The Minister: Fraser’s Influence on Kirkhill Parish and Community

One enduring element in Fraser’s worldview, mirroring that of the early modern Scottish kirk of his time, is his perspective on the witch-hunt. In Kirkhill, specifically, women died in appalling circumstances as a result of persecution of those assumed to be witches during Fraser’s ministry. From there, the chapter looks to provide an overview of Fraser’s career as a cleric, both before and after the ‘Glorious Revolution’. At a superficial level, from being a model minister of the established kirk from 1661, with the arrival in England of William of Orange in 1688, the Scottish Parliament’s signing of the Claim of Right in 1689, and the finalising of the ‘Revolution settlement’ in 1690, he moved to the edges, becoming wrapped up thereafter in a newly-subversive, Jacobite-sympathising community. The chapter considers just how effective Fraser was as an episcopalian minister, both from 1661-88, and, even more enigmatically, from 1688/90 until his death in 1709.