Club De Orange Patna

30/08/2026

Not every story from the Covenanter persecutions ends in martyrdom and sorrow. There are a few remarkable accounts of escape, survival and eventual deliverance. The story of James Glendinning and his family is one of them.

James and his wife lived in a modest cottage near Cairn Table, outside Muirkirk, where they made their living raising sheep. At that time they were not Covenanters. They were Episcopalians and attended the parish church, where they listened to the King’s appointed curate. Even so, they were sympathetic towards the persecuted Covenanters and felt deeply for those who suffered because of their faith.

Then something happened that changed James completely.

One day, while taking sheep to Edinburgh to be sold at market, James found himself in the Grassmarket, where he witnessed the ex*****on of a Covenanter.

What struck him was not simply the brutality of the ex*****on, but the behaviour of the condemned man. From the scaffold, the Covenanter spoke with remarkable calmness and conviction. His final words and earnest prayer to God made a profound impression upon James.

He returned home a different man.

During the journey back to Ayrshire, James could not escape what he had witnessed. He became convinced that the martyr possessed something genuine: a living faith in Christ and an unwavering conviction that Christ alone was Head of His Church.

When James told his wife what had happened, he discovered that she had been wrestling with many of the same thoughts.

Together they stopped attending the services of the King’s curate and openly identified themselves with the Covenanter cause.

It was not long before word reached the authorities.

The notorious John Graham of Claverhouse sent a man named Morton, accompanied by soldiers, to arrest James. Fortunately, James received warning that they were coming. His wife persuaded him to leave the cottage for the night, hoping the soldiers would depart when they discovered he was not there.

Under cover of darkness, the troops arrived.

Finding only James’s wife and their infant child, they searched and ransacked the cottage. According to the account, Morton then seized the baby and threatened to kill the child unless James’s hiding place was revealed.

James, however, had not gone far.

Concerned for his wife and child, he had crept back towards the cottage and was watching through a window. When he saw his terrified wife and heard his child crying, he could stand by no longer.

James was described as a large and powerfully built man. Drawing his sword, he burst into the cottage, seized his child from Morton and handed the baby back to his wife.

The soldiers attacked.

Within moments, two of them were lying wounded on the floor.

Taken aback by James’s strength and the speed with which he had overcome his attackers, and perhaps fearing that other Covenanters were nearby, Morton decided not to continue the fight. He and his remaining men hastily withdrew.

James now realised that his family would never be safe while they remained in Scotland. Rather than expose his wife and child to further danger, he took them across the sea to Holland, where many Scottish Covenanters had already found refuge.

There James’s courage and ability as a soldier eventually came to the attention of William of Orange, and he was given a position in William’s army.

Years later, with the coming of the Glorious Revolution, James returned to the land from which he had been forced to flee.

He would go on to fight with William’s forces at the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689 — the battle in which Claverhouse himself was killed.

Although William’s army suffered defeat that day, James Glendinning had lived to see the end of the persecution that had once driven him and his family from their home.

Many Covenanter stories end beside a scaffold, on a lonely moor or beneath a martyr’s gravestone.

This one ended with survival, return and freedom.

30/08/2026

The Tragic Story of Roger Dun

In the old kirkyard of Carsphairn is a small unassuming grave that can easily be overlooked. This is the grave of Covenanter Roger Dun. His story is one of remarkable courage, narrow escapes and heartbreaking loss.

The Dun family were farmers at Benwhat, also known as Benquat, near Dalmellington in Ayrshire. Roger, his parents and his brothers were all committed Covenanters and like so many Covenanter families, the Duns endured terrible suffering for their faith.

One day, Roger and two of his brothers attended a conventicle being held near their home. When the authorities learned of the gathering, troops were sent to disperse the worshippers. By the time they arrived, however, the service had ended.

As often happened, the soldiers began hunting down those making their way home. Roger and his brothers had the misfortune of encountering them. His brothers were captured, but Roger escaped across a stretch of boggy ground where the mounted soldiers could not follow. It appears that his brothers were later released or managed to escape, although the details are uncertain.

Roger was now a wanted man. Forced to leave his home, he survived by hiding among the hills and glens, enduring the weather and constantly watching for soldiers. On several occasions, he narrowly avoided capture.

Early one morning, while attempting a brief visit to the family farm, Roger suddenly encountered a party of dragoons. Realising he had little chance of outrunning them, he decided to talk his way out of danger.

Pretending to be an innocent local man, he spoke calmly with their commander and discovered that the soldiers were searching for Roger Dun himself! Roger offered to direct them to where their fugitive might be found. The dragoons thanked him for his assistance and rode away—completely unaware that they had just spoken to the very man they were hunting.
Roger waited until they were out of sight before hurrying back into the safety of the hills.

On another occasion, he secretly returned to his father’s house, only for soldiers to arrive unexpectedly. Roger escaped once again, but his sixteen-year-old brother, Quintin, was captured. The young man had his left ear cut off and was then banished to the plantations overseas.

