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

Lilburne feared that if the Royalists gained any real successes, their supporters – in
Scotland, England and overseas - and would increase in number. His desire to show
that he was capable of dealing with the crisis was hampered by his conviction that
there were insufficient troops in Scotland attempting to quell the rising. His
correspondence with England, therefore, displayed an uneasy mixture of optimism
and anxiety. His letters to Cromwell are filled with pleas for more men, more ships,
more money. However, the English Parliament was preoccupied by other concerns,
particularly during the period of the Dutch war.
Even after the war had ended, the changes which followed the expulsion of the Long
Parliament on 20 April 1653 and the conflict which led to the break up of the Little
Parliament at the end of the same year disrupted the administration. As Firth has
written, with three different Councils of State in one year, no continuity of policy
could be expected. 151
There were around 12 000 foot soldiers and 2 200 of horse officially stationed in
Scotland. These were considerable numbers and of excellent quality, rivalling any
force the Scottish government had launched against Montrose. However, through
economic necessity, the troops had been reduced to their lowest possible strength.
One of the most serious shortages was the deficiency of horse. On 24 December
Lilburne wrote that there was not more than 1200 or 1300 fighting horses in the entire
country. It is little wonder he resorted to seizing horses belonging to Scottish
civilians. Moreover, many officers – believing the times to be quiet – had returned to
England. Of the ten colonels and majors of the regiments, only one major had
remained in Scotland. 152
The insufficiency of force was compounded by the fact that Lilburne was bound to
protect a large number of garrisons. His troops were therefore divided among these
bases and in various houses and castles along the Highland frontier. Moreover, the
construction of new fortifications was threatened as Lilburne was struggling to find
151 Firth, C.H. Scotland and the Commonwealth, p.lii.
152 Firth, C.H. Scotland and the Commonwealth, pp.l, 305 and Gardiner, S.R. History of the
Commonwealth and Protectorate 1649-1656, pp.92, 94.