medieval-atlas/events-from-about-850-to-1460/147

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Bothwell Brig Rebellion 1679 Tensions between the state and militant nonconformists came to a head in May of 1679 when the murder of Archbishop Sharp on Magus Muirprecipitated a series ofacts ofdefiance by conventiclers in different parts of the country which together constituted an uprising. In essence, then, circumstances rather than any orchestrated conspiracy forced the dissidents to take a more aggressive public posture. For example, if the dozen men who met at Gilston and then travelled to Baldinnie on 2 May had not decided at the last minute to kill the Archbishop of St. Andrews -rather than the local sheriff, Sheriff Carmichael -there would have been neither the necessity nor the determination to foment rebellion. However, with the murder of a chief minister of the crown, the assassins had provoked a serious crisis for the government that could only be settled by armed confrontation. Yet for three weeks thereafter little activity took place to confirm the authorities' suspicions that the long-awaited rebellion was imminent. The main conspirators ""agus Muir (3 May) ~ ~~aldinnie(2May). ") 1 Queensferry (SO~h) ~.Gilston (2 May) 2 Blackness Stirling 3 linlithgow East Wemyss 4 Edinburgh Queensferry (North) I~"" . Larbert o F~irk~ -Leith ~ Kllsyth 0 ~:w 1 lasgow (2-3 June Muirhead 0 /~Rutherglen (29 ~ay) 0 " Blackburn The Bothwell Brig Rebellion: the progress of the rebellion MS within the bounds ofthe western shires ofAyr, Dumbarton, Renfrew and Lanark. Ofthe five major battles or skirmishes which took place between I June and 22 June, the early battles fought at Loudoun Hill and Glasgow ended in victory for the rebels. However, both the skirmish at Gala Water and West Calder inVOlving smaller numbers of combatants turned into a rout of the dissidents. Thus when the king's army gathered at Kirk ofShotts on 21 June prepared to march on the main rebel camp at Bothwell Bridge neither side could entertain the expectation that an easy victory was assured. Bothwell Bridge proved to be the rebels ' last stand. Military inferiority compounded by a lack of martial discipline and effective leadership among the dissident forces account for much of the ease with which the king's army won the battle. And, apart from a final armed encounter at Aird's Moss on 22 July 1680 where some of the leading insurgents including Richard Cameron, Hackston of Rathillet and Donald Cargill were captured or killed, no other largescale manifestations of popular discontent took place. Instead the dissidents were forced into a more protracted, guerilla warfare where acts of civil disobedience took other forms such as the publication of antigovernment declarations. In the immediate aftermath of the rising, the government showed itself to be more concerned with moderation than retribution. Although 36 southern lairds were forfeited for their failure to join the king's host and two circuit courts -roughly one for eastern Scotland and another for the west -were set up to administer pardons and loyalty oaths to rank and file participants, no large scale executions or show trials were organised. However, given that 800 rebels (20%) were killed in battle, this approach may have been part of a conscious effort by the government to avoid the creation of any more covenanting martyrs. • Battle or skirmish o Site associated • Site of circuit court ~Shires with forfeited lairds The Bothwell Brig Rebellion: the aftermath 147

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