The Solemn League and Covenant in Holywood, County Down, 7th - 9th April 1644

Thanks to Jack Greenald yet again for pointing me in the right direction on this one!

Just discovered in the collection of the Ulster Museum is a copy of the Solemn League and Covenant:

At Holliwood the 8th Apryll, 1644, and upon
ye nynth herof lykweyes after sermon
delyvered by Mr William Adair upon both
these days the Covenant of religion was
explained and theirafter sworne, subscribed,
and seald w't marks by a number of ye
inhabitants of ye Kingdom of Irland

With 67 signatures, including:

Mr William Adair (the minister who preached)
Master Charles Hall (probably the parish minister at the time)
John Wright
Thomas Reid
Thomas Bailie
Alexander Waddell
John M'Cormick
John Waugh
John Scott
John M'Bride
James Fairlie
Thomas Russel
John Pentland
Alexander Gillespie
John Martin
James Webster
John M'Clelland (probably of Newtownards, the principal of Sir Hugh Montgomery's "great school" and part-time minister, and who was on "Eagle Wing")

I was sent a scan of a newspaper clipping from 1912 (specific date and specific newspaper unknown, but sometime a few weeks before the Ulster Covenant), entitled Solemn League and Covenant - Original Copy in Belfast - The Signing in Ulster - Historical Sketch". It is subtitled A brave day in Ireland on the last Lord's Day (April 7 1644) at the swearing of the Covenant in Belfast by our army and sundry others .

Make no mistake, this is of MASSIVE historical significance and is cultural gold dust!

Ballyfrenis Presbyterian Church

Oh boy. It really should be no surprise - it's been in my blood all along... here's my latest Covenanters discovery!

This church (now closed and turned into a house) is where my mother's side of the family (Wilsons) worshipped at the townland of Ballyfrenis in the middle of the "Low Country", halfway between Carrowdore and Millisle, for many generations up until the 1950s. The church published a small booklet entitled "The Story of a Century" by Rev John Forbes in 1946. I have a photocopy of it.

It was established in 1843, as an offshoot of the "Associate Presbytery of Ireland" which had been formed in 1810 by a Rev James Bryce of Killaig, County Antrim. The booklet says of the new Ballyfrenis congregation that "many of the Covenanting faith of that day joined the new church and took a leading part in its life and work...". Perhaps some of you who understand the politics of Presbyterian history in Ulster can fill me in on the background.

The other member churches of the Associate Presbytery were in County Antrim - Cullybackey, Loanends, Killaig - and for three years the people of Ballyfrenis had no church building to worship in. So "the congregation held their religious services in the open air... there were thirteen communicants at the first celebration of the Lord's Supper, which was held in the "Green". This form of worship was commonly practised by the Covenanters during the persecutions in Scotland, and this may be the reason why the Ballyfrenis people were known as 'Covenanters' at this time..."

The booklet even specifies where the outdoor meetings (and in inclement weather, the farms and barns where the indoor meetings) were held, in the townlands of Ballyfrenis, Drumawhey, Ballybuttle and Islandhill (where the Wilson family home, where my mother and her 8 siblings were reared, still stands - a single storey cottage with a corrugated iron roof)

In 1846, Rev John Ewing was ordained by the Associate Presbytery of Ireland as the first Minister of Ballyfrenis. In 1858 the Associate Presbytery of Ireland was admitted into the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

The 1859 Revival hit Ballyfrenis too, "a most promising revival of religion in the neighbourhood, and our little church has occupied the most prominent part in it. The attendance has very greatly increased, being in the forenoon more than double that of what it used to be; in the evening three of four times as great as formerly..."

In 1900, the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Free Churches of Scotland merged to form the United Free Church of Scotland. Ballyfrenis remained with the United Free Church up until 1922, when they joined the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. In 1932, the then Minister Rev Hugh F Kirker, retired having been the minister at Ballyfrenis since 1886 - 46 years! The Wilson family has a deep affection for the memory of Mr Kirker. He even co-ordinated the local signings of the Ulster Covenant in 1912, and signed it himself - see the evidence here.

In 1932 the congregation merged with Carrowdore, where my uncle Vincent is to this day a member of the Kirk Session.

So, a potted history of my mother's folk. And surprise surprise, they were 19th century Covenanters!!

Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones and the Ulster Scots

Yes, it's hard to believe, but I've just come across an excerpt from the renowned theologian Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones' book Preaching and Preachers where he refers to John Livingstone, the Killinchy minister who had preached with such power at the Kirk O Shotts revival in Scotland in 1630:

"...A revival, by definition, is the mighty act of God and it is a sovereign act of God It is as independent as that. Man can do nothing. God, and God alone, does it … A revival is something which, when it happens, leads people to say, as the townspeople said in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, ‘What is this? What is it?’ It is something that comes like a tornado. It is almost like an overflowing tide, it is like a flood. Astounding things happen, and of such a magnitude that men are left amazed, astonished...

Miraculous things happen, things that are beyond the explanation and the wit of men. And indeed, if you consult the men whom God has used on such occasions, they will all tell you the same thing.

They suddenly, like John Livingstone, became conscious of a power coming upon them.

Not themselves. Taken up, taken out of themselves. Given liberty. Given authority. Given fearlessness. Speaking as men of God with the boldness of the original apostles. They knew when the power came, they knew when the power went. You will read it in the journals of Whitefield and of Wesley and all the rest. This is the hand of the Lord. This is the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. It was because he knew so much about this that the Apostle Paul says ‘For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:4–5). That is it ..."

First Derry Presbyterian Church

William Roulston and I visited this church a few weeks ago, it's right on the famous walls of the city. Here's a pic of a huge memorial in the entrance hall. It reads:

"... from 1605AD onward, many Scotsmen settled in Londonderry and the neighbourhood, so many that in 1644, when the Solemn League and Covenant was publicly signed in the Diamond, they formed the bulk of the population..."

Once again, the Covenanters are everywhere!

Michael Bruce

Michael Bruce was minister of Killinchy from 1656 - he was their next minister after John Livingstone. He was a great-grandson of Rev Robert Bruce of Edinburgh, and was a mighty field preacher of his day, both in Ulster and Scotland. I've just downloaded a copy of Howie's "Sermons Delivered in Times of Persecution in Scotland", where it says of Bruce:

"...The fire of persecution for non-conformity in Scotland soon extended to the North of Ireland. The king and his courtiers
well knew that there were many valiant men in Ulster who would never bend before the blast, however furious it might blow.

Bruce was ejected from the church and living of Killinchy, and, orders being given for his apprehension, he was compelled to betake himself for safety to the houses of private friends and other places of refuge. But he did not cease to proclaim the Gospel. In kilns, barns, or woods, and even in the night, he and many of his flock met and held sweet fellowship together in partaking, in doctrine and sacrament, of the bread of life..."

Covenanters in Ulster on GoogleMaps

Spent Saturday with William Roulston and John Turner, visiting some Covenanter sites in County Antrim. Two of them (The Vow and Laymore) were tricky to find, so I've started an online heritage trail on GoogleMaps to make it easier to find them again, and for other folk to find them too. Click the link on the left under "My Other Websites" to see them - let me know what you think.

