SCOTLAND HISTORY

St. Columba/Columcille
Saint Columba (7 December 521 - 9 June 597) is sometimes referred to as Columba of Iona, or, in Old Irish, as Saint Colm Cille or Columcille (meaning "Dove of the church"). He was the outstanding figure among the Gaelic missionary monks who reintroduced Christianity to Scotland during the Dark Ages. In 563 he traveled to Scotland, where according to his legend he first landed at the southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula, near Southend. However, being still in sight of his native land he moved further north up the west coast of Scotland. In 563 he was granted land on the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland which became the centre of his evangelising mission to the Picts. Aside from the services he provided guiding the only outpost of literacy in the region, his reputation as a holy man led to his role as a diplomat among the tribes; there are also many stories of miracles which he performed during his work to convert the Picts. The main source of information about Columba's life is the Vita Columbae by Adomnán, the ninth Abbot of Iona, who died in 704. Both the Vita Columbae and Bede record Columba's visit to Bridei, King of Fortriu. Whereas Adomnán just tells us that Columba visited Bridei, Bede relates a later, perhaps Pictish tradition, whereby the saint actually converts the Pictish king. Another early source is a poem in praise of Columba, most probably also composed in the course of the 7th century. It consists of 25 stanzas of four verses of seven syllables each.

The Reformation
On 31 October 1517, Luther nailed on the church door in Wittenberg a statement of 95 theses concerning indulgences, and the following year he was summoned to Rome to defend his action. His reply was to attack the papal system even more strongly, and in 1520 he publicly burned in Wittenberg the papal bull (edict) that had been launched against him. Both Scandinavia and the German states then overthrew Papal theology and liturgy. By 1541 in Geneva Calvin had instigated a theocracy of presbyters, this in turn influenced France and Holland. Already by 1534 Henry VIII had taken control of the Church and destroyed the monastic orders. The Reformation arrived in Scotland later than in England but this is not because the Church was less corrupt. In October 1559 Mary of Guise was deposed as Regent and an alliance with England was agreed in February 1560 with the Treaty of Berwick. In August a Parliament was called and several statutes were decreed, the authority of the Pope in Scotland was abolished and celebration of the Latin Mass was banned. The creed and constitution of the new Church was contained in The Confession of Faith, The First Book of Discipline and (later) The Book of Common Order or 'Knox's Liturgy'. Most of the clergy of the time either joined the new Church or retired and most congregations also joined the new Church. Organisation in the Church was by a system of lay elders and Presbytery's and not Bishops and Archbishops. The General Assembly became the main forum for discussion within the Church and there were plans for a school in every parish, a dream that remained unfulfilled until the 20th century. The early Church became ever more austere with Christmas and Easter no longer being observed, singing was unaccompanied and churches were unadorned and Holy Communion became less important. It was into this milieu that Mary Queen of Scots returned in August 1561. Although she made it clear she would not abandon her own, Catholic, faith she had no intention of trying to impose it on her subjects and employed Protestant advisors as well as surrounding herself with Protestant nobles.

Suggested Reading: The Culture of Protestantism in Early Modern Scotland by Margo Todd

Covenanters
The Covenant as a special contract between God and the people goes all the way back to the Old Testament and in the Scottish Church it was popular with Presbyterians, at the beginning of the Reformation the Lords of the Congregation signed the 'First Covenant' and the King's Confession (or Negative confession) of 1581 was also a kind of Covenant. This Confession was taken almost word for word and transferred to the National Covenant of 1638. During the period of Presbyterian ascendency people like Andrew Melville did well, at least temporarily, but others, like Patrick Adamson had to be more careful - soon their positions would be reversed, however, when James VI removed himself from the control of the ultra-Protestants. One of James' fiercest critics over his Episcopalian tendencies was David Calderwood, who was forced to flee to Holland for a time. Charles I was a remote king who was convinced of his divine right to rule, the Church saw him as a threat to Presbyterian rights and principles. In 1637 he introduced the Book of Common Prayer to Scotland without consulting the General Assembly, this was seen as a form of Anglicization and a clash between Kirk and State became almost inevitable. Even long time Episcopalians such as John Spotiswoode were strongly opposed to it. The new prayer book was read in Scotland for the first time on 23 July 1637 and it was not long before a riot ensued. According to tradition it was the female members of the congregation that led the rioting, led by Jenny Geddes, who is supposed to have shouted 'wha dor say mass in me lug!'. In fact there was an organised campaign against the Prayer Book already in existence and organised by the nobility rather than the ordinary people. Around the country opposition intensified, the Bishop of Brechin conducted his service with two loaded pistols in front of him. Despite being told of the seriousness of the situation the king merely instructed that all protesters should be punished and that the use of the Prayer Book should be enforced. In Edinburgh the Tables Committee was formed which included numerous nobles including Lord Warriston and the Earls of Montrose and Rothes. Many nobles supported the Committee and petitions against the Prayer Book flooded in to London from all over the country. The king responded to all this in February 1638 by demanding that the nobles who had failed to conform should do so now and submit to the king's will.

Suggested Reading: Martyrland: A Tale of Persecution from the Days of the Scottish Covenanters by Robert Simpson

Modern Church
It was William Carstares who organised a Presbyterian government but by 1712 the Patronage Act reintroduced civil interference in ecclesiastical appointments. This began a series of splits in the Church that carried on throughout the eighteenth century, beginning with the Secession Church in 1733 which was heavily influenced by Thomas Boston though founded by Ebenezer Erskine. John Glas founded another group who split from the Church and his ideas even crossed the Atlantic. Thomas Gillespie founded the Relief Church in 1761 over the right of lay patrons to impose ministers on unwilling congregations. The Disruption, 1843 The biggest split, however, occurred in 1843 with the Disruption, also caused (at least in part) by the Patronage Act. During this event, which happened during the General Assembly in Edinburgh, over 400 ministers walked out of the established Church to form the Free Church of Scotland. On the same day the Free Church held its first Assembly and elected Thomas Chalmers as its first Moderator. Other early members of the Free Church included Thomas Guthrie, who wrote The Plea for Ragged Schools and James Begg who was also very involved in the inner cities trying to alleviate poverty. The ministers who left the established Church signed away their parish rights, manses and glebes and had to rely on their parishioners, who for the first time since the 17th century could choose their own ministers. There were yet more splits (although the United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church had merged in 1900 largely under the influence of Robert Rainy) but in 1929 the United Free Church and the Established Church merged, although there are still several smaller variants in existence.

Suggested Reading: Religion and Society in Scotland Since 1707 by Callum Brown