Apocalypticism in Prophetic Unionist Thought
- John Provan
- Oct 3
- 8 min read
Prophetic Unionism is our term for the late-16th century to later 17th century prophecy-based strain of unionist thought, which was at times, almost "apocalyptic" – in the sense of foreseeing cataclysmic events which would bring an end to a dark age and usher in a bright future. It was a form of pro-British unionist thought championed most strongly by those Scots who defended the right of their fellow Scot, James VI, to rule all Britain from his London throne.
This article continues the theme from our first article on this subject – by John Provan who has an MA (Hons) in history – "Prophetic Unionism, and the 1603 Union of the Crowns".
Pictured: The James VI first class Christmas Stamp of 1999. A set of 48 stamps were issued to mark the Millennium, interpreting 1,000 years of British history. James is shown with his Authorised King James Bible. Pic found here where a further 8 stamps depict St Columba, St Augustine, and the 4 National Saints.
The Catholic Church came to play a prominent role in Prophetic Unionist writings. Scottish Presbyterian leader Andrew Melville was among the first to champion the "Scoto-Britannic" kingdom as the adversary of the Vatican.
His Principis Scoto-Britannorum Natalia (On the birth of the Prince of the Scoto-Britons) was published to celebrate the birth of James VI's first son Henry on 19 February 1594.
It was in anticipation of the Scots King James succeeding to the English throne. Melville's Scoto-Britannic prince is portrayed as a great and just king, valiantly leading the united Britons into battle against their Catholic foes on the continent:
28 Those whom before the Tweed divided with the deep channel of its wide river, and the Solway divided with the tidal streams of a well-watered shore: and whom the tops of the Cheviot hills, which touch the heavens, divided:
29 now divine law and Scoto-Britannic justice unite, now common law and a Scoto-Britannic state unite! Under a Scoto-Britannic king, one prince calls them together into one Scoto-Britannic people!
33 To what great deeds shall Scoto-Britannic glory soar? A glory not to be defined by the boundaries of time, nor the expanse of the universe!
53. What the holy passion of the sons of Christ is capable of against the minions of the Antichrist, this farthest region bears witness, beside Léman, the Rhone, and the Seine, and the Garonne!
In another of Melville's poetic works, his Gathelus of 1602, he appeals to the chronology of the Scots as depicted in the Declaration of Arbroath to argue that the Scots were in fact a sort of 'lost tribe' of the Israelites.
Their ancient patriarch Gathelus and his wife Scota were depicted as having embarked on a great adventure from their Middle Eastern homeland, seizing the Stone of Destiny before eventually settling in the British Isles.
This association of the Scots with the ethnic Israelites reinforced belief in Ezekiel's unification prophecies, which increasingly took on a millenarian character as they were amalgamated with the apocalyptic prophecies of the New Testament Book of Revelation.
The symbolism of the Israelite Kingdom of Judah would also be heavily employed in tying the new Scoto-Britannic kingdom to this final Biblical battle between good and evil.
THE LION OF THE NORTH
Melville's The Whole Prophecy of Scotland, published a year after Gathelus and noted earlier for its defence of Merlin's prophecies, was at the fore in embracing those Arthurian legends which identified Scotland as the "lion of the north".
This imagery of the Scottish lion, based on the Royal coat of arms, was soon associated with the Biblical symbolism of the Lion of Judah, a metaphor at times used even for Christ himself.
Merlin's words, "Then shall the lion be best in the broad north", were seen as having been fulfilled when the Scots King James acceded to the throne of England also, and could perhaps foreshadow even greater glories for his newly united Kingdom.
Self-described "Scoto-Briton" David Hume of Godscroft exemplified this growing association of Scotland with ancient Judah, and the significance of the lion in prophetic thought.
In his 1605 tract De Unione Insulae Britannicae (The Union of the British Isles) Hume offers a very Scottish-centric solution to the question on what form the new British Royal coat of arms should take. Making no attempt to accommodate English heraldry within his new British imagery, he suggests simply using a very slightly modified version of the Lion Rampant which would cement the identification of his Scoto-Britannic kingdom with ancient Judah:
There shall be but one coat of arms for the British kingdom. It shall be the red lion rampant on a field of gold. It shall not be enclosed within a box, but free and unrestricted. There shall be one motto: Only lesser than the land of Judah or I am in the service of Judah, or something similar.
It is easy to understand the appeal of such imagery amidst the tempestuous world of the early 17th Century. Yet it must have seemed even more pertinent during the disastrous Civil War which engulfed the British kingdoms less than half a century later.
As they imploded under the strain of religious and ideological strife, the Biblical prophecies of reunification and reconciliation provided a source of hope that the people of Britain would one day live together in peace again.
The Covenanter scholar Samuel Rutherford (c. 1600-1661) directly equated the symbolism of Israel and Judah with the Scotland and England of his own day, speaking of:
Britain's Israel and Judah, England and Scotland coming together, weeping and asking the way to Zion. (p87, Coffey)
Although Scots were always to the fore in using such Biblical symbolism in expressing their hope for union, perhaps the best expression of these sentiments can be found in one of their Puritan brethren, the Englishman Thomas Case.
