Battle of Rullion Green 1666

About the battle

The Battle of Rullion Green took place on 28 November 1666, near the Pentland Hills, in Midlothian, Scotland. It was the only significant battle of the Pentland Rising, a brief revolt by Covenanter dissidents against the Scottish government.

Sparked by opposition to the restoration of episcopalianism in the Church of Scotland, a Covenanter army under Colonel James Wallace was defeated by a government force led by Tam Dalyell of the Binns.

While casualties were relatively light, between 40 and 50 Covenanters were killed and up to 85 prisoners taken, many of whom were alleged to have been tortured. 36 were executed and others transported to Barbados, while unrest continued over the next two decades, culminating in the extended period of repression from 1679 to 1688 known as The Killing Time.

Visiting the battlefield

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Rullion Green (revision 1376182424), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations removed. No text added.

Contains Historic Environment Scotland and OS data © Historic Environment Scotland and Crown Copyright and database right 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Nearby battlefields

• Battle of Roslin 1303 · 6 km
• Battle of Boroughmuir 1335 · 10 km
• Cleanse the Causeway 1520 · 11 km
• Battle of Pinkie 1547 · 16 km
• Battle of Prestonpans 1745 · 22 km
• Action at Happrew 1304 · 22 km

Browse more: battles in Scotland · Jacobite & later · 17th century battles

Further reading

• Historic Environment Scotland Inventory of Historic Battlefields: BTL27 (official record)
• Wikipedia: Battle of Rullion Green
• Wikidata Q4872215