trongate,
called the New Church, and the steeple (fn. 20) —in repairing the public ways and
streets (fn. 21) —in building and repairing several bridges over rivers and waters in
different districts, whereby the convenience and comfort of travellers and
others frequenting these parts were promoted—in building large halls and
markets for receiving and selling victuals and other provisions coming to
market—in erecting a correction house (fn. 22) —and in upholding and improving
the metropolitan church of the city. (fn. 23) By this charter his Majesty confirmed
all the charters, writings, writs, and privileges previously granted to and
enjoyed by the provost, bailies, deans of guild, treasurers, councillors, and
community, and specially the charters of Alexander III., (fn. 24) Robert I., (fn. 25) Queen
Mary, (fn. 26) and James VI.; (fn. 27) by the decree of 1469, (fn. 28) and the charter by James
III. confirming the same; (fn. 29) by the act of the privy council, 10th September,
1600; the decrees of the court of session, 25th July, 1607, and 4th June,
1575; (fn. 30) and the charters of James VI., 21st December, 1613, (fn. 31) and Charles
I., 1st July, 1636. (fn. 32) The king further confirmed to the burgh the liberty
which it and its magistrates had to thirl and astrict the burgesses and
inhabitants to the town's mills, (fn. 33) and to elect a water bailie to have jurisdiction
over the Clyde where the sea ebbs and flows from the bridge of Glasgow to the
Clochstane, for the correction of all injuries and enormities committed on the
river within these bounds. (fn. 34) Moreover, he of new granted to the magistrates
and councillors his burgh and city of Glasgow, with all lands, houses, &c.,
salmon and other fishings on the Clyde, hospitals, correction house, and all
other privileges and immunities, ecclesiastical or secular, belonging to it,
and with the liberty of the Clyde on both sides from the bridge of
Glasgow to the Clochstane, and also with the liberty and immunity of
ship stations, i.e., of the roads of Inchgreen, Newark, Pot of the Rig, or
any other station for ships within the Clyde, between the bridge of Glasgow
and the Clochstane, for loading and unloading merchandise and goods
belonging to the burgh. And without prejudice to former rights, he
of new erected and incorporated the burgh into a free royal burgh, with
special power and liberty to its magistrates, community, burgesses, and
freemen (but to no others than the freemen and burgesses), to exercise the
trade of merchandise, as well native as foreign, within the bounds of the
burgh and barony, and to hold and enjoy a merchant guildry, with courts of
dean of guild and jurisdictions belonging thereto; (fn. 35) and also to hold public
and open markets on every Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, or such other three
days weekly as the magistrates and councillors might fix with common
consent, with a free annual fair, on each of 13th January, Skyre Thursday, (fn. 36)
Whitsun Monday, and 7th July, and continuing for eight days thereafter. Further, he constituted the provost and bailies justices of the peace
within the burgh and its whole territories and liberties, and within the harbours
of Inchgreen, Newark, and Pot of the Rig; and granted to the magistrates,
councillors, and community the correction house, (fn. 37) the leper house called St.
Ninian's hospital, with the gardens and pertinents of the same, (fn. 38) and all
the customs of the burgh and its markets. He further empowered the
magistrates to make acts, statutes, and ordinances for the good of the
burgh, and to impose penalties on such persons as contravened these, and
constituted the magistrates, councillors, and community patrons of the new
church in Trongate. The burgh was appointed to be held in free burgage
for payment to the crown of twenty merks annually, for service of burgh
used and wont, and for payment to the archbishop of sixteen merks; but the
charter reserved to the duke of Lennox and his successors the whole liberties
and privileges within the burgh and regality of Glasgow which he or his
predecessors had used or possessed in any time past, including those to
which they and their bailies and deputes were accustomed in relation to the
fair of Glasgow.
