The Glencairn Uprising, 1653-54 Helen Baker Department of ...

lords. 41 After all, the more inhabitants who accepted political and military domination,
the less expensive – in terms of finance and manpower – it would be to maintain that
control. 42 Mercurius Scoticus advised: ‘Free the poor commoners, and make as little
use as can be of either the great men or clergy.’ 43 Indeed, many measures proposed by
the Declaration of the settlement had a double consequence: those that were aimed at
destabilizing the social and political leadership of Scotland often favoured the
common folk. 44
However, the English – in their position as foreign conquerors - were at an immediate
disadvantage. The barbaric behaviour of substantial numbers of English troops during
the recent war had left a bitter aftertaste in Scotland. There was a general feeling of
discontent among the occupying soldiers who were campaigning away from home:
the weather was extremely cold and they did not possess adequate provisions or
shelter. 45 Although commanders forbade plundering and violence, the existence of a
series of proclamations against looting suggests that the troops were inclined to ignore
initial commands concerning that issue. The prolonged rampage at Dundee is an
example of this: although Monck forbade violence after the first 24 hours of
occupation, it did in fact continue for the best part of a fortnight. Moreover, although
contemporary commentators such as Burnet and Nicoll did praise the discipline of the
occupying army, its conduct was called into question in as late a time as late as the
Glencairn rising. In the summer of 1653, Lilburne issued a number of proclamations
threatening those who engaged in poaching, exhortation and sexual immorality with
‘severe punishment’. 46
Other sources of popular opposition were officially sanctioned. Ordinary Scottish
people were not only expected to accept English dominance but to help pay for it.
This took the form of free accommodation for the English soldiers and a financial
contribution – the assessment or the ‘cess’. This government followed the Scottish
41 Gardiner, S.R. History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate 1649-1656. Volume 3 – 1653-1655
(London, New York and Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1903), p.86.
42
For a contemporary illustration of this notion, see Sir Thomas Urquhart’s tract
ΕΚΣΚΥΒΑΛΑΥΡΟΝ; or, the Discovery of a most Exquisite Jewel published in 1652 and quoted in
Firth, C.H. Scotland and the Commonwealth, p.xxvi.
43 Firth, C.H. Scotland and the Commonwealth, pp.xxxiv-xxxv.
44 Dow, F.D. Cromwellian Scotland, pp.52-53.
45 Ibid., p.23.
46 Firth, C.H. Scotland and the Commonwealth, pp.xxxiii-xxxiv, 139, 142, 155, 162.