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

Monck and the Scottish Community
The career of George Monck, later the 1 st Duke of Albermarle, is representative of the
political confusions and vacillations within seventeenth-century politics. In a climate
rife with sudden changes in affiliation, it was less notable that Monck had started his
military career as a Royalist, fighting on the King’s side until his capture at the Battle
of Nantwich. 175 Monck served Cromwell faithfully and effectively, supporting the
accession of his son, Richard, as Protector in 1658. He had already seen action in
Scotland, playing a minor role in the defeat of the Scottish army at Dunbar on 3
September 1650 and leading sieges of Tantallon Castle and Blackness in early 1651.
After Cromwell pursued Charles across the border in August, he ensured the
submission of Stirling and St Andrews and then the conquest of Dundee.
In many ways, Lilburne and Monck shared many beliefs regarding the most effective
governing of Scotland, rendering the periods of their command a time of continuity
rather than change. Like Lilburne, Monck was convinced that the Parliament in
England should formulate Scottish economic and political reform with a mind to
reducing sources of popular unrest. He also advised leniency in assessment demands
and reductions of penalties against leading Royalists. However, Monck displayed a
ruthlessness not exhibited by Lilburne, being prepared to cut off and starve
Highlanders of their supplies by the ruthless destruction of bystanders’ crops and
pasture. 176
Monck carried a greater authority in English governmental circles than Lilburne could
ever hope to muster. Partly as a result of his reputation and partly as a consequence of
events in England taking a turn for the better 177 , Monck had a larger and bettersupplied
army at his disposal alongside wider civil powers. In June the Council agreed
that £30 000 be sent to assist the army in England even though the money failed to
175 Throughout the remainder of his career as a supporter of Cromwell, Monck was courted by the King
in exile and, in the face of political chaos and military pressure, he was to secure the return of the
Stewart dynasty in 1660.
176 See www.scotwars.com
177 The Barebones Parliament in England had been replaced by the more effective Protector and
Council and the Anglo-Dutch war was virtually at an end. Monck’s instatement in Scotland provides an
indication that the authorities in England were finally taking Scottish unrest seriously. They realized
that his demands for assistance could not go unanswered and, in return, he provided them with a
leadership they could place their full trust in. See Dow, F.D. Cromwellian Scotland, pp.116-117.