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

The Glencairn Uprising, 1653-54
Occupied Scotland: The Background to the Uprising
The Glencairn uprising cannot be viewed as a stand-alone episode in Anglo-Scottish
relations. The causes of this two-year rebellion span back years before the start of the
Civil War and involve both countries’ internal political situations alongside their
relationship to one another. This relationship during the period 1637 to 1660 was one
of great complexity and instability. Following its status as political ally in the early
1640s, Scotland was defeated on its own ground by English forces in 1651 and
relegated to little more than a conquered province. Although full parliamentary union
was established before long between both countries, English forces did not leave
Scotland until 1660.
The execution of Charles I in January 1649 proved another turning point in Anglo-
Scottish relations, bringing the Scottish attachment to the notion of hereditary rule and
its particular bond to the Stuart line to the forefront. The new King, exiled in Jersey,
sailed for France in mid-February where he conferred with his mother at Beauvais
before meeting commissioners from the Scottish parliament at Breda. Despondent at
the recent defeat of his supporters in Ireland and Montrose’s lack of success in
Scotland, Charles II signed a draft agreement on 1 May 1650. 1 The new King was
forced to agree to a number of humiliating concessions both before and after his
return to Scottish land. He not only signed both Covenants and was forced into
dismissing many members of his household but, against his own beliefs and
conscience, renounced his Irish supporters and agreed to impose Presbyterianism
throughout the three kingdoms. 2
The leaders of the English Parliament were convinced that the best way of
countermanding the Scottish threat was to launch a pre-emptive strike and an army
1 Indeed, unbeknownst to Charles II, Montrose had suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of Archibald
Strachan and the Covenanting cavalry on 27 April, and was publicly hanged a few weeks later. See
Woolrych, A. Britain in Revolution 1625-1660 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp.480-1.
2 Paterson, R.C. No Tragic Story: The Fall of the House of Campbell (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2001),
p.13 and Woolrych, A. Britain in Revolution, p.481.