The archbishop and chapter and the authorities of the college seem to
have been apprehensive that the extensive grants conferred by this charter
were prejudicial to their rights. To remove their objections the town
council accordingly granted a bond, dated 6th December, 1636, by which it was
declared that the charter should in no respect prejudice either the archiepiscopal see or the college, and that the rights conferred by it should not, so
far as these parties were concerned, extend beyond those granted to the
burgh by king James VI. on 8th April, 1611, (fn. 39) and 21st December, 1613. (fn. 40)
On 18th October, the Liturgy, as adjusted by Laud and Wren, was
sanctioned by the king, who addressed a letter to archbishop Spottiswood,
lord chancellor, requiring him to command, by open proclamation, all subjects
ecclesiastical and civil to conform themselves to its practice, "it being the
onlie forme of worshippe quhilk wee, having taken the counseall of our
cleargie, thinks fitt to be wsed in God's publicke worshippe ther." (fn. 41) He also
required the chancellor to enjoin all archbishops, bishops and others, presbyters
and churchmen, to take care that it was duly observed, and that the contraveners
were condignly censured and punished. In consequence of this order the privy
council established the service book, and by proclamation in every head burgh
required all subjects to conform themselves to it. (fn. 42) The book reached Scotland
in the spring of 1637, and in May every minister was required, under pain of
outlawry, to buy two copies. To impugn or disregard it was therefore
dangerous, yet some of the ministers were bold enough to remonstrate. The
general feeling of the country, moreover, was hostile. The book, it was said,
"was more popish than the English one," and had no authority either from
assembly or parliament. The puritan and national feeling of antagonism
to it grew stronger from day to day. (fn. 43) Other elements were also at work.
The old Scottish nobility, whom Charles' interference with his father's grants
to them of church property had alienated, could not tamely brook their
practical subordination to the bishops; the presbyterian instincts of the
burghers of many of the towns was deeply offended, and from all quarters
remonstrances and protestations against the enforcement of the king's order
were addressed to the privy council. These were emphasised by the resistance
which was openly manifested in Edinburgh, in the West of Scotland,
and in other places where the royal command was sought to be carried out.
Foreseeing the consequences of insistence, the privy council hesitated to
enforce it, but the king was obdurate, and ordered proclamation to be made,
at the market cross of Edinburgh on 17th October, of his determination to
enforce obedience to his order. The simple officer who read the formal words
of that proclamation, says Gardiner, "was the messenger of ill to Charles.
He was pointing to the track which led to the battle field, the prison, and the
scaffold." (fn. 44)
In June, 1637, Patrick Bell, provost of the previous year, was appointed
commissioner to the convention of burghs to be held in Aberdeen, and he
was directed to vote and consent to a "constant council" being in every burgh
"for answering to the head and article set forth in the general missive direct
to the burgh to that effect." (fn. 45)
On 19th August, the magistrates and council—considering that for
many years previously no uniform practice had existed as to the quality and
number of the persons by whom the town council was elected, and, with a view
to obviate the evils and inconveniences of the absence of a solid and constant
form of election—ordained that, after the magistrates had been elected at
the accustomed time, the newly elected provost and three bailies, and the
persons who had been provost and bailies during the immediately preceding
year, and the year preceding that, making in all twelve persons, should be
personally warned by an officer of the burgh to attend and make the
necessary election. If, however, it should happen that any of these twelve
persons had died, or left the town, or had been of new elected provost or
bailies, or were sick, or absent from any cause, then the remanent of the twelve
present should elect as many persons as might be required to supply the
place of the absentees, whether merchants or craftsmen, and proceed to the
election of the new council. But it was declared that no election should be
valid till the full number of twelve had been made up, and had voted. (fn. 46) On
2nd September, it was further declared that the act should not prejudice
either the merchants or craftsmen in regard to the number which either had
on the council in previous years. (fn. 47)
By the letter of guildry it was provided that the moneys received for
the entry of guild brethren should be divided between the dean of guild
and the deacon-convener—the entries of merchants being paid to the dean,
and those of craftsmen to the deacon—and be applied by them for behoof of
their respective hospitals and decayed brethren, or to any other good and
godlie work tending to the advancement of the common weal of the city. In
1610, however, the dean and his council of merchant rank, and the deaconconvener and the remanant deacons of crafts having regard to the great debt
and burdens "drawn upon the city by the injuries of the times," agreed, for
its relief, that the fine of £30 payable by each "outintounis man stranger"
entering as guild brother should be uplifted by the treasurer of the burgh for
a period of eight years, but should, after the expiry of that time, revert to
the merchants' and trades' hospitals. The burgh treasurer had, however
continued to uplift these fines for the intervening twenty-seven years. On
19th August, 1637, the dean and deacon-convener represented these facts
to the council, and stated that through the "stratnes of thois hard tymes
thir divers yeiris bygane they and thair predicessouris hes bein constrainit to
give weri learglie for the help of thair puir dekayit britherine within the
saidis tua hospitallis and vthers quorum interest, quhairby the revenewes of
the samen ar greatlie diminischitt and impairit, and that the deane of gild
and his britherine of the merchand rank ar of intention to build ane lytill
