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CAMERONIANS - [ ref....
Encyclopaedia Britannica]
'Cameronian' was a name given to a radical
faction of Scottish Covenanters who followed the teachings of Richard
Cameron, and who were composed principally of those who signed the
Sanquhar Declaration in 1680. Known also as "Society Men", "Sanquharians,"
and "Hillmen", they became a separate church after the religious
settlement of 1690, taking the official title of Reformed Presbyterians
in 1743. "Societies of Cameronians for the Maintenance of the
Presbyterian Form of Worship" were formed about 1681. Their testimony,
"The Informatory Vindication", was published in 1687. They quickly
became the most pronounced and active adherents of the covenanting
faith. They wished to restore the ecclesiastical order which had existed
between 1638 and 1649, and were dissatisfied with the moderate character
of the religious settlement of 1690. Refusing to take oaths of
allegiance to an uncovenanted ruler, or to exercise any civil function,
they passed through a period of trial and found some difficulty in
maintaining a regular ministry, but in 1706 they were reinforced by some
converts from the established church. They objected strongly to the
proposal for the union of England and Scotland, and were suspected of
abetting a rising which took place in the west of Scotland in 1706; but
there appears to be no foundation for the statement that they intrigued
with the Jacobites, and they gave no trouble to the government either in
1715 or in 1745.1n 1712 they publicly renewed their covenants at
Auchensaugh Hill in Lanarkshire, and in 1713 their first presbytery was
founded at Braehead, while a presbytery was formed in North America in
1774. Following an 1863 division, the majority body of the Reformed
Presbyterians united with the Free Church of Scotland, leaving the tiny
minority body as the last representatives of the Cameronians; it retains
the name of Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
In the British army the Cameronians
(Scottish Rifles) was a regiment directly descended from the Cameronian
guard, which was first raised in 1689 by James Douglas, Earl of Angus,
fought at the battle of Dunkeld and was afterwards employed to restore
order in the Highlands. One of the regimental traditions was to issue a
bible to every new recruit; another was that the troops went under arms
to church services, and the service only started after sentries had been
posted on four sides of the church building.
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