Blair Necessities

How important was Robert Blair? Am I exaggerating all of this?

"...it is an undoubted fact that the labours of Blair and his brethren had a most blessed effect on the tumultuous colony of Ulster, and served to make that Province what it has ever been since..." (p. 111)

"...the awakening which followed was the chief means of putting on Ulster the stamp which it has ever since retained..." (p. 110)

"...it was this spiritual awakening that laid the foundation of the prosperity of Ulster..." (p119)

from The Preachers of Scotland by William Blaikie, 1888.

Covenanter Street Names in Belfast

(Thanks to Jack Greenald for the tip-off on this one.) Jack mentioned this to me a while back, so I dug out the Belfast Streetfinder, and lo and behold down in Orangefield, close to Grosvenor Grammar School, there are three streets named after David Houston, and one after Richard Cameron / the Cameronians.

At the side of Sandy Row Orange Hall is Renwick Street, and just off the Shankill is Cargill Street.

Cameron, Cargill and Renwick were all killed for their stand, and all three had their heads displayed at the Netherbow in Edinburgh as a deterrent to others who might follow them. Houston died in Ulster and was buried near Connor in County Antrim. Somebody in the old Belfast Corporation obviously knew his Ulster-Scots history for him to propose these names!

(sorry for the messy layout, but Blogger's not a very refined publishing tool)

Robert Blair of Bangor

Robert Blair is probably the most important of all of the early Ulster Presbyterian ministers. He arrived in Ulster, somewhat reluctantly, after a career in both teaching and ministering in Scotland. That's his signature above, taken from his autobiography. There's a ropey digitised version of it available here on Google Books to download free as a PDF.

The Presbyterian Historical Society will be reprinting it later in the year, and next week they're launching a reprint of "Adair's Narrative". It'll be on sale for £20, but they've only printed 250 copies with Tentmaker Publications, so my advice is to get one quick. It's a magnificent source of information about the early Scots settlement in Ulster, and has a lot of details about the early ministers, Eagle Wing, the Sixmilewater Revival and the later persecutions. Absolutely essential reading.

Here's a bit about Blair. He was obviously getting on well in Scotland, and was considering going to France to preach among the Huguenots. However, much like Abraham and Jonah, he felt the call of God. The Lord said to Blair - "as if one standing by had audibly said" -

"Thou fool art taking the disposal of thyself, not submitting to me. Thou must either preach the Gospel in Ireland or nowhere at all" Being thus rebuked, he found himself bound in spirit to set his face towards Ireland; and yet, for all this, was not persuaded to settle there, loathing that country, and hankering still after France. Yet, the Sovereign Lord thrust him over into Ireland wholly against his inclination.

So, coming over, and landing at Glenarm, he goes towards Carrickfergus; and, having come within a mile of the town, upon the top of the hill Bangor in these parts appeared to him; at sight of which the Lord did unexpectedly fill his heart with such a sweet peace and extraordinary joy that he could scarcely contain himself, but was forced to lie down upon the grass to rejoice in the Lord, who was the same in Ireland that he was in Scotland..."

Seeing Bangor doesn't usually have that affect on people! Blair had been invited to Bangor by Sir James Hamilton, who I refer to as one of the Founding Fathers of the Ulster Scots. A great booklet of Blair's life is available from the Presbyterian Historical Society for £2.00

I recently bought a reprint copy of “Scottish Martyrs and Covenanters” by Daniel Defoe and Others. Defoe wrote the classic Robinson Crusoe. It has a short chapter entitled “Blair, Rutherford, Dickson and Douglas”, where Blair is described as having a “mild and amiable temper”, and of being “a sweet, majestick-looking man, and he showed me the majesty of God”.

"It's Rangers For Me"

I'll never play at Ibrox, and I've only ever been to the great stadium a handful of times. So to be quoted in a book dedicated to Rangers is quite something for me.

I'm on page 128, right in the top left corner, in Chris Williamson's chapter entitled "Rangers and the Ulster Scots".

I only started following Rangers when I was about 12 - it was 1984 - I couldnt work out why all the boys in my year at school were wearing white Umbro shorts for PE that had a funny monogram on the leg. I'd never seen it before; it was of course the world-famous "RFC" crest.

At that point, Jock Wallace was the manager, the Rangers News was a two colour newssheet, the kit sponsor was CR Smith (a Glasgow double glazing firm) and they weren't winning much. Nevertheless most Saturday nights were spent desperately trying to tune the tv into BBC Scotland so we could watch the Rangers highlights on "Sportscene" rather than the English football on "Match of the Day"!

"Two Shall Be Together" (Notes from a PreMillennial Childhood)

Another wee Sunday School chorus that drifted back into my head tonight:

Say, will you be ready when Jesus comes?
Are you sure you're born again and washed in Jesus' blood?
Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow?
Say will you be ready when Jesus comes?

Two shall be together, grinding at the mill;
Two shall be together, sleeping calm and still;
One shall be taken, the other left behind
Say will you be ready when Jesus comes?"

Graeme and I should record this, and others like it, sometime. Capture them all now while there are still older folks about to sing them to us, and before we forget them ourselves.

(Illustration from There's a New World Coming by Hal Lindsey, 1973)

Today's edition of "The Scotsman"!

I subscribe to the daily free email from The Scotsman newspaper. In today's one it included "Fact of the Day", which was:

Fact of the Day
On this day in 1546, Protestant reformer George Wishart was burnt at the stake by Cardinal Beaton. Wishart's death precipitated a riot as Protestants stormed St Andrews Castle, the Cardinal's refuge. To read more about Scotland's history go to heritage.scotsman.com

Roll on the day when Northern Ireland's mainstream media commemorates events like this!

[Just a few weeks ago I blogged about Wishart's martyrdom here, where I revealed that one of Hilary's ancestors was involved in the retaliatory murder of Cardinal Beaton!]

370 Years Ago

"...On this day, Wednesday, February 28, 1638, the Covenant was first read aloud in the Greyfriars Church of Edinburgh. This was the same church where John Knox had once been taken for trial. It was already dear to the Scots, and now would be more so. Leading individuals signed the covenant on the spot.

The next day, it was taken to Tailors Hall, where the burghers of the city added their names. In subsequent days and weeks, the movement gained force as copies made their way not only throughout Scotland, but into Ireland. Everywhere, people signed..."

(from http://chi.gospelcom.net/DAILYF/2003/02/daily-02-28-2003.shtml)

1640 - Ulster Covenanters causing bother yet again

This is a description of a scene in Scotland in early August 1640, of a Covenanter army of 20,000 men, 4,000 horse and wagon loads of artillery. The army had left Edinburgh on 31st July and was preparing to invade England - headed by Blair from Bangor and Livingstone from Killinchy!

"...along with the colours displaying the motto 'Covenant for Religion Crowne and Country,' marched resolute military chaplains, namely Alexander Henderson, Robert Blair, John Livingstone and other country pastors..."

Henderson is acknowledged as the author of Scotland's National Covenant, so once again this shows just how integral the Ulster ministers were to the whole "50 Years Struggle" from 1638 - 1688.

