Turbulent times
Laura Doak enjoys a new collection of essays on the impact and legacy of the 1638 National Covenant
often distorted by subsequent generations of ‘Cameronian’ hagiography, 18thcentury ecclesiastical dispute and Victorian romanticism. This significant collection of essays builds on the scholarship of recent decades, which has sought to uncover the complexities masked by these later layers and illuminate the ways in which the covenant impacted contemporary Scots’ lives, beliefs and identities.
Contributions are divided into three thematic sections, with the first exploring the covenant’s ‘swearing and subscribing’. First, Nathan Hood writes on the differing elements of persuasion visible at ‘swearing ceremonies’ in Currie and Trinity Church, Edinburgh. Hood’s detailed chapter also introduces sound, gesture and emotion to this key historical moment. The following contribution by Paul Goatman and Andrew Lind then uses Glasgow as a case study to consider subscription and compliance within ongoing ‘civic reform’ (p.41), arguing that disaffection with the Stuart regime did not predetermine unquestioned support for the Covenant. Next, Russell Newton discusses the ‘Aberdeen doctors’, a group of ministers and academics often lauded as the National Covenant’s best-known opponents. Newton teases out both the variety and evolution of the doctors’ reactions. Finally, Jamie McDougall views this complexity and fluidity within a ‘popular’ stratum. Framing the covenant’s ‘swearing’ as an ongoing act, McDougall diverges from the common focus on regional analysis by considering the national resubscription campaigns of 1639 and 1648, revealing a ‘broad spectrum’ (p.71) of evolving responses to the covenant across the kingdom.