a title given, in Scottish Church History, to the chief nobles and gentlemen who signed the Covenant of December 3, 1557. From the frequent recurrence of the word congregation in the document, the adherents were called "the Congregation," and the chief signers (such as the earls of Argyle, Glencairn, and Morton, the Lord of Lorn, Erskine of Dun, etc.) were styled "Lords of the Congregation." — Hetherington, History of the Church of Scotland, chap. 2.