No, we are not talking about diminutive odds makers. These are short little books of the Church of England Eucharist as it was celebrated in Scotland by “nonjuring” Anglicans in the 17th and 18th century. Key portions of the Scottish “Wee Bookies” were included in the American Book of Common Prayer. How this happened is part of our heritage.
In 1688 a male child was born to James II of England also James VII of Scotland. James was Roman Catholic and much of England feared a bloody return to the post-Henry VIII days of his daughter Mary I. Until the birth of the male child, James’ daughter by his first wife was Mary II although she was Protestant. The English people anticipated Mary II would become their monarch and England would continue in the path of their church led by their monarch rather than the pope. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 involved little bloodshed, but deposed James as ruler of Scotland and England, replacing him with his daughter Mary and her Dutch husband, William of Orange. History records their reign as “William and Mary.”
Meanwhile, there were Church of England bishops and priests who had signed an oath of loyalty to the deposed James II/VII. Because Parliament had deposed James, and these clergy were sympathetic to him, they believed that their vows of loyalty to James still obligated them. They were deprived of their posts in England, so they traveled to Scotland where they were called the “nonjuring” clergy. They were the first Church of England clergy who had no oath of loyalty in force to the reigning monarch of England.
Across the Atlantic following the American Revolution, Samuel Seabury was elected to serve as the first bishop of the newly separated Church of England in America. With no English bishops in America to consecrate him, he set sail for England in 1783 a few months after his election. No English bishop would consecrate Seabury because they had all signed oaths of loyalty to the English monarch. Months went by and Seabury traveled to Scotland where two nonjuring bishops consecrated Seabury but with one condition.
Seabury was asked to consider including the Scottish text for the Eucharist rather than the English Book of Common Prayer of 1662. For almost a century, the nonjuring Scottish bishops had been studying ancient rites of the church that existed before Constantine (381) and their scholarship made some important changes to the communion service. Those Scottish services were printed in pamphlets known as “Wee Bookies” or little books. The Scottish changes to the Eucharist persist in the American Book of Common Prayer to this day.
Now for full disclosure. I served as priest in charge at St. Anne’s Annapolis Maryland for three years prior to coming to Oklahoma. St. Anne’s was one of the thirty-two “chartered crown colony” parishes established by William and Mary in 1693. The communion silver was a gift from William and Mary to the new church and is still used today. It is a large, sterling silver set. The Smithsonian Museum assessed its value at over $1.5M. Every time I elevated the large chalice to the congregation, there at eye level staring me back in the face was the royal seal of William and the words, “William Rex” or “William King.” Royalty back then certainly knew how to remind clergy of their oath of loyalty.