(quoted from The Covenanters, p349 by J King Hewison, 1908)

Thanks Graeme!

Check this out - my brother Graeme just sent it to me. This is what gospel music should be all about. Simplicity and sincerity - fantastic!

Be Prepared

It's the motto of the Scouts; it's worth bearing in mind that if you intend trying to spend time tracking down Covenanter monuments, you need to have the right boots with you. The monuments are often well off the beaten track, in the middle of fields and moors, which are good fun to squelch and skid through in mid February. Here's the evidence!

A was gutters tae the oxters and had tae change baith ma breeks and ma shuin at the side o tha road yin day! But no tae worry, A got the photos A was efter - ye can see maist o them here

Theodore Roosevelt and the Covenanters

100 years ago, the President of the USA was Theodore Roosevelt. He was made President aged just 42, following the assassination of President William McKinley - yet another President of Ulster descent whose ancestors came from Dervock in County Antrim. Roosevelt's term was from 1901 - 1909, and his mother's ancestors had come from Glenoe in County Antrim and emigrated to what were then the "American Colonies" in May 1729.

In his great epic "The Winning of the West" , Roosevelt wrote:

"It is doubtful if we have realised in the leadership of our country, the part played by that stern and virile people, the Scotch-Irish, whose predecessors taught the creed of Knox and Calvin. These Irish representatives of the Covenanters... formed the kernel of the distinctively and intensely American stock who were the pioneers of our people in their march westward, the vanguard of the army of fighting settlers... they became the vanguard of our civilization...these were the men who first declared for American independence... they were the kinsfolk of the Covenanters, they deemed it a religious duty to interpret their own Bible... for generations their whole ecclesiastical and scholastic systems have been found fundamentally democratic."

Alexander Peden and the 100 Ulster-Scots

(Illustration - Alexander Peden at the grave of Richard Cameron, Airds Moss, between Cumnock and Muirkirk)

The Covenanters in Ulster story is so unresearched (except by the dedicated few) that it's like stumbling through a diamond mine - kick something over and there's another gem right before your eyes. Here's the latest one:

From a book called Historical Notices by Lord Fountainhall, Vol II p 630, dated 27th March 1685:

"News came to the Privy Counsell that about 100 men well armed and appointed had left Ireland, because of a search there for such malcontents, and landed in the West of Scotland and joyned with the wild fanatiques... They had one Mr Peden a minister with them, and one Isaack who commanded them. They had frighted the most part of all the country ministers, so that they durst not stay at their churches, but retired into Edinburgh or garrison tounes; and it was sad to see whole shires destitute of preaching except in brughs. Whenever they came they plundered armes, and particularly at my Lord Dumfries's house" (quoted in History of Old Cumnock, page 169)

So Peden left Ulster, returned to Scotland (probably in 1685 - when the 23 year old Rev James Renwick was emerging as the new leader of the Covenanters), and brought with him a band of 100 well-armed Ulster-Scots. They joined their Scottish Covenanter kinsfolk, and promptly tore their way through the west of Scotland, seizing guns whereever they went.

.......


Peden had heard much about young Renwick (shown here), but was wary of him. When they eventually met, Peden was reassured by Renwick's commitment. He had little to worry about, for when Renwick was seized and hauled to Edinburgh to be martyred, these were his final words:

"...Spectators, I am come here this day to lay down my life for adhering to the truths of Christ, for which I am neither afraid nor ashamed to suffer. Nay, I bless the Lord that ever He counted me worthy, or enabled me to suffer anything for Him; and I desire to praise His grace that He hath not only kept me from the gross pollutions of the time, but also from the many ordinary pollutions of children; and for such as I have been stained with, He hath washed and cleansed me from them in His own blood.

I am this day to lay down my life for these three things:
1. For disowning the usurpation and tyranny of James, Duke of York.
2. For preaching that it was unlawful to pay the cess expressly exacted for bearing down the gospel
3. For teaching that it was lawful for people to carry arms for defending themselves in their meeting for the persecuted gospel ordinances.

I think a testimony for these is worth many lives; and if I had ten thousand, I would think it little enough to lay them all down for the same.

Dear friends, I die a Presbyterian Protestant; I own the word of God as the rule of faith and manners... I leave my testimony approving the preaching in the fields, and defending the same by arms. I adjoin my testimony to all these truths that have been sealed by bloodshed, either on scaffold, field, or seas, for the cause of Christ.



I leave my testimony against Popery, Prelacy, Erastianism, against all profanity, and everything contrary to sound doctrine and the power of godliness; particularly against all usurpations and encroachments made upon Christ’s right, the Prince of the kings of the earth, who alone must bear the glory of ruling in His own kingdom, the church; and in particular against the absolute power affected by this usurper, that belongs to no mortal, but is the incommunicable prerogative of Jehovah, and against his Toleration flowing from this absolute power.”

Renwick was hanged in Edinburgh on February 17, 1688. The illustration here is of his statue in Stirling.

18,000 Martyrs for Jesus

This is a detail from the Covenanters memorial at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, taken last Sunday afternoon.

Hilary's Family Tree - part 1

Hilary's dad has a great family tree that one of his ancestors put together donkeys years ago. The family line is "Moneypenny of Pitmilly" in Fife, Scotland. It's about 5 miles away from St Andrews - a town which Wylie describes as the capital city of the kingdom of darkness". (Having said that, our kids like the beach there)

David Moneypenny (1512 - 1579) : the family tree says "having been declared privy to the slaughter of Cardinal Beaton (shown here) in 1546. he and his son received a pardon in 1553 from Mary Queen of Scots".

Moneypenny and Beaton were cousins, but it was Beaton who had overseen the execution of George Wishart, the second Protestant martyr of the Scottish Reformation, who was burned at the stake in St Andrews on 1st March 1546. (A memorial today marks the spot where Wishart was martyred - here are photos of the "plinth" style sign, and the cobble monogram in the road of his initials).



In revenge, on 29th May of the same year, a group of about 16 men broke into the Cardinal's chambers at the Castle of St Andrews, stabbed him twice with a dagger and twice again with a sword. They then hung his body from his window at the front of the castle for all to see. Wylie wrote "...the cardinal's corpse flung upon a dung hill, the conspirators kept possession of his castle..."

Brutal stuff indeed. Then on 4th June 1547, the French navy arrived, stormed the place, and took the castle's occupiers away to slavery. One of them was a certain John Knox.

(The moral of this story is that it might be a good idea to check out your fiancés family tree before you accidentally marry an axe murderer. That my wife is descended from one of Cardinal Beaton's assassins is either a) a great honour or b) a good reason to go to self-defence lessons)

The Five Brothers of Margaret Wilson - "Martyr of the Solway"

This is a famous painting of Margaret Wilson, by John Everett Millais She was drowned in May 1685 in the rising tides of the Solway Firth, near Wigtown in south west Scotland. I've just discovered that her four older brothers - William, Robert, Samuel and John - all fled the "Killing Times" in Scotland and came to Ulster in an open boat in 1684.

