THE CLERGY IN EARLY MODERN SCOTLAND. . Edited by Chris R. Langley, Catherine E. McMillan, RusselNewton. Woodbridge, The Boydell Press, 2021. . Pp xviii + 271. 125. 00.

This well-edited and curated volume of thematic essays and case studies makes a seminal contribution to our knowledge of early modern Scottish Protestant society and religion. By focusing on the Protestant clergy's beliefs, lives, practices, and priorities, this volume corrects a sidelining of ministers in the social transformation of reforming Scotland, which has been prevalent in twentieth and early twenty-first-century scholarship. Beyond the interest the volume should receive among scholars of early modern religion in Scotland and its immediate contexts, the collection reminds specialists outside of religious history of the pivotal role held by Protestant clergy as drivers of social change in their communities. Including the esteemed place women occupied in clerical families alongside belief in male-only clergy provides a fascinating window into the practicalities of gender relations and religious practice. The local, national, and international contexts situate the Scottish clergy in the wider community of the early modern Reformed, yet with their unique experiences of Protestant Reformation as they navigated, transformed, and were sometimes rebuffed by local and national particularities of early modern Scottish social, religious, and political life. The volume exemplifies the creative use of source material. In the afterword, the distinguished Professor Emeritus Jane Dawson reflects that these essays constitute an 'excellent' start for future work in this rich and largely neglected field. Beginning a task is always the most difficult part, and the editors and authors are to be commended for their contributions and for opening the way for further research.