3 - New Canons and Prayer Book for Scotland

Summary

‘Having travailed a great way this last Summer, none of ye Baggpipes in the North could alter me or my pipe.’ This telling comment, made by Laud to Wentworth in December 1633, following his return from Edinburgh for the king's coronation, sets the tone for his overall stance on the development of a new prayer book and canons for Scotland. To varying degrees, both projects were supervised by Laud from court, with an emphasis on ensuring, as much as possible, conformity with England. As shown in the previous chapter, the bishops were key to the successful implementation of reform: without them, neither king nor archbishop would have been able to push forward with the changes they sought to make in Scotland. It was not simply in ensuring compliance with royal policies that the episcopate's contribution was central, but their co-operation was also paramount in procuring the publication of the 1636 book of canons and the 1637 prayer book, through which crown policies were disseminated to Scottish worshippers. The purpose of this chapter is to juxtapose Laud's known contribution to preparing the prayer book with his less familiar but coeval role in ensuring that Scotland had a book of canons consistent with those of Ireland and England. In the process, it will expose the true nature of Laud's working relationship with the king in its Scottish context. It will show his ability to make some blatant and consequential changes during the drafting process, casting doubt on his putative circumspection in handling Scottish church affairs and revealing the considerable free rein that Charles was prepared to give his archbishop in the formulation and administration of ecclesiastical policy. The argument here is not that Laud operated alone, since the bishops were integral to the whole process, but rather that he was a dominant figure in converting his own and the king's wishes into actions. The argument will be presented in three parts. As canons and prayer book were developed simultaneously and by an overlapping group of bishops, the ‘official’ evolution of the two projects will be considered in tandem in the opening part of the chapter.