- William Wilson (died 1721) married an Elizabeth McIlroy
- Robert Wilson married, and had a daughter called Margaret
- Samuel Wilson married a Martha Kirkpatrick in 1732
- John Wilson (born 1660 or 1666) brought with him an oak chair and chest, and was at Carrickfergus on 14th June 1690 to meet William of Orange (and the 15,000 troops that came with him). John was given lands at Rashee, near Ballyclare.*

* The following information was also sent to me: "..."The Wilsons were an impeccably Protestant family of the middle sort who traced their ancestry back to a John Wilson who was reputed to have arrived at Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, in the suite of King William III in 1690. Wilson almost certainly arrived in Ireland earlier, and there are lots of Wilsons in the vicinity before 1690, but it was socially more superior to claim an association with William of Orange than for the family to be mere ‘Planters’." - from the biography of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, CIGS, by Keith Jeffery

....................

Her younger brother, Thomas Wilson, (died 1734 at Penninghame, Wigtown) witnessed her martyrdom, and he left Scotland for Holland where he joined the Williamite army in Flanders. He was later stationed at Edinburgh Castle. (nb - William laid seige to the Castle from 18 March 1689 - 13 June 1689)

News of Margaret's drowning must have reached Holland, possibly via Thomas, for when William of Orange wrote his Declaration to the People of Scotland (dated 10 October 1688) William specifically mentioned barbarities such as the destroying of poor people by 'hanging, shooting, and drowning them without any form of law or respect to age and sex'.

(thanks for the information on this post are due to Willie Drennan, Jack Greenald and Gordon Lucy. See the self-published booklet "Margaret Wilson the Martyr - a Genealogical Account of the Wilson Family of Penninghame Parish" by John G Wilson of Kilwinnet. Published by House of Kilwinnet Publications, Colmonnel, Ayrshire, 1998. Visit http://www.wilsonofkilwinnet.com/

Matthew Scott, Ballyhalbert, 1772

My friend Richard MacMaster (now living in Florida), emailed me this info a while back:

Belfast News Letter, October 13, 1772
"Matthew Scott of Ballyhalbert in the County of Down, intending to remove from thence, will on Tuesday the 23rd Inst., sell by Auction all his Household Furniture, Stock of Cattle, and Farming Utensils, also his Interest in a Lease, during the Life of the Revd. Peter Winder, of 17 acres and a half of Land, contiguous to the Village of Ballyhalbert."

He doesn't actually say he's going to America, but disposing of his household furniture, cattle and farming utensils would suggest he wasn't simply moving to another farm a few miles away. He wasn't going to Ballywalter for the day - he was about to go on a lifetime journey. In 1772 America was gearing up for her War of Independence, and as about 1/3 of George Washington's army were Ulstermen, maybe that's where Matthew Scott was heading too?

There was a Captain Matthew Scott in Washington's army - in the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment - and it had at least one Ulsterman in its ranks, an Alexander McCurdy

...........

(pic above is of a soldier of the 13th Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line)

Presidential Elections? 60 years ago...

Even here in wee Northern Ireland, the US Presidential elections are getting pretty heavy news coverage. Obama or Clinton or McCain?*

I'm no expert on US politics (I'm sure John Killian can keep me right), but I've been interested over the past year or so in a former candidate - Henry Wallace (1888 - 1965) - who ran for the "Progressive Party" in 1948. He had been Vice President during WW2. His post-war position was to feed the world, not to destroy it. He wanted to build up the ordinary American farmer by encouraging new agricultural practices and methods that would both rebuild the economy and feed people who needed it.

Wallace's father, or maybe his grandfather (they were BOTH also called Henry Wallace!) was a big hitter in the early days of The Scotch-Irish Society of the USA, and he wrote a lengthy article in their 1892 "Proceedings" called "The Scotch-Irish of Iowa". In it he wrote:

...Wherever you find the (Scotch-Irish) race there you find the Sabbath, and a plain and simple worship that deals with the highest themes, and an industry and thrift that needs no fawning to secure its rewards. These are the racial characteristics that will abide with us as long as we teach our children the Catechism; so long as we preserve the Scotch-Irish Sabbath, and retain our conviction that the great supreme Power that is behind and over all is the rewarder of the righteous and the foe of every form of oppression.

So long as this moral environment is maintained the Scotch-Irishman will be found battling for civil and religious liberty, as he has done in all his past history. He will ever be striving, whether North or South, in America or Europe, to realize an ideal state and an ideal home. He may be masterful and dominating, ill to force, unjust sometimes, but only when the truth and the just cause has not been pleaded at the bar of his conscience.

He is now just beginning to recognize the value of his achievements on this continent... it is only in free America, modeled in its political institutions, on the principles of the Scotch Presbytery, that the Scotch-Irish character can reach its highest development....

Rousing stuff indeed! A while back my late friend Brian Richmond loaned me a CD by a now-defunct band called The Hangdogs. They recorded one of Henry Wallace's campaign songs on their 2003 album "Wallace 48". Some of the lyrics and songs on the cd are what we Ulster folk would call coooooorse, but "Wallace 48" is a real standout, and worth bearing in mind when we look a Presidential elections today. Sounds very familiar...



Brother have you heard the news?
There's another war a-brewin'
With 60 million still warm in the ground...
Republican or Democrat,
The bosses call the shots
Big business, war and empire intertwined...
"No more hunger, fear or A-bombs
Across the world and across the land!"
Cries the uncommon champion
Of the common man...
That quiet Iowa farmer
Henry Wallace is his name...

(the line "Big business, war and empire intertwined..." sounds a lot like what Eisenhower famously called "the military-industrial complex" in his ominous farewell speech of 1961. Watch it on Youtube below)



*ps - what little reading I've done about the current US Presidential election leads me to prefer many of the policies of Ron Paul. But, ultimately, as Henry Wallace wrote, "...the great supreme Power that is behind and over all is the rewarder of the righteous and the foe of every form of oppression..."

The Hymns of Samuel Rutherford?

Rutherford didn't write any hymns of his own, but The Letters of Samuel Rutherford are regarded as some of the finest Christian literature ever written. They have inspired believers across the world for generations. Here's a great example of their impact:

In 1857, an Edinburgh woman called Ann Ross Cousin (1824-1906) was given a book of Rutherford's letters. They had such a deep effect on her that she wrote two mighty hymns - "Oh Christ What Burdens Bowed Thy Head", and "The Sands of Time Are Sinking" (also sometimes called "In Immanuel's Land")

Two brilliant old hymns.

Samuel Rutherford, the Covenant and the "Eagle Wing"

Samuel Rutherford(1600 - 1661) was one of the great "minds" of the Covenanters. I bought a book of his letters yesterday, in the Evangelical Bookshop in Belfast (the wee one beside Church House), in the second hand section at the back. (in my student days that was a weekly forage for me!)

I was delighted to see that Rutherford corresponded with Rev Robert Cunningham of Holywood, and was obviously aware of the plans of Blair, Livingstone, Hamilton and McClelland to sail to America on "Eagle Wing" - they sailed from Groomsport in County Down on 9th September 1636 with 136 other Ulster-Scots Presbyterians in what was the first attempt to emigrate from Ulster to America.