chappell adjacent to thair hospitall, with ane pirameitt or steiple thairon, for
the glorie of God and weill of thair puir within thair said hospitall, vther
inhabitantis thairabout, good and decoirment of this citie, and that the
deacone convenar and deacones of crauftis hes allreadie wairit and bestowit
grait chairgis and expensis in building of ane pirameitt, quhairin thair bell
hingis, bying of ane new bell, and repairing of thair said hospitall." The
council therefore ordered the fines of all guild brethren entered as strangers
to be uplifted by the dean and deacon-convener and their collectors after
Michaelmas following, and to be applied in terms of the letter of guildry. (fn. 48)
It was originally intended that the use of the service book should be
introduced at Easter, 1637, but the indignation with which the project was
received throughout the country generally induced delay, and it was only on
the 23rd of July in that year, that an attempt was made to introduce it at the
morning service in the Middle Church of St. Giles in Edinburgh. The archbishop of St. Andrews, lord chancellor, was present; Dr. Lindsay, bishop of
Edinburgh, was to preach; and Dr. Hanna, the dean, was to read the service of
the day. But the dean had scarcely commenced when a riot arose, and books,
stools, and other missiles were thrown at him. (fn. 49) The efforts of the bishop and
archbishop to appease the uproar proved futile, and ultimately the magistrates
who were present had to descend from their gallery and eject the rioters.
The service was then proceeded with, while the angry passions of the
infuriated presbyterians surged outside; and at its conclusion bishop Lindsay
had to be protected on his way home by the earl of Wemyss. On the bishop's
return from the afternoon's service, in the coach of the earl of Roxburgh,
he was protected from extreme danger only by the intervention of the armed
servants of the earl. Attempts to use the service book in the Greyfriars
Church and other churches of the city were met and defeated by similar proceedings. (fn. 50) On the following day the privy council issued a proclamation
denouncing the rioters; but five days later the chancellor archbishop and the
bishops determined not to continue the use of either the old or new service
book till the king's pleasure was ascertained, and this determination was
approved of by the privy council. The king, however, insisted on the
establishment of the new service book, and the privy council, on 4th August,
ordered its use to be renewed on Sunday, the 13th. Excuses were found,
however, for not obeying the order. But the bishops enjoined the liturgy to be
used in their dioceses, and the archbishop of Glasgow requested Robert Baillie,
then minister of Kilwinning, afterwards principal of the university of Glasgow,
to preach to the diocesan synod on the last Wednesday of August, and to urge
his hearers to conform to the canons and service book. Baillie, however,
declined, but was commanded on his canonical obedience to preach, though the
archbishop afterwards relieved him by appointing William Annan, minister
at Ayr, to do so. Annan's experiences, however, and the treatment he
received at the hands of the women of the city, are more indicative of their
combative presbyterianism than of their delicacy. (fn. 51)
In consequence of the opposition which had arisen to the canons and
service book, and which was supported by many noblemen and gentlemen,
the privy council on 25th August again wrote the king representing the
popular discontent; but on 10th September he expressed his dissatisfaction with their remissness, and ordered the bishops to cause the
liturgy to be read in their respective dioceses. No fewer than sixtyeight petitions, or "supplications" as they were termed, against it were
then presented to the council, and one of these was signed by the earl of
Sutherland in name of the nobility, barons, ministers, and burgesses. (fn. 52) These
were forwarded to the king through the duke of Lennox, who had come
to Scotland to his mother's funeral, and was returning to England through
Edinburgh; and it was hoped that he might be able to impress his Majesty
with a sense of the intense antipathy which existed to the course of action
he was pursuing. This hope was, however, speedily disappointed, for on
9th October Charles wrote the privy council simply postponing an answer
to their petitions, and on the 17th they, in obedience to his orders,
issued three proclamations, by the first of which the petitioners who had
assembled in great numbers to receive an answer to their supplications were
required to leave Edinburgh within twenty-four hours. By the second the
courts of justice were ordered to be removed first to Linlithgow and
afterwards to Dundee; and by the third all copies of a book by George
Gillespie, entitled a "Dispute against popish ceremonies obtruded upon the
Church of Scotland," were directed to be brought to the privy council and
publicly burned. (fn. 53) . This was followed in Edinburgh by proceedings both
towards members of the privy council and the magistrates which indicated
the popular exasperation, and afterwards by the presentation to the privy
council of a complaint against the bishops, and a supplication that they
should be subjected to trial. (fn. 54) This document was forwarded to the king,
and the petitioners agreed to meet again on the 15th of November. In
the course of a heated discussion before the privy council then assembled in
Linlithgow, bishop Sydserf (fn. 55) and Sir John Hay suggested that the petitioners
should choose sixteen commissioners of their own number to communicate
with the privy council, and report the result to their constituents, and that
the others should return to their homes. The suggestion was at once accepted,
and a committee was afterwards appointed. (fn. 56) The body thus constituted
consisted of four noblemen, four esquires or lairds, four burgesses, and four
ministers. (fn. 57) On 15th November the petitioners, as previously arranged,
returned to Edinburgh, and the committee was reconstituted. In the new
form it was composed of six or more noblemen, two gentlemen from each
shire, one townsman from each burgh, and one minister from each presbytery; (fn. 58)
and as so organised it soon took active steps in opposition to the policy of the
king.
