5 minute
Podcasts
You can cram a lot of Scotland’s Forgotten History into 5 minutes!
What James Guthrie Still Says to Us – SFH065
Some of James Guthrie's last words are well known, others not so much. We look at the abiding relevance of some of what he said on the edge of eternity. It was a message of both hope and warning that we still need to hear today. If you want to know more about James...
Readings in Rutherford: Part 3
This is a third reading from Samuel Rutherford’s book Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to Himself. For more about the book see the podcast episode 57 interview with Rob McCurley. This reading is kindly supplied by Rev Bryan Peters of the Presbyterian Reformed Church...
Readings in Rutherford: Part 2
This is a second reading from Samuel Rutherford’s book Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to Himself. For more about the book see the podcast episode 57 interview with Rob McCurley. This reading is kindly supplied by Rev Bryan Peters of the Presbyterian Reformed Church...
Readings in Rutherford: Part 1
This is a reading from Samuel Rutherford's book Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to Himself. For more about the book see the podcast episode 57 interview with Rob McCurley. This reading is kindly supplied by Rev Bryan Peters of the Presbyterian Reformed Church of...
Banished to Carolina – Andrew Buchanan of Kippen – SFH064
"Pray in earnest" said Donald Cargill to two young lads, "you have a sharp storm to meet with, and many strange faces to see, and your bones shall lie in a strange land”. After a few years these words were exactly fulfilled as they found themselves banished to...
Royal statues, Slavery and Persecution – John Mathieson, Closeburn – SFH063
While Charles II and James II were enslaving Africans for the plantations they were also involved in enslaving some of their own people for the same purpose. In this episode, we follow the eventful history of one ordinary man who was caught up in it, John Mathieson of...
George Brysson’s Jeopardy – Rosewell, Midlothian – SFH062
Living and hiding in the vicinity of Roslin Glen, George Brysson tells his own story of being hunted by government soldiers. "From one concealment to another he had to flee, making his way gradually back to the familiar homestead. Sometimes he slept in the wood beside...
Trembling for the Gospel More than Prison – Edmund Calamy – SFH061
What message should you give when you will be imprisoned for preaching? A giant of the Westminster Assembly—helping to prepare the Catechism—Edmund Calamy lived to see days of peril for the gospel. Preaching illegally would put him in prison, but he had an urgent...
Wise Words in a Time of Trouble – Archibald Skeldie, Edinburgh – SFH060
As war and pestilence marched unstoppably towards Edinburgh in 1645, there was every reason to fear. It needed the courage of the blind preacher, Archibald Skeldie to speak wise and timely words in this critical moment. What could he say that would strengthen and...
The Tragedy of James Tinto – Temple, Midlothian – SFH059
The pretty village of Temple and its surrounding farms provided another centre of Covenanter activity in Midlothian. We know rather little about the Covenanters of this parish, their experiences and backgrounds. In a few cases we only have a name but we are in fact...
“One of the best and ablest men in Britain” – Interview about James Durham – SFH058
C H Spurgeon said, “If I had lived in Durham’s time, I should never, I think, have wanted to hear any other preacher; I would have sat, both by night and day, to receive the sweet droppings of his honeyed lips.” Who was James Durham and why did he deserve such high...
Forgotten Riches from Rutherford’s ‘Christ Dying’ – Interview with Rob McCurley – SFH057
Even many who love to read Samuel Rutherford's spiritually rich devotional letters have never heard of or read some of his other books. One forgotten book that exalts the glory of the Redeemer in a way that readers of the letters will recognise is called Christ Dying...
A Hidden Hotbed of Covenanter Activity – Carrington, Midlothian – SFH056
Carrington is a tiny, sleepy village in Midlothian. It's not the sort of place known for Covenanter connections, but Scotland's Forgotten History can be found in surprising places. In fact, when you dig deeper you find that it was a hotbed of conventicles and...
How the Plague Transformed a Community – Ayr – SFH055
William Adair led the community of Ayr in a spiritual response to the outbreak of plague there in 1647. They could never be the same again. Find out what happens when an entire community and all its officials engage in public confession of sin. To dig deeper, visit...
John Nisbet – An Interview with Rev. Robert McCurley – SFH054
Rev Robert McCurley of Greenville Presbyterian Church in South Carolina joins Matthew Vogan on this specially extended interview episode to talk about some of the lessons we can learn from the Covenanter martyr, John Nisbet of Hardhill. To dig deeper, visit...
The Blind Minister and the Plague – Edinburgh – SFH053
The plague epidemic reached Edinburgh in 1645. At the end of 1644, before it reached the town, the blind minister Archibald Skeldie preached a sermon that still has many insights for facing pandemic diseases today. One of these...
Thomas Watson – St Stephen’s Walbrook, London – SFH052
Thomas Watson was the vicar of St. Stephen’s Walbrook in the city of London. He showed strong Presbyterian views during the English civil war and was ejected from his parish for Nonconformity. But what is his relationship to Scotland's Forgotten History? Matthew...
Rev Thomas Hogg of Kiltearn – Evanton, nr Dingwall – SFH051
The Rev Thomas Hogg of Kiltearn was born in Tain in 1628. He was ordained minister of Kiltearn in 1654; deposed as a Protester in 1661 and ejected from his church in 1662. He was a noted field preacher, who ended up being imprisoned several times, including on the...
Chamberlain Road, Edinburgh – The Apothecary & The Plague – John Livingstone’s Tombstone – SFH050
"Mors Patet, Hora Latet." So reads the Latin inscription on a small mausoleum wall at 1 Chamberlain Road, Edinburgh. "Death is sure, the hour is obscure." It's the mausoleum of an apothecary called John Livingstone (The crest on the gravestone is the Livingstone...
Alexander Brodie of Lethen and the Ardclach Bell Tower, Nairn – SFH049
Alexander Brodie of Lethen was a Covenanter from the North of Scotland. Matthew Vogan records this episode at the Ardclach Bell Tower, less than 10 miles south east of Nairn. Built in 1655, probably as a watchtower, after Brodie's estates had been attacked by...