It was by
this last body that the troubles we have now to examine came upon
Scotland.
After the collapse of Hamilton's army at Uttoxeter in August 1648, a
body of Covenanters assembled at Mauchline, in Ayrshire, to protest
against the leniency with which the Engagement had been treated in the
Estates, where, indeed, a considerable minority had been inclined openly
to countenance it. Their leader was at first the Earl of Eglinton, a
staunch Covenanting lord; but as they gathered strength Argyle joined
them with his Highlanders, and the command soon passed into his hands.
The Protesters marched upon Edinburgh. In an attempt to take Stirling
Castle they were defeated by Sir George Monro with a division of
Hamilton's army which had not crossed the border; but Argyle had better
tools to work with than the claymores of his Highlanders. He opened
negotiations with Cromwell, who led an army in person into Scotland,
renewed the Covenant, laid before the Estates (the new Estates of Argyle
and his party) certain considerations, as he diplomatically called them,
demanding, among other things, that no person accessory to the
Engagement should be hereafter employed in any public place or trust.
The Committee were only too willing to have the support of Cromwell to
what they themselves so vehemently desired.
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