Just a few months after Jenny Geddes hurled a stool at the Dean in St Giles' in Edinburgh, Rutherford was ousted from his ministry at Anwoth by the Bishop of Galloway on 27th July 1636 and was banished to Aberdeen in the north of Scotland. A week later, on 4th August 1636, he wrote (from Aberdeen) to Cunningham in Holywood. Rutherford said:

"...I know not, my dear brother, if our worthy brethren be gone to sea or not. They are on my heart and in my prayers. If they be yet with you, salute my dear friend, John Stuart, my well-beloved brethren in the Lord, Mr Blair, Mr Hamilton, Mr Livingstone and Mr McClelland, and acquaint them with my troubles, and entreat them to pray for the poor afflicted prisoner of Christ. They are dear to my soul. I seek your prayers and theirs for my flock; their remembrance breaketh my heart..."

What is significant is that the Ulster ministers were not some maverick rump doing their own thing - they were deeply interconnected with their fellow ministers in Scotland. For someone of Rutherfords standing to be aware of their plans to sail to America also opens other questions - was "Eagle Wing" the advance party, and had it succeeded how many others would have followed them to the New World?

From the Covenanters to the Carter Family

In 1933 the Carter Family recorded "On the Sea of Galilee". A brilliantly simple wee song, with these lyrics:

Must I be carried to the sky
On flowery beds of ease -
While others fought to win the prize
And sailed through bloody seas?

You don't have to read much about the Covenanters to be humbled by their utter commitment and sacrifice. So these lyrics hold true today like no other generation before. For all our decadent wealth - and our greed for even more - what right do we have to "flowery beds of ease" when our forefathers "sailed through bloody seas" - and many believers around the world are being persecuted at this very moment?

William Cleland's "Bluidy Banner"

William Cleland was just 17 years old during the Covenanters battles of 1679 at Drumclog (where the Covenanters defeated "Bluidy Clavers" - Graham of Claverhouse), where Cleland was an Officer of Foot and was instrumental in the victory. He also fought as a Captain at the Battle of Bothwell Brig where he was a Captain, but where the Covenanters were defeated.

Cleland carried a beautiful banner, made of blue silk. it had three messages:

1. At the top in gold Hebrew script it reads "Jehovah Nissi" which translates as "The Lord is My Banner" - a quote from Exodus 17 v 15, where during a great battle that the Israelites were fighting against the Amalekites, they were assured of the victory as long as Moses held his arms aloft. As he grew tired, his brother Aaron and Caleb's son Hur held his arms up for him. After the victory, Moses built an altar and called it "Jehovah Nissi"

2. In the middle it says "For Christ and His Truths" in large white letters

3. At the bottom in red type it says "No Quarters for Ye Active Enemies of Ye Covenant"

Cleland gave the banner and his sword to his friend Henry Hall of Haughhead at an unknown date, to prevent them falling into the hands of the enemy. The items were passed down the generations to several zealous Covenanters until they reached the hands of the Raeburn Family from East Lothian, and were discovered by a Mr James Drummond around 1850. The banner eventually came into the possession of the regiment at a later date.

The banner can today be seen on display at the Cameronians Regimental Museum in Hamilton, Scotland.

Postscript:William Cleland later joined a Covenanter regiment fighting for King William III, but was killed at the Battle of Dunkeld in August 1689. A book of his poetry was published in 1697, including one entitled "On the clergie when they met to consult about taking the Test in the year 1681" - I've not read it, but must be a comment on the "Test Oath" which was forced upon the clergy in July 1681, to place the King in supremacy over the Church.

Changin...

(Sorry about the recent outage roon here.) I'm going tae be changin a wheen o things on the blog - the name and the address for starters.

So far am thinkin about "1606" as the new name - my favourite year in Ulster history as it was the year that Hamilton & Montgomery brought Scottish people to the Ards Peninsula in large numbers.

Any suggestions will be gratefully received. I'll set up a forwarding thing to redirect readers from this address to the new yin once it's all set up.

The Whore of Babylon

...then again, when the European Parliament depicted itself on a series of stamps in 1992 as a woman riding a beast on seven hills/waves, it looked almost identical to the symbolism of Revelation chapter 17. Hmmmm...

Rearranging the Mental Furniture

It's funny how much we just accept as we're growing up. We don't question, we just absorb and accept. It can be a long time before we start to ask questions.

One of the things I soaked up a lot of when I was wee was "dispensationalist theology". What that means in simpler language is a particular type of "Bible prophecy". The Bible certainly has major prophetic elements to it, there's no doubting that. Events were predicted in Scripture which were clearly fulfilled in future years. (For example, some claim that over 1000 Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus himself.)

However, in the mid 1800s when the "Plymouth Brethren" were setting themselves up, they fully embraced a more sensationalist approach, which put a whole new interpretation on things. They made specific claims about future events, invented the term "rapture", predicted future world empires, re-wrote the whole the identity of Antichrist etc etc.

These powerful and almost magnetic ideas then filtered into most evangelical churches on both side of the Atlantic, which then in turn spawned a whole raft of fictional books like "In The Twinkling of an Eye" , and more recently the mulit-million dollar"Left Behind" series. Dispensationalism is today a very big money spinner. My e-Friend (we've never met in person) Crawford Gribben has a great book on the subject called "Rapture Fiction" which I can thoroughly recommend.

So this Brethren world was the environment that I, and many tens of thousands of Ulster believers, was brought up in. I was enthralled. Preachers like Hedley Murphy held me spellbound for years between the ages of probably 8 and 14. Dispensational prophecy was preached solidly in Gospel Halls up and down the country. Preachers would arrive with massive home made hand painted wallcharts which were often too long for the small buildings they were preaching in, outlining the history of the world from Genesis to Revelation. Theologically these tens of thousands of Ulster believers are rock solid on pretty much everything - except prophecy. We were waiting with baited breath for the breaking news report that Henry Kissinger, then Gorbachev, then Saddam, and maybe now even Tony Blair, has revealed himself as Antichrist.

Remember, that until the mid 1800s these ideas didn't exist, and biblical Christianity had survived for 1800+ years without them. Make no mistake, Jesus is coming back. But He might not be coming in the way many have been (mis)led to expect. Perhaps the whole thing is a distraction - making some Christians obsess about current affairs and trying to spot the prophetic fulfilments. Perhaps it also gives some Christians the glib opt-out of "why should I worry about the state the world is in? I'm going to be raptured out of it anyway"

So, over recent years I've begun to question these things that I soaked up. As another friend put it, I'm "rearranging my mental furniture". Any advice on good reading material from you sound Reformed believers out there would be much appreciated and will be added to my Christmas list.

(Robin Fairbairn has already suggested "Windows on the World" by Liam Goligher, and "The Momentous Event" by WJ Greer.

"...not in device or creed..."

This hymn's been rattling about in my head a lot recently.

(It's number 332 in the "Redemption Songs" hymnbook. The music was arranged by William James Kirkpatrick - his name's a dead giveaway that he was more than likely of Ulster descent. And he was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania.)

As a struggling believer, trying to live each day as I should but making a mess of it and falling far far short most all of the time, I often wonder about doing "enough". Praying "enough". Giving "enough". Helping "enough". Witnessing "enough".

