In 1660, Charles II was invited back to take the throne in what is known as the Restoration. He hated the Covenanters for making him sign the Solemn League and Covenant years earlier when he was trying to hold onto his throne years earlier. Now that he had the crown back he set out to destroy those preachers who thought they could hold his nose to the grind stone. The Presbyterians set out to plead their case and sent James Sharp as their representative. Sharp betrayed the Covenanters and accepted the post of Archbishop.  Charles II believed in the Divine Right of Kings and made it his goal to establish Erastianism in Scotland. Among the first martyrs was Archibald Campbell. Campbell had presided over Charles II coronation in Scotland after his signing of the Covenant. He was quoted as saying “I set the crown on the king’s head and now he hastens me to a better crown than his own.” Among those who were martyred in Edinburgh’s Grass Market were James Guthrie (a pastor in Stirling), Samuel Rutherford (author of Lex Rex and other treasonable papers), and Archibald Johnston (assisted in the drawing up of the National Covenant). One of the men Charles particularly wanted to kill was Alexander Henderson. Henderson had died of natural causes, however, before Charles returned to the throne. The king had to settle for sending soldiers to deface Henderson’s grave.
In 1662 it was decreed that all ministers had to come under control of Bishops by law. As a result, over 400 ministers left the church and preached in fields, houses and barns. The king had not anticipated such a loss of clergy and in order to fill the vacant churches, ministers from the Highlands were brought in. these men were horribly inept and people did not want to go to the churches but preferred to go to fields to hear ministers. These field meetings became known as Conventicles. Anyone caught attending a conventicle was punished with heavy fines and had to quarter troops in their house. Anyone caught preaching at a conventicle was tried and executed.

Tension came to a head in 1666.  An old man named Greir had been fined for not attending church. Soldiers were sent to his house to exact punishment. They were going to roast him alive when word reached a group of Covenanters who had come into town for food. The Covenanters went to Greir’s aid and defeated the troops. Knowing that they would be accused of rebellion, they decided to go to the Privy Council to plead their case. On their way to Edinburgh, many people joined them in their journey until their numbers swelled to almost 1000. When they reached the city they found the city gates locked to them. They decided to disband quietly when a party of soldiers attacked them at Rullion Green. The Covenanters were defeated. About 50 were killed, and 100 captured but many were able to hide in the darkness. The majority of the captured were executed; their heads and hands were cut off and sent to towns as a warning.

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