Best place to do genealogy research

This is the main site for Scottish records.

https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8sauBhB3EiwAruTRJqbXX2aiZ2kStRUEBu6qclNYP7Pi-2ChgiYDvcvT9OS1jXS3G8XdOhoCu5UQAvD_BwE

There are some charges, but not too prohibitive.
However, if you have a free day and you are in Edinburgh, you can book a day at the centre for £15.
For that, you get access to your own desk with computer , and access to every single record on file .
I did it a few years back, it was worthwhile…..and the building itself is stunning inside.

There is also ancestry.com of course.

Given what happened to the ship you wonder if part of the answer may lie at Orkney Archives.

This web page may also be of assistance- not least in that it gives source documents- https://ivanlea.net/sub_pages/bob_miller.htm

Down at the bottom of the page it actually says that some key documents are at Orkney Archives.

Thank you both for the fantastic leads!

Pretty local to me, where I grew up at least. If you're in the Hamilton / Bothwell area it may worth a visit to the Low Parks Museum. They hold the archive pertaining to The Cameronian Regiment, which was formed of Covenanters after The Battle of Bothwell Bridge. My grandfather was a Regimental Sergeant Major in the Cameronians until 1948 or 49 [edit: actually reached Warrant Officer and served until 1953, according to mum] and my mother and I went to have a look at his medals on display at the aforementioned museum in July last year.

https://www.slleisureandculture.co.uk/info/203/low_parks_museum

I'd second all the above. The Hamilton Low Parks museum is also a good museum to visit on its own. There are a couple of good videos on the Scotland History Tours YouTube channel about the Covenantors including the ship wreck in Orkney.

One heads up though is, 340 years, and industrialisation has not left much around Hamilton and Lanarkshire about the events in place. The memorial sits in a road junction onto the M74. However Bothwell is a very nice small town to look around, where a lot of the green side of Glasgow footballers live, with a nice Historic Scotland castle to visit.

The Hamilton Low Parks museum is also a good museum to visit on its own.

Definitely. I hadn't been for years before I visited last year and I was really impressed. They've made a really cosy little museum, but it's still quite modern.

The site of the battle at Bothwell Bridge isn't that much to see, it is by a noisy bit of road. There's some nice walking down the river into Strathclyde Park though, and Bothwell Castle is worth a visit, even if it is quite ruined.

It's sort of on-topic, funny you should mention the "green side". I was talking about this thread with my mum, and I knew my grandfather and granny were married in the chapel. My grandfather converted to Catholicism pre-war, while he was in service with the Cameronians. That must have been a pretty bold move! My mum reckoned the only reason he achieved rank of a non commissioned officer as a Catholic was because of his brave service in the war. Maybe he got a pass as an ex-Covenanter :) There much have been some interesting conversations around that at the time.

Another related thing which amused me was that I mentioned to mum that I learned nothing about The Battle of Bothwell Bridge at school. Of course, I went to a Catholic school. I guess learning about the brave Covenanters wasn't on the curriculum :) I wonder if it is now.

I've just been checking the records-
If you get to Orkney there is a memorial at Deerness to those who lost their lives on the shipwreck- https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/273101/ , https://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=8429&mforum=warmemscot and https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/76253

There is also a memorial at Bothwell- https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/285409/

also another to two of those who were lost at Carnwath- https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/286107/

and this curious, rather touching, one at Bellshill- https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/203983/

There may well be other memorials like the one at Carnwath, but for which I haven't tagged them properly, so they don't show on a quick catalogue search.

Another related thing which amused me was that I mentioned to mum that I learned nothing about The Battle of Bothwell Bridge at school. Of course, I went to a Catholic school. I guess learning about the brave Covenanters wasn't on the curriculum :) I wonder if it is no

The Wars of the Islands are in the Scottish history curriculum as are the Acts of Union. So the Covenanters can be taught, but schools will choose what to teach from the curriculum based on the availability of material and interests of the teacher. Schools often go for the easier, in availability of material, parts to teach.

Although the 17th C is one of the most formative centuries in the history of these islands it has often been overlooked, or the wars of the 1630s to 1650s covered with the plague and fire of 1665 and 1666 covered from time to time. In part because it is difficult to teach, and requires teaching the backgrounds of the four countries at the time to start to make sense.

My husband is the genealogy researcher in our family and I'm excited to pass along everyone's stories and input!
Thank you all very much:)