In March 1639 the Covenanters were busy securing castles for defence against the king. They blew open the gate of Edinburgh castle and stormed inside, but with Dumbarton Castle they had to adopt a different approach.
Perched on a volcanic rock overlooking the Firth of Clyde, Dumabarton Castle is a formidable fortress and one that the Covenanters knew they needed to capture to prevent the king landing reinforcements from Ireland.
But they were not going to take it by siege or bombardment, but by daring and design. They knew how defended it was and they were determined to take it without wasting lives in a bloody assault.
So, on the last Sunday of March 1639, the castleโs captain, Sir John Stewart, 1st Earl of Traquair, a devout and loyal servant of the king, went out to hear worship at a nearby church, suspecting no danger. But the Covenanters had laid their plan. They captured him swiftly, stripped him of his clothes, and dressed another man of similar build in them. Then, under threat of death, Stewart was forced to give the watchword that would gain them entry to the castle.
That night they approached the castle in silence, the disguised man at their head clothed in the captainโs garments. The sentries upon the walls saw forms returning through the dark and thought nothing of it, recognising the clothes and familiar shape of their own captain.
The disguised man cried out the watchword into the dark, and from within there came no challenge. The gates, trusting in what they thought they knew, were opened.
In an instant the Covenanters were through, pouring into the fortress before the garrison could grasp the trick. They had come in greater strength than the defenders could resist, and Dumbarton was theirs. Captured by cunning not cannon.
Now that wasn't the end of the story, the castle would be lost again before another capture by the Covenanters. Years later during the persecution of the Covenanters under Charles II, Dumbarton would be used as a prison for them.