Signatories to the National Covenant of 1638

[Gilby]

Hi All,

One of my ancestors was a covenanter who fled Scotland for Ulster in the 17th century.  I have found one source which suggests he came across in about 1636 - this makes me wonder if it was in fact 1638, and had he therefore been around to sign the National Covenant?

So far I have failed to find an online list of signatories.  Does anyone know if such a list exists?

I understand the covenant actually consisted of many different documents - is it known roughly what proportion survive?

Gilby

[Skoosh]

Unlikely he would be "fleeing" Scotland in 1636 as many did at a later date. He will have crossed to Ireland to improve his prospects!

Skoosh.

[Gilby]

Wouldn’t some have fled during the Bishops’ Wars of 1639-40? 

The 1636 is not at all reliable … I have conflicting sources on exactly when he left Scotland, with the most prominent source suggesting it was after the battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679.  However, circumstantial evidence suggests he left much earlier.  I’m just on the hunt for evidence which may back up my theory.

One thing the sources do agree on is that the authorities were after him: he was “followed by a King’s messenger” from Scotland and/or later was pursued by soldiers from Carrickfergus (depending on which story you believe!).

[Skoosh]

The Bishop's War saw the Scots left in control of Northumberland & Durham & a humiliated Charles on the back foot, the English Parliament were reluctant to pay for his campaign to enforce his Anglification plans on the Kirk. Charles also revoked all royal grants of land going back over a century, so the Scots nobility, who were the main beneficiaries of this largesse, abandoned their king!
 If only he had learned from that experience, the subsequent carnage of wars in three kingdoms left mortality rates not seen again until the Great War.

Skoosh.

[Gilby]

Ah, fair enough.  How long after 1638 was it before anyone had to leave Scotland for being a covenanter?

[Skoosh]

I should think after 1660 after the Restoration. The Covenanters sent an army to Ulster in the 1640's, might your man have been involved in this campaign?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenanters

Skoosh.

[Gilby]

It's not impossible, but I've no reason to believe he was a soldier.

Do you happen to know if there's an online list of signatories to the 1638 covenant?

[Skoosh]

Afraid not Gilby, somebody will help though!

Skoosh.