Richard Bayfield, alias Somersam. Richard Bayfield was a monk in the abbey at St Edmunds, Bury [ Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk] and another who was converted to the Protestant faith through contact with godly people. His conversion began when two London brickmakers, Master Stacy and Master Maxwell in the company of Dr Barnes [ […]
Surrender of the Crown of England to Rome, 28 November 1554. The Copy of the Supplication and Submission exhibited to the King and Queens Majesties by the Lords and Commons of the Parliament. We, the lords spiritual and temporal, and the commons of this present parliament assembled—representing the whole body of the realm of England […]
THE BATTLE OF BOTHWELL BRIDGE, by a Covenanter, quoted in Scott`s Minstrelsy and Treasury of the Scottish Covenant by Rev J.C. Johnston (1887) “O billie, billie, bonny billie, Will ye go to the wood wi’ me? We’ll ca’ our horse hame masterless, An’ gar them trow slain men are we.” – “O no, O no!” […]
Bibliography A schedule of sources and further reading is here. My Books The challenge of understanding the politics of the era, the hidden agendas of many of the major players, and the theological arguments deployed by government and between the Presbyterians themselves I find simply fascinating. From my early studies there came several articles for […]
Extract from “ A History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America” Rev W.M.Glasgow, M.D. (1888) ” The country was now thrown into the excitement and turmoil of the Revolutionary war, and every colonist who loved civil and religious liberty was called upon to defend his country and his rights. To a man the Covenanters were […]
The Battle of Dunbar, 3 September 1650. Led by David Leslie, nephew of Alexander Leslie, Lord Leven, the Covenanter Army had been actively engaged in suppressing odd outbreaks of royalist risings in Stirling, Inverness and Atholl. In March 1650 the Marquis of Montrose had landed in Orkney and had been beaten arrested and executed (21 […]
The Torwood Excommunications by the Rev Donald Cargill. of King Charles II, James, Duke of York; James, Duke of Monmouth, John, Duke of Lauderdale; John Duke of Rothes; Sir George MacKenzie ; and Thomas Dalziel of the Binns. Cited in A Cloud of Witnesses. Ed J H Thomson (1871). Wherefore in September 1680, after sermon […]
The execution of Jan Hus 6 July 1415. Extract from The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe , , Ed Rev Geo. Townsend, 1844 , vol iii. p 493-4). The place appointed for the execution was before the Gottlieben Gate, between the gardens and the gates of the suburbs. When John Hus was come thither, […]
Persons mustered at Londonderry in 1622 by Sir Thomas Phillips and Richard Hadson, the Kings Commissioners. Listed in The Annals of Derry” by Robert Simpson, Hempton, Londonderry 1847. Reprinted North West Books, Limavady, 1987. ISBN 0-907528-09-0. Item: Corslet – armour that covers the body. Muskets (cont.) Mr Mayor 2 Mr Simon Pitt […]
THE MARTYRDOM OF JOHN BROWN by Mrs A Stuart Menteath (1845) “Lays of the Kirk and Covenant” Glasgow, W S Sime,(1892) There, worthy of his masters, came The despots’ champion, bloody Graham, To stain for aye a warrior’s sword, And lead a fierce, though fawning horde— The human bloodhounds of the earth— To hunt the […]
Suffer little Children … At every turn of the newspaper page and in every newscast on television there seems to be something about the suffering of little children. Whether they are the refugees from war or ethnic cleansing, or floods or famine, the innocents of this world are subject of the most gross neglect and […]
Marian Marytrs to Spanish policy. The period 1555 – 1558 was essentially one in which Spanish policy, particularly towards religion, was enforced. Bishop Gardiner , the Lord Chancellor, had to his credit, tried to keep Spanish advisers and nobles from filling civil appointments, but this did not prevent Cardinal Pole from having supreme authority in […]
The Hampton Court Conference, Jan. 1604. ( Extracted summary from Select Statutes and Constitutional Documents – Elizabeth I and James I. Ed G.W.Protheroe, Clarendon Press (1894)). The sum of what was concluded at this conference will appear in this following authentic paper, which seems to be [by] the hand of the Bishop of London [Bancroft]. […]
Prisoners transferred from Leith Tolbooth to Edinburgh Tolbooth.( The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, Vol 12 p 184). These 19 prisoners were transferred from Leith Tolbooth to Edinburgh Tolbooth in October 1685 and ordered to be held in irons because, it seems , some or all of them, tried to escape. Included among them […]