Sir: It is interesting to know that Sir Denis Brogan
no longer practises the faith of his fathers (Letters, 6 September), but I doubt if he has heard the last word on this from his ancestral voices. That these are still with him is shown by his curious selection of the Covenanters at Kilsyth as an example of pro- motion of religion by military methods.
One not fully conversant with either the history or geography of Montrose's campaigns could easily be misled into thinking that the lowland Scots had committed atrocities in an Irish place named Kllsyth. In fact the town is not much more than a dozen miles from Glasgow and the Irish women and children were hardly innocent visitors, but part of an Irish mercenary army which had already made a burning impression on the Covenanters.
The story stems from Wishart but was blown up large by the novelist Maurice Walsh. If it is true that the Covenanters, a mainly plebeian army, carried banners with legends like 'Jesus and no quarter' on them, while other more fashionable armies were content with colours and emblems, it is only another reminder of an early Scottish love of letters which has largely passed from us.
Previous page
