The Wars of the Three Kingdoms occurred from 1638 until 1652 be­tween Scotland, England, and Ireland. This led to hundreds of pris­oners of war captured in battle, notably the Battle of Dunbar in 1650, being transported in chains for sale in the colonies.  This book attempts to identify the Scottish soldiers captured in battle, especially the battles of Dunbar and Worcester, and from whose ranks supplied the prisoners of war who were sent in chains to labor in English plantations in America.

The Wars of the Three Kingdoms began in 1638 when King Charles I attempted to impose Anglicanism on a mainly Presbyterian Scot­land. Subsequently, King Charles increasingly lost support in England, where his policies (e.g., suspending the English Parlia­ment, imposing a ship-tax, and an apparent move toward Roman Ca­tholicism) contributed to the English Civil War in 1642 and an Irish revolt in 1641. The Royalist stronghold of York was a major target of the Parliamen­tary Army under Oliver Cromwell. Together with the Scots Cove­nanter Army, Parliamentary forces defeated King Charles I at the Battle of Marston Moor in Yorkshire in 1645. The king later surren­dered to the Scots, who handed him over to Oliver Cromwell and Parlia­ment. After King Charles I was executed in 1649, England became a republic, while Scotland remained a kingdom with Charles II as head of state. This was unacceptable to Oliver Cromwell, who led his army to Dunbar. The Battle of Dun­bar on 3 September 1650 was a disaster for Scotland, leading to its subjugation to Eng­land.

Following the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell used the prisoners of war to populate the recently acquired colony of Jamaica, as well as exist­ing colonies like Barbados, Montserrat, Nevis, and Bermuda. The largest consignment of Scots prisoners of war resulted from the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Dunbar.

The following year a Royalist faction headed by King Charles II and the Duke of Hamilton invaded England. This Scots-Royalist army was destroyed by Cromwell at Worcester. Some Scots prisoners were sent to the Balkans to resist the Turks; others to France; some were sent to fight the Irish; some were shipped to Virgini; while some were sent to New England. There are several references in the British archives to the practice of deporting prisoners of war for sale, but few identifying who were banished.