Tyranny by Committee: Anti-Covenanting Rhetoric between c. 1638 - 1651

Rebels, tyrants, papists, Jesuits, Brownists, schismatics, heathens, separatists and
anarchists. These are just a few of the insults and allegations which Scottish Royalists
and ‘anti-covenanters’ levelled against the Covenanting regime during the British Civil
Wars (c.1638-1651). This paper takes a closer look at anti-covenanting rhetoric and
explores the reasoning behind it. It will argue that understanding how these anti-
covenanters portrayed their enemies is crucial to appreciating the complexities of
Royalist ideology and identity in Scotland.

Printed publications, manuscript tracts, personal correspondence, contemporary
accounts and Gaelic bardic poetry are all examined in order to provide a critical
assessment of the identity politics of 1640s Scotland.

Dr Andrew Lind is a Lecturer at the University of the Highlands and Islands, based
within the Institute of Northern Studies. His research focuses on the British Civil Wars
(c.1638-1651), with a particular interest in Scottish Royalist ideology, allegiance and
identity. Andrew has disseminated his research widely in peer-reviewed journals and
edited collections, including papers in the Journal of Northern Renaissance, Chris
Langley’s (ed) The National Covenant in Scotland, 1638-1689 (Woodbridge, 2020) and
Matthew Ward and Matthew Heffernan’s (eds) Loyalty to the Monarchs of Late Medieval
and Early Modern Britain, c.1400-1688 (Basingstoke, 2020). In addition to his academic
outputs, Andrew has contributed to a number of knowledge exchange and public impact
projects, including work with the SQA, as well as television appearances on BBC
Scotland’s ‘Blood of the Clans’ (2020) and Sky History’s ‘River Hunters’ (2020).
Alongside working on converting his thesis into a monograph, Andrew is currently
cowriting a book on the Scottish Royalist armies of the civil wars with Dr Edward Furgol
(Helion & Company, 2024).

Disclaimer: This event will be recorded.

This event will be held on Zoom and will begin at 5:15 pm on Tuesday, May 26th, 2022. It will run for approximately one hour and will include a 45 minute presentation by Dr. Andrew Lind from the University of Highlands and Islands followed by a 15 minute question and answer session. This event is free to attend and is open to the public.

The link to the Zoom meeting will be distributed shortly before the event is set to begin. This event will be recorded.

This event is sponsored and hosted by Education Evolved Ltd. as part of our Learning Community History Seminar Series. To stay up to date on our upcoming seminars please follow us on twitter @educationevolvd.

You can also find information about our Learning Community subscription service which contains historical site tours, recordings of our previous seminars, and more on our webpage https://www.educationevolvedltd.com/learning-community

Disclaimer: This event will be recorded.

Host or Publisher Education Evolved Ltd.