His plea for unity takes on a similar form to Rutherford's, while expanding upon the dual aspects of civil union and religious reformation. In one sermon, he made reference to:
The children of Israel, and the children of Judah: Scotland and England, newly coming out of Babylon, antichristian Babylon, papal tyranny and usurpation...asking the way to Zion with their faces thitherward; that is, inquiring after the pure way of gospel worship, with full purpose of heart...calling one upon another, and echoing back one to another: 'Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord, in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.'
Historian John Coffey offers a quite poetic summary of the full scale of Rutherford's apocalyptic vision, in which Scotland and its covenanted British King would take over the mantle from Sweden's Protestant leader Gustavus, and lead the Protestant nations to a final victory against what was believed to be the Roman Catholic Antichrist.
In many ways, Rutherford represented the apex of prophetic unionist thought, the culmination of varying strands of prophecy each so dramatic and climactic that their only logical conclusion could be one of truly apocalyptic proportions.
Coffey accurately captures Rutherford's distinctly Scottish bias even within the British framework of these prophecies:
This was an awesome thought: the Scottish National Covenant might just be the trigger to set off a series of events culminating in the fall of the Antichrist and the establishment of Christ's rule over all the nations. And how beautifully appropriate this would be, for God – who refused to share His glory with another and chose the weak and despised things of this world to shame the powerful – would have allowed the great Gustavus to fall but then taken up Scotland, a 'worm' of a nation at the ends of the earth, to accomplish His purpose! (pp86-87, Coffey)
Of course, Rutherford's dream was never realised.
Nonetheless, when the rest of Britain returned to some degree of normalcy after the Restoration of 1660, he did not give up hope in his vision of a godly, British nation. Looking as always to scripture, he took comfort in the victory of Gideon's 300 men over the huge Midianite army, maintaining his position that "a throne shall be set up for Christ in this island of Britain". (p89, Coffey)
This last phrase does a great deal to highlight how intertwined the concepts of Britannic monarchy and Christian kingship once were, and the prophetic resonance which the ascension of the Protestant Scots King James VI to the British throne had in the minds of many ordinary Britons.
PROPHETIC UNIONISM ENDS WITH RESTORATION
The Restoration of Charles II, in 1660, marked the end of a period in which radical Protestantism and ancient legends were powerful forces in shaping the character of the British nation.
Thus began a new chapter in Britain's history – one marked by Whig ascendancy, global empire and Enlightenment reason which would sweep away such beliefs.
The mythologies that lent such a distinctly Scottish and Protestant character to the Union of 1603 gave way to the rationalism of the Union of 1707 – an arrangement more concerned with political pragmatism than idealistic nation building.
With such older concepts of Britain consigned to the history books – a place even where they seem to be curiously absent, except when they are revisited in websites such as this one – the Scottish contribution to the early British nation building project has been sorely neglected.
Yet the uniquely-Scottish character of prophetic unionist thought serves as a reminder that Union was, from its infancy, a Scottish project as well as an English one. It offers a historically justified alternative to the secular concepts of nationhood which tend to predominate in Scotland today.
It is clear that Scots felt that they were British long before the Union of 1707, and this Britishness is a vital part of Scotland's heritage which modern Scots can be proud to embrace.
And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them,
Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation;
and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
Matthew 12:25
Sources:
1. Andrew Melville, 'Principis Scoto-Britannorum Natalia' (1594) and 'Gathelus' (1602) can be found online here.
2. Arthur H. Williamson, 'Number and National Consciousness' in Scots and Britons: Scottish Political Thought and the Union of 1603, edited by Roger A. Mason (Cambridge University Press, 1994). This contains quotes and information on Scottish attitudes towards Merlin and Thomas the Rhymer around 1603.
3. David Allan, 'Arthur Redivivus: Politics and Patriotism in Reformation Scotland' in Arthurian Literature XV, edited by James P Carley and Felicity Riddy (Cambridge University Press, 1997). This contains quotes and information on Scottish attitudes towards Merlin and Thomas the Rhymer around 1603.
4. David Hume, De Unione Insulae Britannicae in The British Union: A Critical Edition and Translation of David Hume of Godscroft's De Unione Insulae Britannicae, edited by Paul J. McGinnis and Arthur H. Williamson (Ashgate, 2002) at p.163.
5. John Coffey, 'Samuel Rutherford and the Political Thought of the Scottish Covenanters', in Celtic Dimensions of the British Civil Wars, edited by John R. Young (John Donald Publishers, 1997). This provides the quotes of Samuel Rutherford's apocalyptic thought.
6. Thomas Case quote, see "Sermon at London. By Thomas Case", p228 at Project Gutenberg here.
This article is part of our series "Scottish Origins of British Unionism: The Jacobean Union and its Debate (1603 onwards)". You can find all our history articles at our British History Index.
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