It is clear after the failure of the Hamilton mission, emphasized by the fiasco of the Glasgow Assembly, that the issues between the king and the Scots cannot be solved by any diplomatic process.

For Charles, war entails a major risk: he simply does not have the resources to mount a serious military operation.

Fresh funds will mean summoning Parliament.

However, the king has now ruled England for eleven years in its absence, and the last occasion on which it was summoned was far from satisfactory.

The Scots, moreover, are especially adept in keeping one step ahead of the king in the propaganda stakes, determined that any military contest with England should not be seen in the context of ancient national rivalries.

Even the very title of the coming conflict is a measure of their success.

It is being referred to by the summer of 1639 as the Bellum Episcopale: the Bishops' War.

While Englishmen may very well be prepared to heed a distant call, few are prepared to die for Scottish bishops.