January 24th 1681

Isabel Alison, the Covenanter

The religious struggles of the 17th Century in Scotland paint a fascinating and horrific picture of religious fervour and bigotry, with the occasional trimmers proving that for some survival was more important than points of ecclesiastical dogma.

For instance, Perth Town Council positively fell over themselves to keep in with the Establishment. “The National Covenant…and the Solemn League and Covenant were and are in themselves unlawful oaths, and were taken by and were imposed upon the subjects of this kingdom against the fundamental laws and liberties of the same…”

This from a town that had been at the very forefront of the Protestant revolution. Even the Kirk Session busied itself with fining and imprisoning men and women accused of conventicling.

But there were those who were not prepared to make their peace with authority so readily. One such was a young Perth woman, Isabel Alison. She was arrested and asked the usual trick questions. “Do you own the King’s authority?” “Was the insurrection at Bothwell rebellion?” (Bothwell Brig was where the Covenanters were defeated by government forces under the Duke of Monmouth). “Was the killing of Archbishop Sharp murder?” (Murder it undoubtedly was, but Sharp was particularly detestable in the eyes of the Covenanters as he was originally a Covenanter himself but in his apostasy became an exceedingly cruel persecutor of his erstwhile friends and in the process rose to the position of Primate of Scotland).

Isabel Alison was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. At the scaffold she was accosted by an Episcopalian minister who assured her that she was on the road to damnation. Isabel herself thought it was the other way round. After singing the 84th psalm and reading the 16th chapter of the Gospel according to St Mark she cried out, “Rejoice in the Lord ye righteous and again I say rejoice.”

Then, in a broadside against the Episcopalion minister and those that might think like him she continued. “Oh ye enemies what will ye do ; whither will ye fly in that day? For now there is a dreadful day coming on all the enemies of Jesus Christ. Come out from among them all ye that are the Lord’s people.” Shortly afterwards, as the report has it, the hangman threw her over.