Within the covers of a single volume, John Howie’s The Scots Worthies offers stirring mini-biographies of the great roll-call of the Christian heroes of Scotland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is a unique work, including all the figures described by John Dickson while himself a prisoner for Christ on the Bass Rock: ‘Innocent Hamilton, godly and patient Wishart, apostolic Knox, eloquent Rollock, worthy Davidson, courageous Melville, prophetic Welch, majestic Bruce, great Henderson, renowned Gillespie, learned Binning, pious Gray, laborious Durham, heavenly-minded Rutherford, the faithful Guthries, diligent Blair, heart-melting Livingstone, religious Welwood, orthodox and practical Brown, zealous and steadfast Cameron, honest-hearted Cargill, sympathizing M’Ward, persevering Blackader, the evangelical Traills, constant and pious Renwick.’