Reverend Robert Kirk - prisoner of the fairy brotherhood (8 photos)

Despite changing eras, people want to believe in miracles. Even scientists, cynics and rationalists. And evidence of such a desire passes from generation to generation, causing bewilderment and questions among subsequent lovers of mysticism.





Robert Kirk (9 December 1644 – 14 May 1692) was a writer who translated the Psalms and other parts of the Bible into Scottish Gaelic. However, it was not so much his achievements in linguistics as the belief that he was abducted by fairies that kept Kirk's memory alive so many years after his death.



Aberfoyle village in Scotland

Like most 17th-century Scots, Robert Kirk firmly believed in the reality of Good People. They are an invisible race who, as Kirk claimed, are by nature halfway between angels and humans.

Insult to fairies and death





Church in Aberfoyle

Throughout his adult life, Robert Kirk kept detailed records of the various beliefs of his parishioners. Among these beliefs were fairies, the phenomenon of second sight, doppelgängers, and other mystical things. In 1691, he compiled all these beliefs into a book called The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies. This book was to be his undoing, according to a legend that appeared shortly after his death. Fairies did not like intrusions into their privacy. They liked it even less when their lifestyle and character became known to the general public.



Instead of dying on the night of May 14, 1692, as written sources say, the local population believed that fairies had kidnapped the author and held him captive on Fairy Hill near Aberfoyle Church.

It was said in the neighborhood that he was so well acquainted with the fairies that the next year they carried him away with them, and his tombstone stands over an empty grave.

At this time, people believed that such abductions actually happened. Women who died during or shortly after childbirth were believed to be kidnapped to feed fairy babies. Sick or troubled children were explained away as changelings: fairies left in place of a human child.



The book of 1812 provides detailed information about the further fate of Kirk:

One evening the Reverend Robert Kirk was walking in his nightgown along... a fabulous mountain in the vicinity of the estate... he fell in an attack of apoplexy, which the unenlightened people took for death, but the more understanding knew that it was a faint caused by the supernatural influence of people whose he violated his possessions. Soon after the funeral (he) appeared in the clothes in which he died to his relative...

Robert Kirk after death



Kirk told the man that he would appear as a phantom at the christening of his child (born after his death). He said that if a dagger was thrown over his ghostly head, he would return to the world of the living. According to rumors, Kirk actually showed up at the christening. However, everyone was so shocked by his appearance that they could not throw the dagger. Kirk then left through another door and was never seen again.

This story became common knowledge. One of the visitors to Aberfoyle at the beginning of the 20th century wrote that the legend of Kirk's mysterious death was somewhat embellished. For example, local residents believed that Kirk's body was not in the grave. He was in Fairytale Land, and his coffin was covered with stones.



Coins left on Robert Kirk's grave in Aberfoyle churchyard

The story continued. During World War II, a young pregnant woman rented Kirk's old homestead. She told neighbors and visitors that she hoped she would still be in Aberfoyle when she gave birth. Some natives of Aberfoyle informed her that Robert Kirk would appear and finally be released if the child was born and baptized at the manor.



Now it is nothing more than simple folklore. By the end of the 20th century, belief in fairies had become rare in Aberfoyle. One of the local publications dedicated to this legend says the following:

Behind the old church is the forested Doun Hill, where pine trees are believed to grow. This is a reverend who retained his earthly form after being kidnapped by fairies. Is this tree really capable of fulfilling the wishes of those who walk around it three times?

All the dark aspects of the legend are gone. All that remains is a collection of bizarre and harmless folklore, completely unrelated to the original story. If things continue like this, then Reverend Kirk will forever remain locked in Fairytale Land, and the contents of his grave will remain unknown.