On 3rd October, 1637, the bailies and council, at the desire of the archbishop, admitted James Stewart of Floack, merchant and burgess, to be
provost for the ensuing year; and on the same day the archbishop, from a leet
of nine, elected John Anderson, Ninian Anderson, and Colin Campbell to be
bailies. On the 6th the provost and bailies of that and the preceding years,
with one person chosen to make up the number of twelve, conform to the act
of 19th August, elected thirteen merchants and twelve craftsmen to be councillors; (fn. 59) and on the 11th James Hamilton was appointed dean of guild;
Richard Allan, deacon convener; Robert Hoggisyard, treasurer; William
Hynschaw, master of work; Archibald Faullis, water bailie; and John
Gilhagie, visitor of maltmen and mealmen. (fn. 60)
The action of the king and his advisers in regard to the enforcement in
Scotland of uniformity in public worship, and the use of the book of
common prayer, was regarded in Glasgow as elsewhere with deep interest.
On 14th October Walter Stirling and Mr. Robert Wilkie (apparently the
minister of the Blackfriars kirk) were appointed by the town council to ride
to Edinburgh and "attend ane gracious answer of his Majestie anent the
buik of commoun prayer." On 11th November Mathew Hamilton and Mr.
Robert Wilkie received a similar commission from the council. (fn. 61)
On the application of Robert Fleming, merchant, and his partners, who
were desirous to establish a manufactory in the city, wherein a number "of
the poorer sort of people" might be employed, the magistrates and council,
on 31st January, 1638, recognising the benefit which would accrue to the
burgh thereby, agreed to let Fleming their great lodging and yard in the
Drygate (with the exception of the two low "foir" vaults and back galleries
behind the same, situated to the east of the entry to the great lodging) and
the booth under the Tolbooth, then occupied by James Wood, all free of rent
or any other kind of payment, for a period of fifteen years, and also to uphold
the roof of the great lodging during that time. (fn. 62) The establishment of this
manufactory seems, however, to have alarmed the freemen weavers of the
burgh, who made representations to the council on the subject; whereupon
Patrick Bell, one of the undertakers, engaged for himself and his partners
that, during the endurance of the tack and the use by them of the booth,
"thair suld be no woovis wovin of townis folkis thairin be thair servandis in
hurt and prejudice of the said friemen, bot by thais onlie wha ar frie with the
calling." The council accordingly ordered this engagement to remain in
force during the tack. (fn. 63)
Unwarned by the hostility of the country to the infatuated course
he was pursuing, and disregarding the advice of the earl of Traquair,
whom he consulted, the king caused a proclamation to be issued on 19th
February, declaring that the liturgy had been compiled with his sanction;
censuring those who had petitioned that the bishops should be brought to
trial; and forbidding unlawful convocations of the people under pain of
treason. This proclamation was made in Stirling, where the privy council
then were, but no sooner had the herald performed his duty than a protest,
on behalf of the petitioners, was issued. They treated the proclamation as
emanating from the privy council, from which they refused to accept any
orders till the bishops were removed from it, and demanded to have recourse
to their sovereign "to present their grievances, and in a legal way to
prosecute the same before the ordinary competent judges, civil or ecclesiastical." The publication of this proclamation throughout the country
created great indignation, (fn. 64) and on the 24th of February the town council
of Glasgow appointed Colin Campbell, bailie, Gabriel Cuningham, Richard
Allan, and George Porterfield to ride to Edinburgh, and, as commissioners for the town, to concur with the remanant burghs of the kingdom,
so far as might lawfully be done, "anent the buikis of canones and
commoun prayer." (fn. 65) This was followed two days later by an instruction
to the town clerk to prepare and subscribe a commission to them to concur
with the commissioners of the other burghs "in humbly supplicating" the
king "concerning the buikes of canones and commoun prayer urgit to be
brought in in our kirk of Scotland, and anent the hie commissioun, swa
far as concernis Godis glorie, his Majesties honour, and preservatioun of
trew religioun professit within this kingdome, and approvine be laudable
lawis thairof, and to go on and conclud with the noblemen, barownes,
borrowes, ministeris, and utheris his Majesties loyal subjectis convenit to
that effect, swa far as lawfully may be done." (fn. 66) About this time the
committee of Covenanters appointed in November to act as a central
authority was found to be too large. "From time to time," says Gardiner, "a
select committee had been appointed to communicate with the [privy] council,
and that committee had been naturally selected from the different classes of
which the nation was composed. Four separate committees were now
appointed; one formed of all noblemen who might choose to attend, the
other three of four gentlemen, four ministers, and four burgh representatives
respectively. These committees might meet either separately or as one body.
