class, Calvinist Scots family and studied at the Protestant University of Helmstedt before his conversion. It fuelled the debate over James' proposed reforms or the Five Articles of Perth, particularly the re-introduction of kneeling; while only a minority viewed this as idolatry, many others argued that Olgivie demonstrated the danger of such 'Popish' practices, even for the educated devout. In 1618, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland reluctantly approved the Articles but they were widely resented. Fergushill was actively involved in this debate and in March 1620, he and 48 other ministers were summoned to appear before the Scottish High Commission, an ecclesiastical court of bishops and sympathetic ministers established to enforce the Articles. The accused were found guilty but all denied the authority of the Court to discipline them; Robert Boyd wrote to the Court on Fergushill's behalf, urging clemency. Fergushill was allowed to return to Ochiltree, on condition that he not administer Communion to his congregation, a restriction that was ignored; he remained there until 1639, when he transferred to Ayr. He was an associate of radicals like Archibald Johnson who formulated the 1638 National Covenant and part of the General Assembly that expelled bishops from the kirk and led to the 1638-1639 Bishop's Wars. Notes References 1592 births 1644 deaths 17th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland People from Ayr Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Glasgow