View source for Scottish Covenant Association

{{Infobox non-profit
| name            = Scottish Covenant Association
| image           = Scottish Covenant Association Insignia.svg
| image_size      = 150px
| caption         =
| founder         = 
| type            = 
| vat_id          = 
| registration_id = 
| formation       = 1942
| dissolved     = 1950s
| headquarters    = 
| coordinates     = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LON|display=inline,title}} -->
| key_people      = [[John MacCormick]]
| focus           = [[Scottish Covenant]]<br>[[Scottish devolution]]
| budget          = 
| num_staff       = 
| num_volunteers  = 
| website          = 
| footnotes       = 
}}
{{PoliticsScotland}}

The '''Scottish Covenant Association''' was a non-partisan political organisation in [[Scotland]] in the 1940s and 1950s seeking to establish a devolved [[Scottish Assembly]]. It was formed by [[John MacCormick]] who had left the [[Scottish National Party]] in 1942 when they decided to support all-out [[Scottish independence|independence]] for Scotland rather than [[devolution]] as had been their position.

MacCormick took many supporters with him, and set up the ''Scottish Union'', which later became the ''Scottish Convention'' before eventually evolving into the Scottish Covenant Association. The name ''Covenant'' was a direct reference to the [[Solemn League and Covenant]] signed by the Scottish Covenanters of the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1950 the organisation had offices in Glasgow.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y1tAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sIwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6258%2C968258 |title='Covenant above politics' |work=[[The Glasgow Herald]] |date=18 January 1950 |page=8 |accessdate=5 May 2018}}</ref>

The Covenant Association played an enormous part in mobilising Scottish [[public opinion]] in favour of [[devolution]]. The [[Scottish Covenant]] "was eventually signed by two million people".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/scotland_99/the_scottish_parliament/306850.stm Devolution's swings and roundabouts] BBC News 7 April 1999</ref> Ultimately though the Association's disengagement from the conventional political process meant that this enthusiasm waned and had no outlet, with it being some 50 years before devolution was secured for Scotland.

Perhaps the greatest coup of the Covenant Association was the removal of the [[Stone of Scone|Stone of Destiny]] from [[Westminster Abbey]] by four of their members ([[Ian Hamilton QC|Ian Hamilton]], [[Kay Matheson]], [[Gavin Vernon]] and [[Alan Stuart]]) over [[Christmas]] in 1950.  This famous act attracted huge publicity for the cause of Scottish [[home rule]].

== See also ==
* [[Scottish Covenant]]
* [[Stone of Destiny (2008 film)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Twentieth-century Scotland}}

[[Category:Politics of Scotland]]
[[Category:Home rule in the United Kingdom]]