“The Birth of Highland Evangelicalism” was the title of the annual Scottish Church History and Theology lecture which took place on Thursday 7th March at the Free Church Presbytery Hall in the centre of Edinburgh.
Guest speaker, Prof. Donald Meek focused on the little known figure of Dugald Buchanan: his life as a 18th century, highly educated Highland School teacher, his influential poetry, drawn from the writings of Isaac Watts, and his contribution to the translation of the Bible into Gaelic. The well researched address, presented to a packed Presbytery Hall with characteristic warmth and enthusiasm, not only gave a compelling insight into 18th century ecclesiastical life but was an important reminder of the central place that ordinary, yet highly skilled Highland Churchmen played within their communities. Professor Emeritus Donald E. Meek is a native of Tiree, Inner Hebrides.
A graduate of the Universities of Glasgow (MA, PhD, DLitt) and Cambridge (MA, LittD), he worked at the Universities of Glasgow (Assistant Editor, Historical Dictionary of Scottish Gaelic, 1973-79), Edinburgh (Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Reader in Celtic, 1979-92, and Professor of Scottish and Gaelic Studies, 2003-2008) and Aberdeen (Professor of Celtic, 1993-2002).
He has published many articles and books, concerned mainly with Medieval and Modern Gaelic literature, and also with the history of the Christian faith in the Scottish Highlands and other ‘Celtic’ areas of the British Isles.
While this annual lecture is designed to highlight the role of ETS in promoting the study of Scottish Church History and Theology at undergraduate level, it is also part of our promotion of the Postgraduate Taught Masters in Scottish Church History and Theology.
You can access this hugely stimulating lecture here:
Video: YOUTUBE
