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The Fairy Minister |
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Robert Kirk was born a seventh son (said in Gaelic legend to be capable of second sight) in Aberfoyle and served first as Episcopal minister to the parish of Balquihidder, before returning to Aberfoyle to take up the position there on the death of his father – the incumbent minister. 
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By rights Kirk should really be celebrated as the first man to translate the Bible into Gaelic, however, it is for another of his written works that he is chiefly remembered.
The Secret Common-Wealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies was written in 1691 (although never published until 1815) and contained detailed descriptions of the society and customs of the fairy folk, even going so far as to detail the food eaten by them, and was read (in a handwritten form) by no less a figure than Samuel Pepys, King Charles’ chief spy at the time.
The locals believed that Kirk had committed the greatest crime against the fairies, that of giving away their secrets, and that the fairy folk would exact their revenge upon him. On the morning of the 14th May 1692 Kirk left his manse for his daily walk up Doon Hill, believed by many to have once been a fairy home, although the man made marks on the hill make it more likely to have been used as a fort by Iron Age man. He never returned.
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