On 28 February 1638, thousands of Scots gathered in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh and signed a document that would shake a kingdom.
The National Covenant was not a polite petition. It was a public declaration that even a king who claimed divine authority, was not above the law.
The monarch, Charles I, believed he could impose religious reforms on Scotland using his discretionary power. But more than 300,000 Scots signed The National Covenant, not directly opposing the King, but insisting that the King’s authority, flowed through law, Parliament and by agreement – and not through personal whim.
Their stand helped ignite wars that reshaped Britain and, eventually, helped to bury the doctrine of an unchecked monarchy.
A painting by William Hole hangs in the European Room in the City Chambers and is part of the city’s art collection.
Covenanters memorials in Edinburgh
The signatories to the deed and others who were devoted to the Presbyterian faith rather than the episcopacy which was being foisted on them by the King, were defiant for decades. Some were persecuted and executed.
The Covenanters Memorial – one of many the length and breadth of the country – in The Grassmarket has just been restored (although there are still temporary barriers around it for now). This circular memorial in Edinburgh marks the site of the public gallows where many Covenanters were hanged during the Covenanting period. The different coloured stone is intended to depict the shadow of the gallows.
The work has been overseen by Edinburgh World Heritage and funded through the UK Government UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the City of Edinburgh Council. The next phase will be to “enhance the interpretation” by making the text at the base of the memorial more visible. There will also be some kind of interpretation to help people understand who the Covenanters were and the importance of the memorial.
In addition to the Covenanters Memorial there is a monument on Redford Road built in 1885 which is a reminder of the Covenanters struggle. .It is also known as the Colinton Column and is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland.
Parallels in the US today
Nearly four centuries later, the setting may feel distant, but the argument is not. In the US, the political career of President Donald Trump has revolved repeatedly around the same fundamental question: does executive power carry personal immunity?
Court battles over presidential accountability, disputes about whether a president can be prosecuted for actions taken in office, and rhetoric portraying legal scrutiny as illegitimate persecution and lawfare, all push against the constitutional idea that no individual stands beyond the reach of law.
The Scottish Covenanters did not reject monarchy. They pledged loyalty to the king. But they insisted that loyalty was conditional upon lawful government. Their argument was radical for its time: if rulers break the law, the people have both the right and the duty to resist.
Strip away the 17th-century theology and the principle is starkly modern: power must be accountable.
Four centuries ago, ordinary citizens stood in a churchyard and declared that kings could not govern by will alone. That principle remains the quiet backbone of every functioning democracy. But do people in the United States still believe it and if so what they are to do about it?
