This article examines Presbyterian interpretations in Scotland and Ireland of the
Scottish Reformations of 1560 and 1638–43. It begins with a discussion of the
work of two important Presbyterian historians of the early nineteenth century,
the Scotsman, Thomas McCrie, and the Irishman, James Seaton Reid. In their
various publications, both laid the template for the nineteenth-century
Presbyterian understanding of the Scottish Reformations by emphasizing the
historical links between the Scottish and Irish churches in the early-modern
period and their common theology and commitment to civil and religious liberty
against the ecclesiastical and political tyranny of the Stuarts. The article
also examines the commemorations of the National Covenant in 1838, the Solemn
League and Covenant in 1843, and the Scottish Reformation in 1860. By doing so,
it uncovers important religious and ideological linkages across the North
Channel, including Presbyterian evangelicalism, missionary activity,
church–state relationships, religious reform and revival, and
anti-Catholicism.