Sometimes to them, and sometimes to the larger body of the commissioners,
the name of 'the Tables' was given, in the popular language of the day." (fn. 67)
On 17th March, again, the town council elected Walter Stirling to
attend a meeting of the burghs, and directed a commission to be given
him in terms similar to that granted to Colin Campbell and the others. (fn. 68)
That the excitement which the king's high-handed action produced throughout the country was largely felt in Glasgow is further indicated by an act of the
town council, dated 2nd April, ordering a watch to be kept nightly in the
town for a month, "at the discretion of the magistrates." (fn. 69)
Meanwhile the necessity of appealing to the masses of the people had
been recognised by "the Tables." Many who regarded with comparative
indifference the substitution of episcopalian for presbyterian forms of church
government were indignant at the idea of having their worship arbitrarily
interfered with, and determined, at all hazards, to resist, as a national
insult, dictation in such a matter by the prelates of the English church. To
enlist the active co-operation of these, as well as of all lovers of presbytery,
the document known as the "National Covenant" was prepared, and by it the
subscribers became bound to defend the true Reformed religion, to oppose
all "novations" and corruptions in the worship or government of the church,
unless approved of in a free assembly and parliament, and condemned the
innovations which the king sought to impose on the country. (fn. 70) This document
was first signed in the Greyfriars church and church yard of Edinburgh
on the 28th of February, 1638, and copies were afterwards distributed
throughout the country, and were numerously signed in Edinburgh, St.
Andrews, Glasgow, and Lanark. The ministers of St. Andrews and Aberdeen,
however, formally condemned it, and the clergy of Aberdeen averred their
determination to support the policy of the king. Dismayed by the intensity
and extent of the popular opposition thus evinced, the privy council appealed
to the king, who had now to learn unmistakeably—from a statement of the
grievances of the covenanters, which, on 28th April, was signed by the earls
of Rothes, Cassillis, and Montrose,—that they would not be satisfied with the
withdrawal of the book of canons and service book, but demanded the
abolition of the court of high commission, and the summoning of a lawful
and free national assembly and parliament. Simultaneously with these
proceedings, the covenanters, who were actively engaged throughout the
country in having the national covenant accepted and signed, frequently
exhibited towards those who held opinions contrary to theirs an intolerance
of spirit and action as decided as that of the king and Laud, but it has to be
remembered that to reject the covenant was, in the view of the covenanters, treason to the country. Advised by the representatives of the privy
council, and by such of the Scottish bishops as had proceeded to London,
the king in the end of May dispatched the marquis of Hamilton to Scotland
to endeavour to restore tranquility, but on his arrival on the 6th of June
he found the southern districts of the country under the control of the
covenanters, who had ordered supplies of arms from the continent, and
threatened to take possession of the castle of Edinburgh. Along with other
burghs Glasgow actively promoted this movement. On 26th May, Colin
Campbell, bailie, and four others were appointed to ride to Edinburgh
and "give their best advice for settling of the present comotiounes of the
kingdom;" (fn. 71) on 23rd June, John Barnis and three others were appointed to
attend the meeting of the burghs in Edinburgh, and free Gabriel Cuning
hame and the three other commissioners who were in attendance; on the
same day Colin Campbell was elected commissioner to the general convention of burghs to be held at Stirling on 3rd July, and William Neilson
was appointed assessor; and on 21st July the council authorised £477 12s. 8d.
