Covenanter Road
Eastfield
Harthill
North Lanarkshire
ML7 5PB
The Covenanters
BENHAR FARM
Benhar Farm was swept away due to open cast mining in the recent 1970's-1980's. It was once the abode of a Covenanter called John Thomson who fought at Bothwell. He was also a survivor of the Orkney ship wreck and the only one of seven Shotts men who were on that ship.
He had acknowledged the rising at Bothwell as rebellion, but denied the death of Sharp to be sinful. His descendents tenanted the farm (according to tradition) for three centuries. To the south of the farm on the west bank of a small burn, tradition points to a large boulder of whinestone that has been known since Covenanting days as Peden's Stone.
The tradition is most likely true (as the descendents of those who attended Coventicles at the time still reside on this spot) --- as reported about a century ago.
PEDEN'S STANE (STONE) BENHAR
Benhar Farm was tenanted in (and long before) the Covenanting period by a family called Thomson. Their descendents lived there for many years later and have brought down an unbroken chain of evidence from the time of Covenanter, Alexander Peden, to the present day.
A cast iron pillar was erected on top of the boulder in 1866 to Peden's memory by local iron mine workers. Uniquely, this is the only cast iron Covenanters' memorial in Scotland.
To add a little flavour and give a little insight into what this stone meant to the locals of a few generations ago, here is an extract from a conversation which took place at the stone in 1880. A woman, Ellen Jane Guthrie, visiting the site and another local woman who happened to appear at the scene at the same time, entered into a coversation. Their little chat offers us a little glimpse of something that might otherwise have been lost in history. While Ellen J. Guthrie was standing musing at the sight and sound of the Benhar burn by the boulder she was joined by another traveller who engaged here on the subject of Peden's Stone.
Ellen Guthrie having satisfied the curiousty of the stranger proceeded to make some reflections on the subject of Peden. This was evidently to the delight of the antiquated looking stranger who seized her by the arm and exclaimed with kindly eyes:
"Oh, Mam, it does my old heart good to meet with one in these degenerate days who profess an interest in the old Covenanting stock; for, alas! new fangled notions are taking possession of people's minds, old customs are abolished, a love for those sacred rites so revered by our forefathers, is entertained now but by a few, and (a deep sigh) times are changing in Scotland."
"What!" I said, "Do you not esteem it an unspeakable blessing that in these days each one is permitted, nay, invited to enter the House of God, there to worship Him without incurring the risk of imprisonment, ay, even death for doing so?"
The old woman shook her head as she replied, "Ye say truly, liberty is indeed granted to all who choose to accept the gracious invitation to hear the Word of God, but few, few there are who avail themselves of the gracious privilege afforded afforded them. Look at your mighty cities, see the multitudes there who never enter a church door; and of those who attend, not the very few attracted thither by sentiments of real devotion. No, no, the old spirit of religion is fast dying in Scotland, and when it becomes extinct, then may we weep for our country."
"Far different it was thirty years ago," continued the old woman, "Oh, well do I mind one bonnie summer's morning, when the sky was without a cloud, an' the caller air cam' blithely over the heather while the lark was singing sae cheerily aboon oor heads, as if it too was joining in the hymn of praise, at that instant ascending from the lips of three thousand people assembled on this very spot to heara sermon preached in remembrance of Peden."
"Oh, that was indeed a glorious sight, and one never to be forgotten. There was the minister, the soul tears trickling down his cheeks as he spoke of him in honour of whose memory they were that day gathered together... of the zeal, and his love for the might cause he had espoused; and there were the hearers, so absorbed in listening to his pious exhortations, that a pin might have been heard to fall in that vast assemblage."
Here the old woman paused for an instant, and then continued:
"Ay, ay, there was mair religion on ones thoughts when seated on the bonnie hillside, or aneath the shade o' a noddin beech imbibing the pure Gospel truths as given them by some persecuted servant of God, than when seated between the four walls of stone and lime; the perishable work o' men's hands."
(Quoted from - Guthrie's Tales of the Covenanters) P
PEDEN AT PRAYER
According to tradition, it was here that Peden prayed for protection from the dragoons, although this must have been a regular occurence in Peden's life as a fugitive. The locals of the are believe this is how 'Benhar' got its name: 'Ben'', meaning hill, and 'Har', meaning mist;
'Benhar' - Hill of the Mist
Peden and some followers were being pursued by the dragoons. He stopped, saying, "Let us pray here, for if the Lord here not our prayers and save us we are all dead men."
Then he began praying, "Lord, it is Thy enemies day, hour and power. They may not be idle, but hast Thou no other work for them, to whom Thou wilt give strength to flee, for our strength is gone. Twine them about the hill, Lord, and cast the lap o' Thy cloak ower auld Sandy and thir' poor things and save us this one time."
His prayer was heard, since there fell between themand their enemy a blanket of mist. In the meantime the dragoons received word to go in quest of Renwick, and a great company with him, and so passed the mist while the faithful few lay in the hollow of the hillside undiscovered.
This was typical of Peden's escapes, indeed, he was not only known as the 'Prophet of the Covenant,' but also a the 'Phantom' of hairbreadth escapes.
(Quoted from - 'The Covenanters; The Fifty Years Struggle' by Mr. David Roy, a former member of Benhar Evangelical Church - who is now in the presence of Christ, his King and Redeemer)