But no matter what I do - no matter what any believer does - it's never enough. Because "enough" would imply that what Christ did for us has limits and can in some way be measured... and therefore could perhaps be repaid through our own actions and works.

"Enough" only works in one context, and the chorus of the hymn explains its magnificent simplicity:

"I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me..."

Xmas in Niatirb

A Lost Chapter from Herodotus
by C. S. Lewis

"...And beyond this there lies in the ocean, turned towards the west and the north, the island of Niatirb which Hecataeus indeed declares to be the same size and shape as Sicily, but it is larger, and though in calling it triangular a man would not miss the mark. It is densely inhabited by men who wear clothes not very different from other barbarians who occupy the north- western parts of Europe though they do not agree with them in language. These islanders, surpassing all the men of whom we know in patience and endurance, use the following customs.

In the middle of winter when fogs and rains most abound they have a great festival which they call Exmas , and for fifty days they prepare for it in the fashion I shall describe. First of all, every citizen is obliged to send to each of his friends and relations a square piece of hard paper stamped with a picture, which in their speech is called an Exmas-card . But the pictures represent birds sitting on branches, or trees with a dark green prickly leaf, or else men in such garments as the Niatirbians believe that their ancestors wore two hundred years ago riding in coaches such as their ancestors used, or houses with snow on their roofs.

And the Niatirbians are unwilling to say what these pictures have to do with the festival, guarding (as I suppose) some sacred mystery. And because all men must send these cards the market-place is filled with the crowd of those buying them, so that there is great labour and weariness.

But having bought as many as they suppose to be sufficient, they return to their houses and find there the like cards which others have sent to them. And when they find cards from any to whom they also have sent cards, they throw them away and give thanks to the gods that this labour at least is over for another year. But when they find cards from any to whom they have not sent, then they beat their breasts and wail and utter curses against the sender; and, having sufficiently lamented their misfortune, they put on their boots again and go out into the fog and rain and buy a card for him also. And let this account suffice about Exmas-cards.

They also send gifts to one another, suffering the same things about the gifts as about the cards, or even worse. For every citizen has to guess the value of the gift which every friend will send to him so that he may send one of equal value, whether he can afford it or not. And they buy as gifts for one another such things as no man ever bought for himself. For the sellers, understanding the custom, put forth all kinds of trumpery, and whatever, being useless and ridiculous, sell as an Exmas gift. And though the Niatirbians profess themselves to lack sufficient necessary things, such as metal, leather, wood and paper, yet an incredible quantity of these things is wasted every year, being made into the gifts.

But during these fifty days the oldest, poorest and the most miserable of citizens put on false beards and red robes and walk in the market-place; being disguised (in my opinion) as Cronos. And the sellers of gifts no less than the purchasers become pale and weary, because of the crowds and the fog, so that any man who came into a Niatirbian city at this season would think that some great calamity had fallen on Niatirb. This fifty days of preparation is called in their barbarian speech the Exmas Rush.

But when the day of the festival comes, then most of the citizens, being exhausted with the Rush, lie in bed till noon. But in the evening they eat five times as much supper as on other days and, crowning themselves with crowns of paper, they become intoxicated. And on the day after Exmas they are very grave, being internally disordered by the supper and the drinking and reckoning how much they have spent on gifts and on the wine. For wine is so dear among the Niatirbians that a man must swallow the worth of a talent before he is well intoxicated. Such, then, are their customs about the Exmas.

............

But the few among the Niatirbians have also a festival, separate and to themselves, called Crissmas, which is on the same day as Exmas. And those who keep Crissmas, doing the opposite to the majority of the Niatirbians, rise early on that day with shining faces and go before sunrise to certain temples where they partake of a sacred feast. And in most of the temples they set out images of a fair woman with a new-born Child on her knees and certain animals and shepherds adoring the Child. (The reason of these images is given in a certain sacred story which I know but do not repeat.)

But I myself conversed with a priest in one of these temples and asked him why they kept Crissmas on the same day as Exmas; for it appeared to me inconvenient. But the priest replied, It is not lawful, O Stranger, for us to change the date of Crissmas, but would that Zeus would put it into the minds of the Niatirbians to keep Exmas at some other time or not to keep it at all. For Exmas and the Rush distract the minds even of the few from sacred things. And we indeed are glad that men should make merry at Crissmas; but in Exmas there is no merriment left.

And when I asked him why they endured the Rush, he replied, It is, O Stranger, a racket ; using (as I suppose) the words of some oracle and speaking unintelligibly to me (for a racket is an instrument which the barbarians use in a game called tennis ).

But what Hecataeus says, that Exmas and Crissmas are the same, is not credible. For the first, the pictures which are stamped on the Exmas-cards have nothing to do with the sacred story which the priests tell about Crissmas. And secondly, the most part of the Niatirbians, not believing the religion of the few, nevertheless send the gifts and cards and participate in the Rush and drink, wearing paper caps. But it is not likely that men, even being barbarians, should suffer so many and great things in honour of a god they do not believe in..."

Thomas Given

Look weel, though the lang-necket geese o' creation
In envy an' malice may hiss thy dispraise,
Sic acts only prove that beyont demonstration
Their hearts are a leprosy under their claes.

Look weel, for the grave will soon swallow the bubble
What then, after that? ah, there comes the quest,
Will records o' glory or mountains o' trouble
Secure them a passport wha enters His Rest?

I'm pretty sure this is from a book called "Poems From College and Country by Three Brothers" published in 1900. Thomas and his two brothers Patrick and Samuel Fee were from Cullybackey.

Not Another Flag

There are easily dozens of different flag designs on lampposts here every summer, claiming all sorts of allegiances and territories. Here's another one, from the cover of a great wee book I bought lately on eBay. It was published in Virginia in 1905 and has small chapters summarising the various periods of the Covenanter story between 1638 and 1688.

The Covenanters had a selection of flags, many of which still survive in museums. They tend to be based on the Saltire or Cross of St Andrew, with the message "For Christ's Crown and Covenant" and sometimes include pictures of the Bible and other messages too.

This wee book's final chapter is called "Victory! The Revolution of 1688". It says "...they boldly declared for William of Orange, and were the first volunteers in all Britain who appeared in arms, for the glorious Revolution of 1688, by which the nation gained those liberties which have been its boast to this day. All honour to the brave Cameronians. They did not wait to see which would be the stronger side, but proclaimed at once, to all the world, that they were for William, the Protestant King..."

Looking for a Christmas present idea?

Here's a great way to spend a tenner. "The Grassmarket Butchers / Tales of the Covenanters" is a cd of 13 songs, all written by contemporary Scottish singer/songwriters. My good friend David Scott tipped me off about this CD a few months ago, so I ordered a few copies and have hardly stopped playing it since. Really good stuff, mostly acoustic, mostly male vocalists. It was produced by the New Makars Trust in 2005.

