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Archiver > SCOTLAND-GENWEB > 1998-07 > 0899442205


From: linda Merle <>
Subject: Covenanters
Date: Thu, 02 Jul 1998 22:03:25 -0700


The significance to us of the Covenanters is this -- in Scotland they "died
out",
but they did not die out in Ireland. It was there that many fled and settled.
Then many came to the American colonies. You find them refered to as
Reform Presbyterians in both Ulster and the US today. Some Irish Reformed
Presbyterians adopted their faith in Ulster, I suspect. I know one branch of
my family has probably been in Ulster since the 1550's, probably arriving with
the McDonnells when they invaded Northern Antrim. Supposedly this has been
proven -- though all I know for sure is that we have oral history of the
war with
the English in the 1580's. This was of course before the Covenantors!
(Surname
is BLACK -- in North Antrim only)

At any rate, these families came to America and settled in small communities,
often with those they knew in Ulster. So if you understand this it helps you
find them. You will often find that Reformed Presbyterians in the US did not
mix with less strict forms. Or even with other communities of Covenantors. So
for instance two Covenantor communities near Pittsburgh, PA had almost no
surnames in common! Which is astonishing considering the sparcity of surnames
in the Scottish community. We discovered we still know the people our
ancestors
came to America with 300 years ago. Understanding where there were Reformed
congregations also explained by one branch of the family moved from Wallkill,
NY to Western PA -- there was another community there. I am descended from the
fella in whose house they met for 40 years, the brother of the first
minister, and
a couple other members of the congregation. And they were probably already
inter-related before they left Ulster.

Hanna "The Scotch Irish" contains "The Scottish Martyrs", a section of a book
pubished in 1714 entitled "A Cloud of Witnesses...." (etc for 10 lines). It
recounts
the martyrdoms of various Covenanters. Example

"Upon the grave-stone in the church-yard of Anwith, lying on the corpse of
John
Bell of Whiteside, who was most barberously shot to death, at the command of
Douglas of Morton and Grierson of Lagg, in the parish of Tongland in Galloway,
anno 1685:..." [inscription here...] "Upon the grave-stone on the corpse of
Robert
Stewart, son of Major Robert Stewart of Ardoch, and John Grierson, who were
murdered by Graham of Claverhouse, at the water of Dee, in Galloway, anno
1684..."

"Upon the grave-store of Thomas Burn, James Wood, Andrew Sword, John
Waddell, and John Clyde, who suffered martyrdom at Magus-muir, November
25, 1681, and lie buried in a corn field near Magus-muir, is this
inscription.....
...When the grave-stone was set up in October, 1728, the chains were taken
out of their graves, and some of their bones and clothes were found
unconsumed,
now 47 years after their death." This goes on for 40 pages and includes
the list
of names of the men drowned deliberately in a prison ship as well as the
ones who
survived. Lots of detail. Many of the commonest surnames of the Ulster Scot
are found in these pages -- since many of them came from the counties where
the
Covenantors were the strongest.

You can find Hanna in most libraries with a genealogy collection, buy it from
the Genealogical publishing co on the internet, or join www.ancestry.com,
which
has the book on line and searchable.

Also, if your Scottish ancestors were a wee bit more intensely religious than
the average Joe -- ie in Scotland they were Wee Frees or with some other
flavor of church-- you might find that they ended up in an Irish Reformed
Kirk
when they emigrated. In any case, my Scottish grannie passed over the
Scottish Presbyterian churches for the Irish Reformed in Western PA. I
could never understand why until we attempted to trace her family
in Scotland and discovered they were devout Free Presbyterians. And God
Bless them! Even before that, they got all their children baptized and always
had a church wedding so they are not hard to trace in the parochial records
into the 1600's. Finding Covenantors in your heritage is a major clue.

Happy hunting!

Linda Merle

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