Realising that his presence placed the entire family in danger, Roger left Ayrshire and travelled south into Galloway.

On Sunday, 23 January 1685, Roger, his brothers James and Robert, and several other Covenanters gathered for worship and prayer at the farmhouse of Caldons in Glen Trool. Soldiers travelling nearby heard the sound of psalms being sung and surrounded the house.
The Covenanters possessed a few weapons for their defence. As they attempted to escape, gunfire was exchanged. When the fighting ended, six Covenanters lay dead, along with Captain Urquhart of the dragoons.

Among those killed were Roger’s two brothers.
James and Robert Dun were buried in Caldons Wood alongside Thomas and John Stevenson, James McClive and Andrew McCall. Their lonely grave still bears witness to the price they paid for worshipping Christ according to their conscience.

Roger was the only man to escape. He fled towards Loch Trool and plunged into its freezing waters. As the soldiers fired after him, he dived beneath the surface, held his breath and swam away underwater. Believing that he had drowned, the soldiers abandoned their pursuit.

Roger eventually dragged himself from the loch, but the exposure left him desperately ill. He almost died, yet somehow recovered. He then survived until the persecution finally ended in 1688, bringing a long-awaited measure of peace.

Sadly, the peaceful life Roger had endured so much to see would be tragically short.

In June 1689, on the day of the Carsphairn Fair, Roger Dun was murdered in a case of mistaken identity arising from a feud in which he had played no part. After escaping soldiers, gunfire, imprisonment and the freezing waters of Loch Trool, his life was taken just as the years of persecution had come to an end.

His grave reads:

Erected
In Memory of Rodger Dunn
who was born at Benwhat Parish of
Dalmellington 1659. He suffered much
persecution for the cause of Christ and
was killed on the night of Carsphairn
Fair June 1689 on the Farm of Brockloch
--------
Pluck'd from Minerva's breast here am I laid
Which debt to cruel Atropas I've paid
Resting my clayey fabric in the dust
Among the holy ashes of the Just
My soul set sail for the celestial shore
Till the last trump the same with joy restore

05/08/2026

VVV

05/08/2026

📰 A Powerful Message for the Orange Family

The August edition of the Orange Standard features the Grand Master's reflections on this year's Twelfth, with a message that looks beyond the celebrations and towards the future of the Orange Institution.

"Our cultural heritage is more than a once-a-year occurrence."

Also in this month's edition:

🟠 Loyal Orders mark Orange Victims Day
✉️ Grand Master writes to the new Prime Minister
🥁 Mourne Junior members hailed as heroes
📸 Plus our special Twelfth picture feature and much more.

📬 Sign up today to receive your FREE copy of the Orange Standard each month:

👉 https://www.goli.org.uk/orangestandard

Stay informed. Stay connected.

05/08/2026

Being imprisoned and chained to an iron bar, even for a short period, would have been horrific—the cold iron digging painfully into the flesh. Yet Thomas Jackson, a Covenanter from the parish of Eastwood, spent more than 220 days in such a condition.

He had already endured years of persecution for refusing to conform to Episcopacy.

In 1683, he was arrested somewhere near Hamilton. No crime of violence was alleged against him. His offence was simply his nonconformity.

For this, Thomas was banished from Scotland and transported to West Flanders. There, far from his home and family, he was sold into servitude and forced to take part in the war against the Spanish.

Thomas had no desire to fight in a foreign army. At the first opportunity, he deserted and found refuge aboard a French ship. After reaching France, he managed to cross the sea once more and secretly returned to his native Scotland.

His freedom, however, did not last.

Towards the beginning of 1685, the authorities carried out an intense search in Glasgow for Covenanters. Thomas was discovered and seized by Major Balfour and Colonel Buchan. He struggled to defend himself and attempted to escape, but the soldiers attacked him violently, leaving him with a severe wound to the head.

During his examination, the authorities discovered that he had previously been banished and had broken the terms of his sentence by returning to Scotland. They immediately threatened him with death.

Thomas was taken down to Glasgow Green, where orders were given for him to be shot.

It was noted that the threat of immediate ex*****on did not frighten him. He appeared calm and ready to die.

The soldiers were drawn up before him and prepared to fire. However, for reasons unknown, the order was changed at the last moment. Instead of being shot, Thomas was taken back to prison.

A few days later, he was transferred to Edinburgh and thrown into prison. There he remained for thirty-two weeks, with heavy irons fastened around both his arms and legs.

During all that time, the restraints were removed only once, and then for merely a few hours, when he was brought before a government committee. Afterwards, he was returned to his cell, placed in irons once again, and kept there for a further seventeen weeks.

At last, Thomas was sentenced to transportation and banished to New Jersey.

He never reached it. Broken by his wounds, imprisonment, and months of cruel confinement, Thomas Jackson sadly died during the voyage across the Atlantic.

(Images: Edinburgh Tolbooth and Iron bar and chains from the Tolbooth Prison.)

02/08/2026

505 years today German reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter:
"Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for He is victorious over sin, death, and the world."

02/08/2026