Scots (£39 16s. sterling) to be paid as the expenses of the commissioners who
had represented the burgh at the conventions of burghs since 4th July
previous, "attending ane gracious ansuer of his Majestie anent the present
grievances of the countrie." (fn. 72) When the marquis met the covenanters he
learned that they refused to formulate their complaints to any authority
other than a general assembly and parliament. He had, therefore, to
represent to the king that he must either accede to the demands of his
subjects or suppress them by force of arms. Under these circumstances he
sought to temporise, and, after allowing the courts of justice to return to
Edinburgh, proceeded to England to confer with the king. He was told,
however, ere he left, that if he did not return by the 5th of August, with a
favourable answer, the covenanters would adopt such course as they might
consider best.
Meanwhile Glasgow was taking measures to meet such contingencies as
might arise. On 1st August the town council issued an order prohibiting
every person within the burgh from lending armour to any person
resident therein, and requiring all fencible persons to have their armour
ready "for schawing of thair musteris" on twenty-four hours' warning;
all persons not provided with arms were also required to get them with
diligence, under a penalty of £20. (fn. 73) On the 11th of the same month William
Hynschaw, master of works, who had gone to Flanders, was requested to
purchase there, for the town's use, fifty muskets, with stalfis, (fn. 74) and bandoliers
conform, and fifty pikes, (fn. 75) and on 8th September sixty young men were ordered
to be selected and trained up in the "handling" of arms. For this purpose a
man was engaged to come from Edinburgh and drill them, and he was
appointed to receive forty shillings a day, with his horse hire "hom and
afield." (fn. 76)
It would appear that bailie Campbell, who, on 23rd June, had been elected
one of the commissioners for the burgh to the convention of burghs to be held at
Stirling on 3rd July, had "abstracted himself thairfra" and had "disapoyntit the
toun thairanent without ony lawfull excuise, and neglecting the publick effairis,
quhairby this brugh might have been endangerit and onlawit in severall
onlawis, and as also in thir evill dayis discreditit." The town council, therefore, on 4th August ordained that at his "homcumming he be onlawit and
punishit so far as may be in law." John Barnis was then appointed commissioner for the burgh at the convention on 7th August, and William
Neilson was elected his assessor. (fn. 77) Having regard to the great expense
to which the town had been put in sending commissioners to Edinburgh to
attend to public affairs, the council, on 25th August, ordered that in future
two of their number should proceed there weekly on their own charges. James
Crane and John Anderson, younger, were accordingly appointed to attend
for the first week. (fn. 78)
On the 10th of August the marquis of Hamilton returned to Edinburgh
empowered to summon both an assembly and a parliament, under limitations intended to secure as much as possible the existing ecclesiastical polity and ritual.
But when he met the covenanters he found that they would be satisfied with
nothing short of the abolition of episcopacy and the Perth articles, and the
enforcement of the covenant on all persons under pain of excommunication.
Hamilton had therefore to return and represent this to the king, who was
induced, on 9th September, to revoke the canons, service book, and high
commission, to promise his assent to the repeal of the statute confirming
the Perth articles, and to make a variety of other concessions diametrically
opposed to what he had previously insisted on. The archbishop of St.
