The Earl of Montrose had been King Charles I's key military commander in Scotland during the First Civil War. He had originally joined the Covenanters in the Bishops' Wars, since he resented the political power granted to the bishops by Charles's plans for the Scottish Church. However, when the Covenanters allied with the English Parliamentarians in 1643, Montrose transferred his allegiance to the King. He won a series of spectacular victories in Scotland, and became master of Scotland at just the point at which Charles's own armies were facing definitive defeat with the loss of the Battle of Naseby. In September 1646 he escaped to the continent.
He remained loyal to the cause of the English King, and after Charles I's execution in 1649, he swore immediate allegiance to Charles II. The new
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