Hugh Binning (1627–1653) was a Scottish philosopher and theologian. He was born in Scotland during the reign of Charles I and was ordained in the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland. He died in 1653, during the time of Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth of England.
John Welsh was a Scottish Presbyterian leader. He was born in Dumfriesshire and attended the University of Edinburgh to obtain his MA in 1588. He became a minister in Selkirk and married Elizabeth Knox, a daughter of John and Margaret Knox, before leaving Selkirk. Welsh later ministered at Kirkcudbright and Ayr, the latter of which was where he spent five years. His preaching resulted in his imprisonment by the order of King James VI of Scotland. The lawyer Thomas Hamilton wrote to James VI about Welsh, John Forbes, and others; the case was important because many Scottish subjects of James were devoted to the ministers. In 1606 Welsh was exiled to France, where he continued to preach. John Welsh of Ayr was the father of Josias Welsh and the grandfather of John Welsh of Irongray.
John Michael Welsh of Irongray was a leader of the Scottish Covenanter movement. Dunlop an early 20th century writer says: "It is a noteworthy fact that there exists no memoir of John Welsh of Irongray, though from the Battle of Rullion Green till Bothwell Bridge he was the most conspicuous Covenanting minister in Scotland. Had he glorified God in the Grassmarket, or fallen in some scuffle with Claverhouse's dragoons, or even like his friend Blackadder of Troqueer languished in prison on the Bass Rock, some pious hand would have been moved to write his story." Dunlop also wrote: "The events of Welsh's life must be sought for in the pages of Wodrow and Kirkton and in the letters and State papers of the reign of Charles II. After spending a fortnight hunting him in the British Museum, I have come to sympathise with Clavers and his dragoons. Mr John Welsh is a most elusive gentleman."
Robert Blair was a Scottish presbyterian minister who became a Westminster Divine and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1646, after failing to emigrate to Boston in 1636. Born in Irvine in 1593, the sixth son of John Blair of Windyedge, a merchant-adventurer and cadet of Blair, and Beatrix Mure of the Rowallan family, he gained an MA at the University of Glasgow in 1612 and became regent there in 1615. When the episcopalian John Cameron was appointed Principal, Blair resigned and went to Ireland, to become minister of a Presbyterian congregation at Bangor, County Down. He was ordained for it by Robert Echlin, Bishop of Down and Connor, Blair was "very careful to inform... of what accusations had been laid against me of disaffection to the civil powers, whom he was the use of the English liturgy nor Episcopal government.... I declared my opinion fully to the Bishop at our first meeting... [who] said to me, 'I hear good of you, and will impose no conditions on you'". Echlin, however, turned against him. In September 1631, he was suspended from his ministry and on 4 May 1632 deposed. Though bent on emigrating to New England, the ship in which he and other ministers sailed was driven back by weather, a sign, Blair thought, that his services were still required at home. He dodged an order for his arrest by escaping to Scotland and was admitted to the Second Charge of Ayr in July 1638. After periods in Scotland and Ireland, he accompanied the Scottish army to England in 1640 and helped to negotiate the 1641 Peace of Ripon. In 1646, Blair was elected Moderator of General Assembly, then Chaplain-in-Ordinary to King Charles I. He was also on a committee endeavouring in 1648 to get Cromwell to establish "a uniformity of religion in England". He was summoned to London by Cromwell in 1654, but excused himself on grounds of ill health. On the establishment of episcopacy he was removed from his charges in September 1661, confined to Musselburgh, then to Kirkcaldy for three and a half years, and then to Meikle Couston, Aberdour, Fife, where he died on 27 August 1666 and was buried.
Robert Bruce was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland which was called on 6 February 1588 to prepare defences against a possible invasion by the Spanish Armada. King James VI was so sensible of the valuable services of the church in preserving public tranquillity, during his absence in Norway on the occasion of his marriage, that in his letters to Bruce he declared that he was "worth the quarter of his kingdom." John Livingstone, the preacher at the Kirk of Shotts revival, said of Bruce "in my opinion never man spake with greater power since the apostles' dayes".
Robert Fleming the elder was a Scottish Presbyterian Minister. Following the Restoration of King Charles II, he declined to accept the authority of the newly imposed bishops in the Kirk. He was therefore ejected as minister at Cambuslang. For the next ten years he remained in Scotland, preaching as he had opportunity. In 1669 he published the first part of Fulfilling of the Scripture in Rotterdam; it was later expanded to 3 parts and it is for this work and other treatises that Fleming is chiefly remembered. On 3 September 1672 he declined indulgence at Kilwinning, disobeyed a citation of the Privy Council, and fled to London, where his Scottish speech somewhat marred his usefulness. On 30 December 1677 he was admitted colleague to John Hog, minister of the Scots Kirk, Rotterdam. After the Revolution he might have been restored to Cambuslang, but preferred to remain in Holland. While on a visit to London, he died of fever, 25 July 1694, after a short illness. Daniel Burgess preached at his funeral and also recorded some memoirs of Fleming's life.
James Hamilton (1600–1666) was a 17th-century Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland, later active in Ireland until deposed from his living.
Robert Burns was a Scottish theological writer and church leader.