Andrews was also to be asked to resign his chancellorship, and was to be
compensated for loss of office. Proclamation was accordingly made, on 22nd
September, of the king's intentions; a general assembly was appointed to
meet at Glasgow (fn. 79) on 21st November; and a parliament was ordered to be
summoned to meet in Edinburgh on 15th May. Even this, however, did not
now satisfy the covenanters who protested against the royal proclamation. (fn. 80)
On 2nd October, Patrick Bell was elected provost on the nomination of the archbishop, who also, from a leet of nine, nominated Henry Glen,
Mathew Hamilton, and William Neilson to be bailies. On 5th October
thirteen merchants and twelve craftsmen were elected councillors; (fn. 81) and on
10th October Walter Stirling was appointed dean of guild; Richard Allan,
deacon convener; Walter Neilson, visitor; Andrew Martin, treasurer;
William Hynschaw, master of work; and Thomas Glen, water bailie. (fn. 82)
In consequence of the king's sanction to the holding of the assembly
on 21st November, the town council, on 8th October, anticipating the
repair to the town of many noblemen, commissioners from presbyteries,
and other commissioners, prohibited the burgesses and inhabitants from
letting or promising to let, for rent or otherwise, or from lending to friends,
any house, chamber, or stable, without previously obtaining license to do
so from persons appointed by the magistrates and council. The object of this
order, it was explained, was to secure that every person who came to the town
to attend the assembly might be lodged according to his quality and the
ability of the city, and violation of it was appointed to be punished by
the infliction of a fine of £100, loss of the liberty of the offender, and
imprisonment during the will of the magistrates. All householders were
farther required, under a similar penalty, to obey the orders of the persons
appointed to survey the houses and premises, and were prohibited from
charging more rent than was authorised by the magistrates. (fn. 83) Orders were
also given, on the 20th of the same month, to prepare the High Kirk for the
meeting of the assembly, by repairing the floor of the outer kirk, opening up
for light certain windows in the inner kirk, which had previously been
"biggit up with stone, and putting glass therein," and executing other
necessary works, and James Colquhoun, wright, was appointed to superintend
the operations. (fn. 84) Farther, in anticipation of the number of people who were
expected to repair to the town, a guard was ordered to be kept during the
day and a watch by night, (fn. 85) and all the inhabitants were required "to put out
candles and bowattis" [lanterns] during the time of the assembly. (fn. 86)
Inspired by the "Tables," the covenanters took immediate and active
steps to secure the return, as members of assembly, of persons who would
support them, and they prepared a formal accusation of the fourteen bishops,
which accusation contained, it must be said, many scandalous charges which
subsequently no attempt was made to substantiate, and could only have
been introduced to foster popular prejudice. This accusation was presented
to the presbytery of Edinburgh, which obviously had no jurisdiction over
the bishops as a class, but it was nevertheless referred by the presbytery
to the assembly. The "Tables" also issued instructions to their supporters
as to their attendance at the assembly, but the privy council issued a proclamation forbidding all commissioners to repair to the assembly with other
attendance than their ordinary retinue, or armed otherwise than as allowed
by law. Against this reasonable proclamation, however, the covenanters
protested, and entered the city in large numbers and armed. On the 8th of
November the town council, understanding that great and weighty matters
which might concern them very much would be dealt with by the assembly,
resolved, before appointing a commissioner to represent the burgh, that he
should not vote on any material matter till he had first intimated it to the
council and obtained their advice, upon which he should act. Upon this
footing Patrick Bell, provost, was elected commissioner, and on the 15th
Richard Allan was appointed his assessor. (fn. 87)
The assembly met in the cathedral on the 21st of November, and, large
as the building was, the crowd was so great as to make it difficult for the
members to get to their places. But though Baillie complains indignantly
of the "disorder, din, and clamour" which prevailed, the gathering was
one of profound national interest. The marquis of Hamilton, (fn. 88) as royal commissioner, occupied a chair of state under a canopy, surrounded by the chief
officers of state. In front was the table for the moderator and clerk. The
peers and other territorial barons who attended as lay elders sat at a long
table running down the centre of the church, while round it on seats
placed one above the other were the ministers and commissioners of burghs.
In all, the assembly consisted of one hundred and forty ecclesiastics and
one hundred laymen, but no bishops or church dignitaries were present.
Above, in one of the aisles, sat young nobles and men of rank who were
non-members, and the galleries were filled with members of all classes,
among whom were many ladies. One or two ministers wore gowns, the
rest appeared in cloaks. The lay members wore their ordinary dress, and
the noblemen and gentlemen carried their swords. John Bell, one of the
ministers of the city, acted as interim moderator, and after the royal commission had been read, and the commissions of members had been lodged,
Alexander Henderson, (fn. 89) was appointed moderator, and Archibald Johnston
of Warriston, (fn. 90) clerk. The royal commissioner then urged that the declaration of the bishops should be read, but this was not done till the 27th,
when a document signed by the archbishops of St. Andrews and
