This soldiering tale tells the story of events leading up to the first Jacobite Rebellion of 1689. Led by James Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, known as “Bluidy” Clavers or “Bonnie” Dundee, depending on one's point of view, he was killed leading his Jacobites to victory at the Battle of Killiecrankie. The story then moves on to the dramatic and unexpected victory of the lone Cameronian Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Cleland only a month later at the pivotal Battle of Dunkeld,
The story commences in 1679 with the Battle of Drumclog, when Royal troops under Claverhouse attacked a Covenanter worship service on the moors. William Cleland, a young 18-year-old Covenanter, and the hero of our story, was principally responsible for this victory. This was the only time Claverhouse was ever defeated in the field, and a personal feud developed between him and Cleland, providing a personal grudge interest in the story.
Soon afterwards the Royal army under the Duke of Monmouth had a resounding victory over the Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge. This led to a period of brutal persecution in Scotland in what became known as the “Killing Times.” Attending a Covenanting service was punishable by death, and hundreds of sincere people suffered torture, exile or execution. Covenanting ministers in particular were viciously hunted down, and by 1688 not one field-preacher remained free and alive in Scotland. The story graphically covers the execution of some of these ministers, as well as the excommunication of the King by Rev Donald Cargill.
Many Covenanting leaders fled into exile in Holland. Back in Scotland, as the Stewart persecution grew yet more brutal, followers of the Rev Richard Cameron, "The Lion of the Covenant," became known as Cameronians. Cameron had declared war on the King, and the Cameronians founded the United Societies, a Presbyterian group which steadfastly refused to submit to the King's efforts to force them to worship God in a way contrary to their beliefs.
In the struggle for religious freedom in Scotland, romance also abounds. An abortive expedition led by the Duke of Argyll to overthrow the Stewarts in 1685, followed four years later by a successful invasion under Prince William of Orange, makes for exciting reading, and the depth of research guarantees an authentic historical novel, however strange the tale. As Scottish Field comments: "The result is something which reads much more like fiction than fact, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.."
The story commences in 1679 with the Battle of Drumclog, when Royal troops under Claverhouse attacked a Covenanter worship service on the moors. William Cleland, a young 18-year-old Covenanter, and the hero of our story, was principally responsible for this victory. This was the only time Claverhouse was ever defeated in the field, and a personal feud developed between him and Cleland, providing a personal grudge interest in the story.
Soon afterwards the Royal army under the Duke of Monmouth had a resounding victory over the Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge. This led to a period of brutal persecution in Scotland in what became known as the “Killing Times.” Attending a Covenanting service was punishable by death, and hundreds of sincere people suffered torture, exile or execution. Covenanting ministers in particular were viciously hunted down, and by 1688 not one field-preacher remained free and alive in Scotland. The story graphically covers the execution of some of these ministers, as well as the excommunication of the King by Rev Donald Cargill.
Many Covenanting leaders fled into exile in Holland. Back in Scotland, as the Stewart persecution grew yet more brutal, followers of the Rev Richard Cameron, "The Lion of the Covenant," became known as Cameronians. Cameron had declared war on the King, and the Cameronians founded the United Societies, a Presbyterian group which steadfastly refused to submit to the King's efforts to force them to worship God in a way contrary to their beliefs.
In the struggle for religious freedom in Scotland, romance also abounds. An abortive expedition led by the Duke of Argyll to overthrow the Stewarts in 1685, followed four years later by a successful invasion under Prince William of Orange, makes for exciting reading, and the depth of research guarantees an authentic historical novel, however strange the tale. As Scottish Field comments: "The result is something which reads much more like fiction than fact, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.."
