THE SCOT IN ULSTER

THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1641

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men having perished or fled. In its place, the Scottish army proceeded to establish a Presbyterian Church. It would appear that it was the custom for each regiment to have an ordained minister as chaplain, and to elect from the officers a regular kirk-session. [1] In June 1642, the clergy and elders attached to the Scottish regiments met as a Presbytery at Carrickfergus, and, in conjunction with a number of the Scottish residents of Down and Antrim, petitioned the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which met at St Andrews in, July, to send over a number of ministers. The Assembly consented, and appointed certain members who had been settled as ministers in Ireland before Wentworth's persecution, to proceed on a mission to Ireland. This mission the Assembly repeated next year; and in 1644, a larger deputation was sent to carry the Solemn League and Covenant to Ireland and to present it to the people. The Assembly's deputation on this occasion proceeded all through Ulster, as far south as Sligo and Enniskillen, and both troops and settlers, English as well as Scottish, adopted the Covenant in great numbers. [2] It is evident that the great majority of the settlers left in Ulster were Presbyterians; for not only would the Scots be so almost without exception, but very many of the English who had immigrated since 1610, belonged to the Puritan party.

Meanwhile the operations of Monro's little army were sadly hampered for want of supplies. It is...continue reading »

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[1] Reid's History, vol. i. p. 370,

[2] Ibid., chaps. ix., x.

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Page 77

The Scot in Ulster:
Sketch of the History of the Scottish Population of Ulster

by John Harrison

1888