The songs I like best on it are "John Craig the Covenanter" and "The Covenanter Soldier", both performed by Billy Stewart, who is part of a band called Haggerdash

Here's a wee taster:

------------------------

The Covenanter Soldier

Yestre’en A was named outlaw, an A fought against the King
My wife an weans condemn’d wi’ me, for the praises we did sing
Four little words we’ll never say, we’ll no say them at all
An A’ll gie ma life for ma beliefs, against King Cherlie’s law

A’m a Covenanter soldier an A haud tae ma beliefs
Against dragoons an lairds sae fine who are little mair than thieves
But though A was an outlaw when A stairted on this fight
A noo stand for the King sir, on the side of truth and right

At Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge we tried tae make a stand
If they caught us they would hang us, an cut aff oor heids and hauns
Wi' ministers tae lead us and despite the prayers we prayed
Many died in battle through the errors that were made

Chorus

It was the Graham o' Claiverhoose who hurried through oor land
Cuttin doon the common folk, he’d blood upon his hands
But little did he know then that his line was runnin thin
For soon the Covenanters would be comin efter him!

Chorus

When William and Mary were crowned the King and Queen
The Kirk it was pit back tae the way that it had been
But Claiverhoose he went an raised an army frae the North
An this time for the King again we had tae prove oor worth

Chorus

We met at Killiecrankie and ootnumbered though he was
Dundee he was experienced fae fightin many wars
But even though he won the day, history will recall
James Stuart’s plans were thwarted when Claiverhoose did fall

Chorus

Ma fightin days are over and A’m back home once again
I’ve been outlaw and King’s soldier, I’ve seen my share of pain
But if my life and my beliefs are once more under threat
Then rest assured that once more I’ll defend them tae the death

------------------

You can order the cd here

The Covenanters' Scaffold Hymn

This song is from the old Seth Sykes hymnbook "Songs of Salvation" from the 1920s - the same hymnbook as "My Sins are A' Awa". Sykes is best know for writing "Thank You Lord for Saving My Soul". This old song is just another example of how powerful the Covenanter experience has been to the Scottish psyche over the centuries since 1638.

Click on the graphic to get full-size music notation. Let me know if the tune's any good!

The Story of Rev James Hamilton of Ballywalter – Part Two

And now for Part Two...

The Bishops “Depose” the Presbyterians
A new bishop, Henry Leslie, arrived in Ulster in July 1636. He was opposed to Presbyterianism and so he summoned the young Rev James Hamilton and four other ministers to meet with him in private, to discuss their refusal to use the Service Book of the Established Church. Leslie couldn’t persuade them to dilute their principles.

So on 10th August 1636 he summoned them to a meeting in Belfast, where he put it to them that he would hold a public meeting the next day in the church in Belfast. Perhaps to Leslie’s surprise, the five ministers accepted the challenge.

They selected the young Hamilton to speak on their behalf. He stood before the gathered audience of nobility, gentry and clergy, and spoke with “great readiness and acuteness” during a debate which lasted several hours. Bishops Leslie and Bramhall, frustrated, stopped the meeting and adjourned - two days later on Friday 12th August 1636, the bishops pronounced against the five Presbyterian ministers and deposed them from their churches.

It was no surprise to Hamilton - the Ulster-Scots had seen this coming for some time. In fact, over two years before, some of the Ulster-Scots Presbyterian ministers had been suspended from their churches, and so they wrote to the Puritans in Massachussetts. Rev John Livingstone wrote to John Winthrop, Governor of Massachussetts, in July 1634, to find out about the possibility of the Ulster-Scots being welcomed in the New World; Winthrop’s son visited Ulster in January 1635 and encouraged the Presbyterians to come to America.

A few days later ALL of the Presbyterian ministers in Ulster were deposed.



The “Eagle Wing”
They had already been planning to sail to America. The pressure on them was now so great that on 9th September 1636, Rev James Hamilton of Ballywalter, Rev Robert Blair of Bangor, Rev John Livingstone of Killinchy and Rev John McClelland of Newtownards set sail from Groomsport with 136 of their congregation. Also on board was John Stewart, the Provost of Ayr.

As all of you know, “Eagle Wing” didn’t make it. She returned home, having sailed about 1200 miles across the Atlantic and 1200 miles back, on 3rd November 1636. Defeated and scorned by the Bishops, the four ministers went back to Scotland.


The Return to Scotland
Rev James Hamilton moved to Dumfries where he was minister for ten years from 1636 – 1646… a time when Scotland rose up in rebellion against the King on 28 February 1638 with “Scotland’s National Covenant”. You know the rest!

From September to December 1642, Hamilton and Blair were back in Ulster, preaching among the Ulster-Scots and the Scottish army regiments. Then, on 26th March 1644, Hamilton (along with three other Scottish Presbyterian ministers) was sent back to Ulster by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to administer the Covenant. In a letter from the General Assembly to the officers of the Scottish Covenanter Army in Ulster, they wrote:

“…As our cause is one that has common friends and enemies, so we must, with God's assistance, stand and fall together ; and, for our firmer union, the Commissioners of the Assemblie, and we, have sent Master James Hamilton (a faithful minister in this kingdom, and whose integritie is well known in Ireland) with the Covenant to be sworne by the officers and souldiours of our army, and all such others of the British as shall be willing to enter into this Covenant…”

Hamilton and his three colleagues (Rev Adair from Ayr / Rev Henderson from Dalry / Rev Weir of Dalserf) arrived at Carrickfergus by the end of March and visited almost every town in Ulster – Belfast, Comber, Newtownards, Bangor, Holywood, Ballywalter, Broadisland, Derry, Raphoe, Ramelton, Ballyshannon and Enniskillen – administering the Covenant to the people and holding national days of repentance for those who had rejected the Covenant previously and had taken the “Black Oath”. Hamilton spent much of his time back at Ballywalter, renewing friendships with the kinsfolk he had been forced to leave behind 8 years before.


Kidnap, Prayer and Praises in Prison
Their Covenanting mission was completed. On Sunday 2nd July 1644, having preached in Donaghadee that morning on Hebrews chapter 12, Hamilton and Weir were sailing back to Scotland when the ship was captured by supporters of Sir Alexander MacDonnell (the Lieutenant General of Montrose’s anti-Covenanter army). They were held hostage for almost a year in Mingary Castle on the peninsula of Ardnamurchan, near Tobermory (shown above).

Their imprisonment is described in The Hamilton Manuscripts as:

“…They got not liberty jointly to exercise worship together; but every one did as he best might, apart ; only they had now and then conferences of what they read, for their Bibles were spared to them by the good providence of God And, also, when the frigate was pursuing any bark or boat, the said prisoners, being all closed under decks and alone, took opportunity, to pray together. Upon the said 15th of July, the said prisoners were carried from the said frigate to Castle Meagrie, and were all put in one chamber together. Every day twice, the said Mr. Weir and Mr. James Hamilton, did both of them expound a psalm or a part of a psalm, the one praying before, and the other after the said exposition. This they did in the hearing of those other fellow-prisoners, which were above-named, so long as they were together, which was till the twenty-third of September, in which time they had proceeded in expounding to the eighty-first psalm...

