The Kirk Satires and Kirk Politics

Abstract This chapter revisits Burns’s early ‘kirk satires’ in the context of religious life in the poet’s own day and in relation to later critical readings of the poet’s views on religion. It shows how Burns was immersed in religious life via his Scots Presbyterian upbringing, how as an emerging poet he became directly involved in local kirk politics, and how the social importance of religion in eighteenth-century Scotland is reflected in his verse. Rather than simply reading Burns as a general satirist of institutionalized religion, as might be encouraged by a modern secular reading, the chapter outlines some of the particular circumstances behind the production of his satires, showing how such details aid understanding of Burns’s religious works. Leading on from recent research into the publication of ‘Holy Willie’s Prayer’, for example, this chapter introduces readers to the complex history of Burns’s celebrated poem to show him responding directly to kirk politics in rural Ayrshire. The chapter also explores the various factions and theological positions within the Church of Scotland at the time through poems such as ‘The Holy Tulzie’, ‘Address to the Unco Guid’, ‘The Holy Fair’, ‘The Ordination’, and ‘The Kirk’s Alarm’. It reflects on church politics in relation to wider political views expressed by the poet in his later work. Finally, the chapter examines the shifting critical reputation of Burns vis-à-vis religion, from contemporary views of the poet as a ‘profane’ rhymer through to the posthumous reshaping of Burns as ‘secular saint’.