Rather than concentrating simply upon the great political and ecclesiastical controversies of the Covenanter period, Ross examines the practical work of a seventeenth-century Scottish minister and parish. Drawing upon historical records, the book gives a fascinating picture of the ordinary religious life lying behind the better-known events of the Scottish Covenants.

Subjects covered include:

• The church and parish
• Parochial machinery, moral and material
• Errors in the cause of education
• Management of the poor
• The minister's labours in preaching the Word and catechising
• The minister's work in connection with Communion seasons
• Elders' work in their districts
• Kirk-session discipline
• Cases involving superstition
• The troubles arising from Andrew Donaldson's adherence to his principles
• Donaldson's sufferings, subsequent labours and death

The volume is particularly interesting for students and collectors of the Scottish Covenanters, Church of Scotland, Scottish Presbyterianism, seventeenth-century church history, Reformed worship and pastoral practice.

The author, Rev. William Ross, was himself a minister of the Free Church of Scotland.

Publication details

Author: Rev. William Ross, LL.D.
Title: Glimpses of Pastoral Work in the Covenanting Times
Subject: Andrew Donaldson, Minister at Dalgety, Fifeshire, 1644–1662
Publisher: James Nisbet & Co., London
Date: 1877
Edition: Original 1877 edition
Pagination: xvi, 240 pages
Binding: Original green publisher's cloth with black decorative rules and central ornament to boards; gilt lettering to spine
Size: approximately 182 × 130 × 24 mm
Weight: approximately 381g

Condition

A genuine antiquarian copy in its original publisher's cloth binding.

The binding shows age and use, including rubbing and wear to the extremities, with more noticeable wear/fraying and some loss at the head and foot of the spine. There are black marks/staining to the rear board and some general surface marks and wear.

The inner hinge/endpaper area shows cracking and wear, as photographed, although the boards remain attached.

Internally there is age-related toning, occasional spotting/foxing and other minor marks consistent with a book of this age. An old handwritten ownership inscription/name appears at the head of the title page.

The final page and rear endpaper show some more noticeable spotting/foxing.

Complete with xvi + 240 pages.

Please study all photographs carefully, as these form an important part of the condition description.

A scarce and highly interesting original Victorian work on the practical religious life of the Scottish Covenanters and the seventeenth-century Presbyterian ministry.