Covenanter History

RPCS Day Out in Ayr

Last month, we in Stranraer organised an event for the whole denomination in Ayr. The following report is taken from the RPCS website:

Each year a different church in the Presbytery organises a Presbytery-wide event. This year it was Stranraer’s turn and they planned a lovely day in Ayr on the 2nd August. 55 people from Airdrie, Glasgow, North Edinburgh, Stranraer, and Wishaw attended, and we were blessed with beautiful weather.

The day began with everyone meeting for a picnic lunch on the Ayr Lower Green. After some time chatting and catching up over our sandwiches, it was time for a walk to the old cemetery in Ayr, where Jimmy Fisher (from Airdrie RPC and Tour Guide for our Presbytery ministry, Reformation Tours) gave a talk at the grave of 7 Covenanter martyrs who were all hanged at Ayr. They had been captured at Rullion Green in November 1666, and were part of a group of twelve men brought from Edinburgh to Ayr to stand trial for their part in the Pentland Rising. After the inevitable outcome, all were sentenced to death. Part of the inscription on their grave reads (like so many of the martyr graves in Scotland) that they died “For their adherence to the Word of GOD and Scotland’s Covenanted work of Reformation”. We then sang Psalm 23 and Psalm 133 and James Fraser prayed.

We then walked back to the green where there were all sorts of games and races for young and old alike involving parachutes and hula hoops. Folks continued to chat and spend time getting to know new people from the different congregations and catching up with old friends. It was a lovely day and many thanks to Stranraer RPC for organising it.

Church Outing to Wigtown

On 18th May we had a joint church outing to Wigtown with some of our friends from Dumfries Free Church.

After arriving in sunny Wigtown we visited the grave of the Two Margarets, who were martyred in Wigtown 339 years ago the previous week. Stephen told the story of their deaths, which continued as we moved down to the Martyrs’ Stake. Our time there included singing a couple of psalms, including the verses of Psalm 25 which Margaret Wilson sang just before she died.

After this we headed to Wigtown Baptist Church where we ate our packed lunch, and then organised some games for the children on the grass outside. It was a great day of fellowship!

Covenanters' attack on Stranraer castle

We recently did some open air outreach outside Stranraer Castle - also known as the Castle of St John. In the late 1600s, the Castle served as a prison for Covenanters as well as a base for Covenanting persecutor John Graham of Claverhouse - ‘Bloody Claverhouse’.

Around the summer of 1685, some Covenanters attacked the castle in order to rescue prisoners.

The historian Robert Wodrow records that:

On 15 October, 1685, the privy council appointed that ‘Hugh M’Kinasters, who has made discoveries of several persons rebels in Galloway, and who were accessory to the attack of the castle of Stranraer, whereof some are taken, to be further examined upon oath by the earl of Balcarras and [John Graham of] Claverhouse.’ (Wodrow, History, IV, 223.)

Dumfries & Galloway Council have an information leaflet about the Castle that you can view here. You can watch some recent drone footage of the Castle below:

Stranraer RPC on the BBC

A recent episode of the BBC NI TV programme ‘Hame’ was partly filmed in our church building and featured an interview with our minister and presenter Ruth Sanderson.

The fourth series of the Ulster-Scots documentary series is the first one to be filmed in Scotland. The episode that Stephen featured on also included a segment filmed at the Covenanter martyrs’ memorial in Wigtown.

A write-up about the episode featured in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press:

An episode on an earlier series featured RPCI historian William Roulston speaking about Covenanter preacher Alexander Peden, minister at New Luce and then field preacher, who travelled between Scotland and Ireland: