ABSTRACT
For most of England, and for the lowland areas of Scotland, theReformation story was, eventually, a story of conversion. For Ireland, Wales, the Scottish Highlands and indeed for some of the upland regions of England, it is first and last a story of conquest. This story’s theme is the extension of London’s and Edinburgh’s power across the islands, culminating in the union of those two crowns in 1603. It is, therefore, a story in which politics leads religion, but in which religion is nevertheless critical. Conversion and conquest were not necessarily incompatible. The process of converting the upland regions to the new religion was slow, but by the end of the sixteenth century was visibly succeeding – except in Ireland, where its failure was almost complete.
