So You Want To Know About Scots Armies?

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As the Scots fought on both sides, and regularly changed allegiance it makes sense to just write one Scottish reading list.

Regular readers (hello all 12 of you) may have noticed a bit of a shift to matters north of the wall. You'd be correct, and can expect quite a bit of Scottish content over the next few months.

The 'regularly changed allegiance' bit of that sentence seems rather flippant, but in reality the Scots were looking after number 1. They wanted to protect the rights of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland and would support whomsoever they thought would guarantee those rights.

We mustn't overlook those Scottish lords who appear to have harnessed the chaos of the wars to settle old scores, consolidate and extend their lands, and generally feather their own nests.

Our starting point has to be Professor Furgol's "A Regimental History of the Covenanting Armies 1639-1651" (John Donald Publishers).  Long out of print, copies do surface from time to time, but usually for rather a lot of money. A revised edition is on its way. The book starts with an introduction which briefly outlines how and why the Covenanters raised the many armies that took the field. Then follows a description of each army and the regiments that served in it. Recommended, this is on a par with "Old Robin's Foot" (but wait for the cheaper revised edition).

Update: Stuart Reid, via Partizan, has published an almost identical volume "The Army of the Covenant 1643-1647". For my review see here.

Next we turn to Stuart Reid's "Scots Armies in the Great Rebellion 1638-1658" (Partizan Press), which exists in a variety of iterations. 

Originally published by Partizan in a number of smaller pamphlets/books the revised, up-gunned version comes in hardback with 8 full colour plates. A condensed version was published: "Scots Armies of the English Civil War" (Osprey), which surely wins a prize for having an oxymoronic title. 

Volume 2 of the original series is still in print: "English Civil War Flags & Colours: 2) The Scots Armies" (Partizan Press).

All versions cover both the Covenanters and Montrose's Army. Personally I'd go for the "Great Rebellion" version.

"How The Scots Won The English Civil War, The Triumph of Fraser's Dragoons" (The History Press) by Alisdair McRae focuses on Hugh Fraser's Regiment of Dragoons. This is close to "Old Robin's Foot" in detail, but with a much more detailed narrative.

Surprisingly only the one entry from Helion: "Famous By My Sword" (Helion) by Charles Singleton, which is more of a narrative than a deep dive into the units of Montrose's Army, although the chapter on Highlanders is useful.


Update: Partizan Press have just released "Covenant for Religion Croune and Kingdome" by Stuart Reid. Here's the publisher's blurb 'The famous Fitzpayne-Fisher paintings of the captured flags reprinted in colour and, after much detective work, assigned to units for the first time. Includes officer lists'. The Fitzpayne-Fisher paintings were illustrations of the flags captured after Dunbar and the Preston campaign. You can read my review here.

Yet another update: There's also a forthcoming title covering the Scots Royalists: "His Majesty's Loyal Subjects : The Scottish Royalist Armies of the British Civil Wars, 1639-1655" by Ed Furgol and Andrew Lind - due for publication late August/ early September 2026. (Andrew is vice-chair of the Montrose Society in case you are wondering.) Originally listed to be published by Helion, it is now being published by Brill as volume 161 of their History of Warfare series. Prof Furgol gave a taster of what was to come at the Helion Conference in 2023. Excitement for this title has slowly been simmering here at Château KeepYourPowderDry ever since, but alas with a list price of €180 for either the pdf or a physical copy, this is one book that won't be making its way on to my shelves.

Suppliers:
Helion
Partizan Press available from Caliver Books

Please note, whilst I do occasionally get sent books to review, I bought all of the above volumes with my own money. Nor do I get any commission for recommending any reading materials...

These are my usual online sources for second hand books:

  • The first has to be ABE Books, an online market place for booksellers from around the world. With a little perseverance and patience, you'll usually be able to find what you want, and more importantly at a price that you are prepared to pay.
  • My second port of call, eBay, is usually a better source for the more readily available titles than ABE. 
  • The last place I look is Amazon, as prices for used books (particularly harder to find titles) are usually on the higher end of the price spectrum. A last resort, so to speak.
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