War between the Scottish Covenanters and Charles I of England had broken out the previous month, in what would become known as the First Bishops' War. When Charles, in association with his Archbishop William Laud, had decided to bring the Church of Scotland more into line with its more high-church English counterpart, it had met with outrage from Scots. A group of Presbyterian Scottish lords drew up a 'National Covenant' to voice their protest and demands, and defied the King's authority by abolishing episcopy in Scotland.
Charles took the view that he could - and should - quash the Covenanting movement by military force, and took north an army of 20,000 men. However, the English found themselves heavily outnumbered, and the first military action of the war, at Kelso, had proved an
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