NEWS: A Contract with God

Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
June 4, 2009

A RARE copy of one of the most important documents in Scottish history is expected to fetch thousands when it is auctioned in Edinburgh.

A copy of the National Covenant, a "contract with God" created in Edinburgh in 1638, will go up for sale at Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers on Friday.

It is a chance to own a genuine record of a time of great political and religious strife in Scotland. The document was created after King Charles I, who saw himself as the "Godly Prince", attempted to introduce an Anglican prayer book into the Scottish Kirk, sparking fierce opposition.

A group of Scottish nobles got together at Greyfriars Kirkyard and drew up the National Covenant, which affirmed Scotland's opposition to interference in their reformed church.

The contract was then copied and dispatched to every shire, presbytery and parish of Scotland for signature.

"It's not known how many copies of the National Covenant were made," said Alex Dove, book specialist at Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers.

"Frequent audits have been done throughout the 20th century and each time they're done they uncover more and more of them, so we think there are at least 100 still around. The copy we have for sale was sent to and signed by the people of Renfrewshire.

"It was purchased in the 1950s from a bookseller by a private collector of manuscripts for GBP 100, a not inconsiderable sum at the time but by all accounts the collector was extremely happy with the price he paid.

"It was bequeathed to the family who have put it up for auction as part of a lot containing some other very interesting manuscripts, include a letter from Charles I and Edward Hyde, the First Earl of Clarendon.

"All of these documents, including the National Covenant, date from the 17th century although they don't directly relate to each other.

"It would have been very interesting to have a letter from Charles I responding to the National Covenant in the same lot, but sadly that's not the case this time."

The last copy of the National Covenant to go up for sale, originally sent to the people of Teviotdale in Roxburghshire, went for GBP 500 in 1978. Another copy was sold for GBP 220 the previous year, although the original destination of the contract has not been recorded.

Ms Dove added: "We expect it to fetch between GBP 5,000 and GBP 8,000 at auction, and it will make a great addition to the collection of either a private collector or an institution.

"We know that 12 copies of the National Covenant are held in the National Library of Scotland, while the others are in institutions and private hands.

"As you can see from the date of the last sale, these things come up for auction very infrequently. We've had interest from private collectors both domestic and international."