Richard Cameron (1648? - 22 July 1680) was a leader of the Presbyterians who resisted the Stuart monarchs. His followers took his name, the
CameronianCameronian was a name given to a section of the Scottish Covenanters who followed the teachings of Richard Cameron, and who were composed principally of those who signed the Sanquhar Declaration in 1680...
s, which ultimately formed the nucleus of the modern
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
regiment of the same name, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), which was disbanded in 1968.
Born at
Falkland, FifeFalkland is a town and former royal burgh, formerly known as the Parish of Kilgour c1300AD in Fife, Scotland at the foot of the Lomond Hills.According to the 2006 population estimate, the village has a population of 1,189...
, he was initially a parish school teacher and then a highly successful field preacher of the strict Presbyterian school, a
CovenanterThe Covenanters formed an important movement in the religion and politics of Scotland in the 17th century. In religion the movement is most associated with the promotion and development of Presbyterianism as a form of church government favoured by the people, as opposed to Episcopacy, favoured by...
.
Richard Cameron (1648? - 22 July 1680) was a leader of the Presbyterians who resisted the Stuart monarchs. His followers took his name, the
CameronianCameronian was a name given to a section of the Scottish Covenanters who followed the teachings of Richard Cameron, and who were composed principally of those who signed the Sanquhar Declaration in 1680...
s, which ultimately formed the nucleus of the modern
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
regiment of the same name, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), which was disbanded in 1968.
Born at
Falkland, FifeFalkland is a town and former royal burgh, formerly known as the Parish of Kilgour c1300AD in Fife, Scotland at the foot of the Lomond Hills.According to the 2006 population estimate, the village has a population of 1,189...
, he was initially a parish school teacher and then a highly successful field preacher of the strict Presbyterian school, a
CovenanterThe Covenanters formed an important movement in the religion and politics of Scotland in the 17th century. In religion the movement is most associated with the promotion and development of Presbyterianism as a form of church government favoured by the people, as opposed to Episcopacy, favoured by...
. When
Charles IICharles II was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father King Charles I was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
demanded that all preachers submit to the Crown's religion (High Church
AnglicanismAnglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures...
) and accept the king as the head of the church, Cameron spent some years in exile in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
.
He returned to Scotland in 1680 and along with others such as
Donald CargillDonald Cargill was a Scottish Covenanter, working to uphold the National Covenants of 1638 and 1643 to establish and defend Presbyterianism....
issued the
Sanquhar DeclarationThe Sanquhar Declaration is a speech read by Covenanter, Richard Cameron, accompanied by twenty armed men in the public square of Sanquhar, Scotland, in 1680, disavowing allegiance to Charles II and the government of Scotland, in the name of "true Protestant and Presbyterian interest", opposition...
, calling for war against the king,
Charles IICharles II was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father King Charles I was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
, and the exclusion of the king's brother from the succession. Cameron was killed later the same year in a skirmish with government troops at
Airds MossAirds Moss is a moor in East Ayrshire, between the rivers Ayr and Lugar.Its blanket bogs have caused it to be designated as a Special Area of Conservation....
near Cumnock during a government attempt to suppress the Covenanters. This period was later given the title of "
the Killing Timethumb|[[John Everett Millais]]' 1862 illustration depicting Margaret Wilson's execution by drowning in the incoming tide during the Killing Time.The Killing Time is the colloquial term given by historian Robert Wodrow to a period of conflict in Scottish history between 1680 and 1688...
" because hundreds, if not thousands of Presbyterians were persecuted and martyred for holding Cameronian views.
In 1689 after the accession of
William IIIWilliam III was a sovereign Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland, and as William II over Scotland...
his followers were pardoned, and incorporated into the British Army as the Cameronian regiment which defeated
JacobiteJacobitism was the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
forces at the
Battle of DunkeldThe Battle of Dunkeld was fought between Jacobite clans supporting King James VII of Scotland and a government regiment of covenanters supporting William of Orange, in the streets around Dunkeld Cathedral, Dunkeld, Scotland, on 21 August 1689 and formed part of the Jacobite rising commonly called...
in the same year, and was subsequently renamed the 26th (The Cameronian) Regiment of Foot.
Further reading
- Munro, Neil. "Lion of the Covenant." In Ayrshire Idylls. Edinburgh: FrontList Books, 2004. 19-32. ISBN 1-84350-079-5 First published in 1912, this is a short story based on the killing of Richard Cameron by Royalist troops in 1680.
- Grant, Maurice. The Lion of the Covenant. Darlington, Evangelical Press, 1997. 335 pages. ISBN 0-85234-395-7 A modern biography of Richard Cameron by a Scottish Presbyterian.