A quarter of the clergy refused to hand over authority to a person outside the church and consequently lost their jobs.
They continued to preach independently and illegally, which led to armed rebellion and to The Killing Time in the 1680s.
According to Dale Jorgenson, "The Patronage Act, enacted under the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714), gave lay patrons the right to present ministers to parishes.
The First Secession occurred in 1733 and was triggered by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland giving priority in the appointment of minister to the parish's patron.
That led to the creation of the Associate Congregation in 1740, commonly called the "Secession Church".
The "Secession Church" then split in 1747 into the Burghers and the Anti-Burghers over the lawfulness of the forms of the civil oath expected of Burgesses of Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
In 1842, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland wrote to the newly-crowned Queen Victoria and urged the end of patronage.