...No prospect of relief appeared, and their spirits began to despond; but the consoling truths of that Gospel, which they had so faithfully preached sustained them, and "though their flesh, and their heart failed, God was the strength of their heart, and their portion for ever…”

From the Tower of London to Bangor
Weir died on 16th October, but Hamilton was eventually freed on May 2nd 1645 in an exchange of prisoners and lived out the rest of his life ministering in Dumfries and Edinburgh. He was appointed by the General Assembly as one of the King’s chaplains when he was again taken prisoner – this time at Eliot in Angus, north Scotland, by General Monck’s army. Hamilton was then moved to the Tower of London where Oliver Cromwell held him captive for two years before releasing him.

In 1648 Hamilton and James Guthrie were tasked by the General Assembly to draw up an account of the duties of church elders (Guthrie was hanged and beheaded in Edinburgh in 1661).

Hamilton returned to Edinburgh, and made at least one journey back to Ulster – he presided as Moderator in a meeting of the Presbytery of Bangor on 25th May 1664. He died in Edinburgh on 10 March 1666, leaving 5 children, one of whom – Archibald Hamilton – became minister at Benburb and Killinchy. His daughter Jane married another Archibald Hamilton, minister of Bangor.

His mentor, Rev Robert Blair, died on 27th August of the same year, aged 73.

His Character and Legacy
Hamilton’s cousin William, the author of The Hamilton Manuscripts, wrote:

“…I shall not insist on his character, only as it is evident he was, in providence, from his infancy to his grave, exposed to many afflictions and temptations, so he was helped to carry with great steadfastness, wisdom, and patience—yea, cheerfulness. He was naturally of an excellent temperament, both of body and mind; always industrious, and facetious in all the several provinces or scenes of his life; he was delightful to his friends and acquaintances—yea, beloved of his enemies. Much might be say'd of his boldness for truth, and tenaciousness in everything of moment ; tho' he naturally, and in his own things, amongst the mildest and * sort of men, he was rich in all parts of learning which might contribute for the usefulness and ornament of his ministry; he was intelligent, yea, judicious in all civil and state affairs ; he was great in esteem with the greatest and wisest ; as he was highly valued by the meanest sort of his acquaintances, so he was denied to the favours of great men and popular [assemblies.] His ambition was to be spotless and usefull ; his covetings, to have acceptance with God, the love of his friends, and peace in his own conscience ; he lived always frugally ; bestowed what at any time he had gathered upon his children (who were all married long before his death); was very open-handed to the poor ; and died even with the world…”

I don’t know for sure where Rev James Hamilton was buried - it may have been Canongate Kirkyard in Edinburgh. I hope he has a memorial or headstone somewhere in Scotland. After all, it’s not a bad life’s work… for a Ballywalter man!

The Story of Rev James Hamilton of Ballywalter – Part One

The year was 1626. Sir James Hamilton’s estate was by now well established. He arranged for the London cartographer Thomas Raven to draw a set of maps charting Hamilton’s lands (they’re on permanent display at North Down Heritage Centre in Bangor. The Heritage Centre is holding a lunchtime lecture about the Raven maps on Tuesday 4th December.)

Ballywalter needs a minister!
The new Scottish settlers had by now more or less taken over east Ulster and had done a fine job in farming the land, building villages, homes and harbours. But the ancient church buildings (small by today's standards, stone and originally built by the Anglo-Normans in the 1200s) had been confiscated by King Henry VIII around 1540 and were then burned down in the 1570s by Sir Brian O’Neill.

Sir James Hamilton and Sir Hugh Montgomery (by this time they were Viscount Clandeboye and Viscount of the Great Ardes respectively) began a remarkable series of church restoration projects when they arrived in 1606, and the coastal village of Ballywalter was next on the list. So the ruined church of “Whitkirk” or Whitechurch was to be rebuilt. The “Low Country” of the Ards Peninsula was to have a restored church - therefore it also needed a minister.

That's today's Whitkirk/Whitechurch in the photos above - set in a flat area of land overlooking the Scottish coast (look closely at the pic). There's not much of the church left today, which is probably what it looked like in 1626 before it was rebuilt. There are even three 13th Century Anglo-Norman graves still there today.

Just about 9 miles up the road in Bangor was Rev Robert Blair, who was described in a biographical booklet recently published by the Presbyterian Historical Society as “the leader of the Ulster-Scots”. Sir James Hamilton was a member of Blair’s church – today known as Bangor Abbey, and lived just up the hill (on the site of what is today the Town Hall).

Young James Hamilton
Hamilton’s nephew and namesake, also James Hamilton, had been brought from Scotland to look after his uncle’s financial and estate management affairs. Young James’ father, Gawin Hamilton, was a merchant in Glasgow and had estates “at the foot of the River Clyde… Holywood and Coleraine”, and was “…very wealthy and great in his station…”

But young James felt compelled towards the church. He attended Bangor Abbey and was an assistant to both Blair and Rev Robert Cunningham of Holywood (from my last post). Young Hamilton continued to develop his spiritual interests in secret.

But then one Sunday, Blair invited young James Hamilton to preach in the Abbey. Adair’s Narrative tells the story:

“…An honest and godly young man, being a daily hearer of Mr. Robert Blair, showed much tenderness and ability. He being then chamberlain to the Lord Claneboy, his uncle, Mr. Blair, and Mr. Cunningham, (the then minister of Hollywood,) put him to private essays of his gifts, and, being satisfied therewith, Mr. Blair invited him to preach publicly at Bangor, in his uncle's hearing, he knowing nothing till he saw him in the pulpit, (they fearing my lord would be loath to part with so faithful a servant).

But, when my lord heard him in public, he put great respect upon him the same day, and, shortly after, entered him unto a charge at Ballywalter, where he was painful, successful, and constant, notwithstanding he had many temptations to follow promotion, but was graciously preserved from these baits, and made a successful instrument in the work of Christ in these parts."

In Rev Robert Blair’s Life he says of young James Hamilton:

"Being satisfied with his gifts, I invited him to preach in my pulpit, in his uncle's hearing, who, till then, knew nothing of this matter ; for, Mr. Hamilton, having been his uncle's chamberlain, and chief manager of his affairs, we were afraid the Viscount would not part with so faithful a servant. But he, having once heard his nephew, did put more respect on him than ever before. Shortly thereafter (about the year 1625.), Mr. Hamilton was ordained (by Bishop Echlin) to the holy ministry at Ballywalter, where he was both diligent and successful, and notwithstanding he had many temptations to espouse episcopacy, and might easily have obtained promotion in that way, yet the Lord did graciously preserve him from being ensnared with those baits, and made him very instrumental in promoting His work."

Rev John Livingston, described Rev Hamilton as "a learned and diligent man," and that "his gift of preaching was rather doctrinal than exhortatory."



Memorials
Rev James Hamilton has no “formal” memorials. Today, Whitechurch graveyard surrounds the remains of the old church where young Hamilton preached. And just about a year ago, an old building – a former Presbyterian church hall – in Ballywalter main street was being refurbished to become a new community centre (with some small shop units on the ground floor). In cleaning the old building they discovered a datestone high on the front wall. 1626 – a small but important memorial of the arrival of young Hamilton at Whitkirk.

Part Two...
But this is just the start of the story, for young James’s life is a tale of persecution, failed emigration, exile… and then a triumphant return.