Walter Balcanquhall (1548–1617), was one of the first Presbyterian ministers in Edinburgh after the Reformation in Scotland.
Robert Traill was a church minister at Cranbrook in Kent. He was born at Elie in Fife in 1642. He was incarcerated on the Bass Rock, an island in the Firth of Forth from July 19, 1677 to October 5, 1677. His work was often quoted by J. C. Ryle and is still published in the 21st century.
John Livingstone was a Scottish minister. He was the son of William Livingstone, minister of Kilsyth, and afterwards of Lanark, said to be a descendant of the fifth Lord Livingston. His mother was Agnes, daughter of Alexander Livingston, portioner, Falkirk, brother of the Laird of Belstane.
Robert MacWard, a covenanting minister, appears to have studied at the University of St. Andrews, where he was for some time regent of humanity. In 1654 he was appointed one of the regents of Glasgow University without competition on 4 August 1653, but resigned the appointment from ill-health, and on 8 September was ordained to the collegiate charge of the Outer High Church, Glasgow, the usual ordination trials being dispensed with. From 1656 to 1659 he had charge of the south district of the parish, in 1660 of the west, and in 1661 of the east. In 1659 he was named for the vice-chancellorship of the university, but the proposal, which was opposed by Robert Baillie, who seems always to have borne him a grudge, was unsuccessful.
Andrew Duncan was a Latin scholar and Church of Scotland minister at Crail. He achieved notoriety for his presbyterian principles which brought him into conflict with James VI who wished to impose an episcopalian system. He attended the General Assembly of Aberdeen in 1605 which had been proscribed or prorogued by royal authority and was one of six ministers who were imprisoned and later exiled as a result. He was allowed to return after several years in France but was subsequently banished again following further controversy in failing to comply with the Five Articles of Perth. He died in exile in Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1626.
John Sharp was a theologian and Church of Scotland minister. He achieved notoriety for his presbyterian principles which brought him into conflict with James VI who wished to impose an episcopalian system. Sharp graduated with an M.A. from St Andrews in 1592. He was admitted to Kilmany in 1601. He was one of those who, in opposition to the Royal command, attended the General Assembly of Aberdeen. For this he and five other ministers were committed to the Castle of Blackness on 2 August. He was brought before the Privy Council at Perth on 27 August and interrogated as to the constitution of the Assembly. Not giving satisfactory answers they were tried before the Justiciary Court at Linlithgow on 10 January 1606, on a charge of treason, found guilty, and banished for life. On 23 October Sharp went to Bordeaux and became Professor of Theology in the University of Die, but would probably have returned to Scotland had honourable terms of reconciliation been offered him. In 1630 he was compelled to leave France at the instance of Cardinal Richelieu, the Prime Minister, who had grown jealous of Sharp's reputation as a Protestant teacher. Sharp was appointed Professor of Divinity in the University of Edinburgh on 17 November 1630. He died about 1647, aged 75.
John Scrimgeour, was a Presbyterian minister at Kinghorn in Fife. He went as a minister with King James to Denmark, when the monarch went there to fetch home Anne, his young bride to be. He is best remembered for his opposition to the Five Articles of Perth. He would not for example observe holy days other than the sabbath and would not have his congregation take the knee for communion; this led to his being deposed from the ministry of the church. He is also remembered having a verbal exchange with John Spottiswoode in which the archbishop is recorded as saying about King James "I tell you, Mr Johne, the king is Pope now, and so sail be." to which Scrimgeour is said to have replied: "It is an evill [title ?] ye give him." Scrimgeour was banned from taking church services, put out of his parish and put under house arrest but nevertheless he did occasionally help officiate at communion services.
James Wood was a Covenanter and Church of Scotland minister. He was appointed to be Professor of Divinity and Principal of the Old College, St. Andrews by Cromwell's government. He was deposed after the Restoration under the influence of Archbishop Sharp in 1663. He was then holding Presbyterian principles at a time when Charles II was promoting Prelacy. He died in 1664.
Robert Cunningham was one of the early Scots ministers who settled in Ulster in the 17th century. He was the first Presbyterian minister in Holywood and was one of Samuel Rutherford's correspondents. He was deposed for his adherence to Presbyterian principles.
John M'Clellan was a seventeenth century teacher and minister. Educated in Scotland he started work as a schoolmaster at Newtownards. He also began to preach there initially with the sanction of the church. He took part in an unsuccessful attempt to sail to America on board the Eagle Wing in 1636. After this he returned to Scotland where he became a minister where he served from 1638 until his death in 1650.
John Semple was a seventeenth century minister in Ulster and Scotland. He began to preach after exhorting the people while leading the psalm-singing. His Presbyterian principles brought him into opposition to the policies of the civil authorities. He refused The Black Oath and was pursued by those sent from Dublin to apprehend non swearers. He relocated to Scotland and was named multiple times and threatened with severe punishment throughout his life including shortly before his death in his 75th year.
James Lawson was the Church of Scotland minister who succeeded John Knox at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh. Lawson's great educational achievement was the founding of the University of Edinburgh. He may be said to have been its principal promoter, and its best and wisest friend during the first year of its history, 1583.
