Foist? ... well yes but history is seldom that simple. Welcomed by the minority but imposed on the majority would be more correct. James VI reintroduced bishops into the Church of Scotland in 1584 in an attempt bring it under his royal control. At this time there were both Calvinistic-Presbyterian and Episcopal parties in the Church of Scotland.

His son, Charles I, tried to introduce a Scottish version of the Book of Common Prayer in 1637 and had it strenuously rejected by the Covenanters. The Covenanters were horribly persecuted by the state for this opposition. The majority of those at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland rejected both bishops and the Prayer Book in 1638. Charles I tried to impose his will by force using Scottish Royalists and English forces but there was very little real fighting. By 1641 Charles had to accept that the majority of the Church of Scotland would have neither bishops nor the Prayer Book ... and by this time he had bigger things to worry about: the civil war!

However, in 1689 there were still bishops in the Church of Scotland. They refused to swear allegiance to William of Orange while James VII still lived and had not abdicated. Finally, in 1690, the Church of Scotland split into two distinct streams: the majority Presbyterian; the minority Episcopalian, but even then, with Presbyterianism dominant, many Episcopalian clergy continued to serve their Church of Scotland congregations.

Presbyterianism was now perceived as loyal to the crown. The Episcopalians, however, because of their association with Jacobitism were now seen as a threat. Following the 1715 and 1745 Jacobite risings, it was now the Episcopalians who were horribly persecuted by the state, as the Covenanters had been before them!

There was a highland-lowland dimension to all of this. Support for Episcopalianism and Jacobitism tended to be stronger in the highlands. Presbyterianism and the more radical political and religious views found more favour in the lowlands.