Thursday, May 14, 2026

It is the 14th of May 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

Just last weekend I was reading for both fun and work (doing this show requires that the two are often one and the same) and came across a figure I couldn’t stop digging into- a story of a Scottish man, minister, and folklorist that I thought surely would deserve his own show- at some point, and so I do what I do- look for his dates to pencil him in for a later date- only to find that it was on this, the 14th of May in 1692 that marks a story unlike any I have ever told on this show.

 

It was on this day in 1692 that the Gaelic scholar and Scottish Episcopal minister, Robert Kirk, went for one of his regular evening strolls. But this one was different- he was- seemingly knowingly- walking on Doon Hill- the abode of fairies. When he didn’t arrive home, a search party went out the next day to find his body collapsed. He was 48 and seemingly died a quick death… except, maybe he didn’t.

 

The stories began to circulate- especially through his successor at the church in Balquhidder- that he had not died but been taken captive by the fairies. Kirk told his successor to relay a message to his cousin- that he had been held captive but would appear as an apparition at the Baptism of his yet-to-be-born son. If the cousin threw a dagger above the apparition, the spell would be broken, and Kirk would be free. The story continues that he did appear at the baptism, but the cousin was so frightened that he forgot to throw the dagger, and Kirk was forever stuck in the land of the fairies.

 

Robert Kirk was eccentric, but scholarly- born the seventh son to the minister James Kirk, he attended the University of St. Andrews and Edinburgh before following in his father's footsteps as a minister. He was also a Gaelic scholar- he was the first to translate the metrical Psalter into Gaelic and at the behest of Robert Boyle, helped to publish a Gaelic bible (Boyle, you might remember, as a pre-eminent philosopher and founder of modern Chemistry)

 

But his most interesting work- a theological treatise- The Secret Common-Wealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies. Like many in his day, and especially in Scotland, he believed in an unseen realm and believed that this was not contrary to the Bible (after all, doesn’t Paul write of principalities and powers- and that even some of these things will be reconciled to God). He was concerned by the witch craze- that many well-meaning people had simply observed, perhaps with a “second sight,” such things and had been maligned as witches. He was also concerned with the nascent Enlightenment and its insistence that only the measurable and observable world was worth studying.

 

His story is fascinating because it is so foreign to us moderns. His worldview was a blend of Christian esotericism and Platonism. He believed the world to be divided into seven spheres with hell at the bottom, but a land in between the human and the damned. These “fairies” so prominent in Gaelic and Celtic culture were intermediate between men and angels. They were fluid and could appear and disappear, carry off items, and camouflage themselves like chameleons. There were humans who had an ability to see them, and this second sight was traditionally believed to be held by seventh sons, which Kirk was.

 

At the time of his death…or, captivity, he had only finished his work in manuscript form- it would make its way to Sir Walter Scott, who, in 1815, had it published.

 

In his early modern context, Kirk was doing more than what we might think of a modern UFO buff or ghost hunter- his was a work much more enchanted than ours, and in his context he wanted to unite his biblical worldview with that of what he sincerely believed to be an unseen realm- consider him a kind of early Modern Michael Heiser if you will… For Kirk, the world of fairies was not incompatible with his faith and work as a minister. As for his death and burial, some say his body was whisked away and his coffin filled with rocks. If the fanciful story is true, as was his faith, he would expect to be at the resurrection of all things, with the good fairy companions by his side.

 

Robert Kirk, aka the Fairy Minister, was 47 when he disappeared on this day in 1692.

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary, and it is Ascension Day, a reading from Ephesians 1:

18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 14th of May 2026, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who wonders how Robert’s father, James, ended up on the Enterprise… he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who had a few peculiar extrasensory experiences when living in Scotland, and suggests you don’t mess around with the white lady of St. Andrews- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.