Glasgow and by the bishops of Edinburgh, Galloway, Ross, and Brechin,
with their reasons of dissent and protest, was read. The bishops of
Dunkeld, Orkney, Caithness, Argyle, Dunblane, Aberdeen, Moray, and
the Isles had not subscribed it. On the 28th a discussion took place as
to the bishops' declinature, after which the moderator declared that he
would take the vote of the assembly as to whether they could lawfully decide
in the accusation of the bishops, notwithstanding the reasons contained in
their declinature. Upon this declaration being made, the royal commissioner
addressed the assembly, and, in name and by authority of the king,
commanded it not to proceed farther, protesting that what afterwards might
be done should not be reported as an act of the assembly. To this command
the moderator replied, but the royal commissioner dissolved the assembly,
and left the cathedral along with the lords of the council while the clerk was
reading a protestation against his procedure. On the following day the royal
commissioner issued a proclamation which was published at the market cross
of Glasgow, setting forth the grounds of his action; prohibiting all further
meetings of the assembly; and requiring the members "to depart furth of
the city within the space of twenty-four hours, and to repair home to
their own houses, or go about their private affairs in a quiet manner." (fn. 91)
Nevertheless, the earl of Argyle, who had accompanied the commissioner as
one of his assessors, but refused to concur with the other members of the
privy council in the proclamation dissolving the assembly, returned to it, and
intimated his sympathy with its proceedings. (fn. 92) On the 29th the provost of
Glasgow convened the town council and, in obedience to their act of the 8th, intimated that on the previous evening he had been called on to vote on the question as to whither the assembly should dissolve, being discharged by authority,
or whither he should adhere to the protestation by the members as to not
dissolving. He stated also that he had been asked to vote on the question
as to whither the assembly should sit as judges on the bishops and their
adherents notwithstanding their declinature. He therefore craved the
instructions of the council as to how he should act, and they, after mature
deliberation, "by plurality of voittis," ordained him, "for thame and in
thair name, to voit that the assemblie sould sitt and not desolve, not
withstanding of any mandat or proclamatioun maid or to be maid in the
contrar;" "to adhair to the protestatioun maid be the members thairof
anent the not desolving of the samein;" to "sitt and continow with the
assemblie to the full desolving thairof;" and to "voyce for establisching
of the said assemblie judges to the saidis bischops and thair adhairrance
notwithstanding of the declinator proponit to thame in the contrar thairof. (fn. 93)
The assembly thereafter resolved, notwithstanding the opposition of a few
who retired, to proceed with its business, and on 4th December declared
the last six great assemblies, viz., those of Linlithgow in 1606 and 1608,
of Glasgow in 1610, of Aberdeen in 1616, of St. Andrews in 1617, and
of Perth in 1618, to have been unfree, unlawful, and null. (fn. 94) It also on
the 6th condemned the service book, the book of canons, the book of
ordination, and the court of high commission. (fn. 95) The two archbishops and
the four bishops who had signed the declinatures were then deposed and
excommunicated. (fn. 96) A similar sentence was pronounced as regarded the
bishops of Aberdeen and Dunblane. (fn. 97) The bishops of Moray, Orkney,
Argyle (or Lismore) and the Isles, (fn. 98) and the bishops of Dunkeld and Caithness, (fn. 99) were also deposed, but were to be excommunicated only in the event
of their not professing repentance and making submission to the assembly. (fn. 100)
On the 8th the assembly declared episcopacy to have been abjured by the
confession of faith, 1580, and ordered it to be removed out of the kirk. (fn. 101) A
similar declaration and order were made on the 10th as regarded the articles of
Perth. (fn. 102) On the following day the judicatories of the kirk were restored and
several former acts were revived and ratified. (fn. 103) Among other acts passed by
the assembly were—(1) one on 18th December ordaining presbyteries to
proceed with the censures of the kirk, to excommunication, against those
ministers who, being deposed by the assembly, did not acquiesce in their
sentences, but continued to exercise some part of their ministerial functions;
(2) one on the 19th against the civil power and places of kirkmen; (fn. 104) (3) one
on 20th December asserting the right of the kirk to have assemblies yearly
and oftener, pro re nata, and appointing the next general assembly to be
held on the third Wednesday of July in the following year; (fn. 105) and (4) one on
the last mentioned date appointing an humble supplication to be transmitted
to the king, craving his approval and ratification of its proceedings. (fn. 106)
The presentation of this supplication to the king—whose authority had
been so conspicuously set at naught—was, not unnaturally, felt to be a matter
of considerable danger. "Howsoever," says Baillie, "manie would have ventured to have gone with it, though their head should have gone therefor; yet,
understanding the increase of the king's wrath, and the danger there was, .
. . . also hearing afterwards from court of great spyte against the very
lyves of most of our nobles, gentrie, and ministrie, who were able to agent our
business; it was resolved that none of note or parts should go up, without
greater assurance for their returne, than could for that tyme be expected." (fn. 107)
Mr. George Winrahame, however, undertook the risk, and got the marquis of
Hamilton to present the supplication to the king, but no answer was made
to it. (fn. 108)