A masked pimpernel – of Alexander Peden, devout preacher and religious rebel
One of the joys of writing historical fiction is making the acquaintance of the somewhat lesser known people who once played important roles in the events of the past. One such person is Alexander Peden, the charismatic Scottish Kirk minister who set large parts of Ayrshire ablaze with his determined refusal to abandon his faith. He plays a pivotal role in my book The Prodigal Son and inspires my male hero Matthew Graham to risk life and limb in his steadfast support of the Covenanter cause.
This does not endear Alexander Peden to Matthew’s time traveller wife, Alex, who spends far too much time with her heart in her mouth while Matthew is off playing the hero. Should he be caught, they’d likely hang him—or sell the entire Graham family into bondage in the new world. Alex does not understand how anyone can risk so much for religion. Matthew cannot comprehend how she cannot see that some things are worth dying for. Let’s just say the Graham family is at an impasse . . .
While Matthew is a purely fictional character, anyone familiar with the history of the Covenanters and their persecution in the late 17th century will, at some point or another, have stumbled over Mr Peden.
To me, Sandy Peden – oops, Alexander Peden (Sandy to friends only, and I’m not quite sure I qualify) – came alive the day I stood in the National Museum of Scotland and peered at his mask.
17th-century disguise mask and wig worn by Alexander Peden,
a Scottish religious rebel, on display at the
National Museum of Scotland
I realise that the purpose of the mask was to disguise him, thereby leading me to assume he didn’t at all look like it. Still, when studying the mask I had my first clear image of Sandy – a slight man who burned with restless energy, whose eyes glowed with passion when he spoke about God. A brave man, a stubborn man – and a man convinced that his faith and his beliefs were the right ones.
“Of course they are,” he says, sounding aggravated.
“You think?” I snort. “All that stuff about predestination, about the relative unimportance of women…”
“Pah! Just shows how little you know! Now, I am willing to take on the task of educating you – however much of a Sisyphus task that might be.”
I ignore the little man. I’m not uneducated, thank you very much.
“Aye you are,” he says. “You have studied such varied subjects but how much of your academic efforts have you expended on God? On the Holy Writ?” He sinks those luminous grey eyes of his into mine. “No, I thought as much,” he says before fading away.
Alexander Peden was born in 1626 and educated at Glasgow University. In 1662 he was ejected from his parish New Luce—the restored king, Charles II, and his advisors were determined to supplant the Scottish Kirk with the Church of England. Peden spent the rest of his life as a religious rebel, holding secret services out on the moors of Ayrshire to fortify his ever-growing flock of die-hard Presbyterians.
The powers that were searched high and low for him, but Sandy knew how to blend into the landscape—ably helped by my Matthew—and to further confuse his pursuers he wore the mask mentioned above. It is said that on several occasions he evaded capture by praying to God for deliverance – which God duly supplied through the opportune appearance of a thick fog or clouds to cover the moon.
“God looks to his own,” Sandy puts in, scratching at his balding head. He smells, his dark coat is frayed around the cuffs and has a long tear down the back. He looks tired and dirty, and he keeps on coughing. He frowns at my inspection. “It’s not a life of comfort to be constantly on the run.”
“So why not give up?”
“Give up?” Sandy raises fair, bushy brows. “I’m outlawed. They’d hang me off the first gallows they could find.”
No matter divine intervention, Sandy’s luck eventually ran out. In 1673 he was captured and spent the coming five years on the Bass Rock. After this, he was to be deported to America and together with 60 others he was set aboard a ship to London where they were to be transferred to another, larger vessel. However, the captain of this vessel was so incensed when Sandy informed him why they were being deported that he released them, leaving them on the London docks.
“A good man,” Sandy laughs. “He would no more carry me off against my will than he would kill his mother.” He scratches at his chest. “Lice,” he mutters. “Courtesy of His Majesty’s tender care, I reckon.”
“Or of living rough.”
“That too.” He purses his lips. “Sometimes…”
“Sometimes what?”
Sandy shakes his head. “Nowt,” he says, smiling ruefully.
“Go on; sometimes…”
“… I long for a bed – a warm home, a family…” He stares off in the distance. “God has ordained and I must obey.”
After the encounter with the godly captain, Sandy and his companions walked all the way home. For the remaining years of his life, Sandy divided his time between Scotland and Ireland, always on the run, always holding to his faith and preaching the word of God as he knew it.
Alexander Peden died in 1685 – in a bed, as he’d prophesised.
“Of course,” Sandy says. “God allowed me one last night of comfortable sleep.”
“That was nice of him.” Seems the least he could do, given Sandy’s unstinting service.
Sandy wags his finger at me. “You sound like Alexandra Graham. That woman is in serious need of guidance, but that husband of hers is too besotted with her to do as he should.”
“He is?” I smile, thinking that if Matthew is besotted with Alex, she definitely returns the favour.
“You know he is.” Sandy smiles. “A marvellous woman, for all that she is wild and half-heathen.”
“Matthew isn’t too bad either,” I say.
Sandy chuckles and gets to his feet. “Well you would say so, wouldn’t you? After all, you’ve made him up.” With that he is gone.
Upon hearing Alexander Peden was dead a company of soldiers chose to disinter his body, intending to hang his corpse from the gallows in Cumnock. Loud objections from the people led to Sandy being reburied at the foot of the gallows. In due course, an impressive monument was erected over his final resting place. Not that Sandy ever wanted a monument – all he wanted was the freedom to worship God according to his beliefs.
If the above has inspired you to want to learn more about Alexander Peden and the religious persecution that plagued the Scottish Lowlands in the aftermath of the Restoration, why not read The Prodigal Son ?
Safely returned from an involuntary stay in Virginia, Matthew Graham finds the Scottish Lowlands torn asunder by religious strife. His Restored Majesty, Charles II, requires all his subjects to swear fealty to him and the Church of England, riding roughshod over any opposition.
In Ayrshire, people close ranks around their evicted Presbyterian ministers. But disobedience comes at a high price, and Alex becomes increasingly nervous as to what her Matthew is risking by his support of the clandestine ministers – foremost amongst them the charismatic Sandy Peden.
Privately, Alex considers Sandy an enervating fanatic and all this religious fervour is incomprehensible to her. So when Matthew repeatedly sets his faith and ministers before his own safety, he puts their marriage under severe strain.
Things are brought to a head when Matthew places all their lives in the balance to save his dear preacher from the dragoons. How much is Matthew willing to risk? How much will he ultimately lose?
Anna Belfrage
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About the Author
Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with two absorbing interests: history and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England. Her Castilian Heart is the third in her “Castilian” series, a stand-alone sequel to her September 2020 release, His Castilian Hawk. Set against the complications of Edward I’s invasion of Wales, His Castilian Hawk is a story of loyalty, integrity—and love. In the second instalment, The Castilian Pomegranate, we travel with the protagonists to the complex political world of medieval Spain. This latest release finds our protagonists back in England—not necessarily any safer than the wilds of Spain! Anna has also authored The Whirlpools of Time in which she returns to the world of time travel. Join Duncan and the somewhat reluctant time-traveller Erin on their adventures through the Scottish Highlands just as the first Jacobite rebellion is about to explode! All of Anna’s books have been awarded the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the proud recipient of various Reader’s Favorite medals as well as having won various Gold, Silver and Bronze Coffee Pot Book Club awards. Find out more about Anna, her books and enjoy her eclectic historical blog on her website,
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