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The Holy Tulzie
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The Holy Tulzie
'The Holy Tulzie', 'The Twa Herds' or 'An Unco Mournfu' Tale was a poem written in 1784 by Robert Burns whilst living at Mossgiel, Mauchline, about a strong disagreement, not on doctrine, but on the parish boundaries, between two 'Auld Licht' ministers, John Russel and Alexander Moodie It was followed by "The Holy Fair", "The Ordination", "The Kirk's Alarm", "Holy Willie's Prayer", etc.
The poem was first published in 1796 by Stewart and Meikle, Glasgow in one penny or two penny pamphlet 'Chap-book' form, 18 mo size. Tulzie in Scots means 'a brawl'. Because of its controversial content it didn't appear in any edition of Burns's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect during his lifetime. It appeared as a pamphlet again in 1799 on Saturday, 3 August and in book form in 1801.
Lockhart comments that this was "a piece not given either by Currie or Gilbert Burns, though printed by Mr. Paul, and omitted, certainly for no very intelligible reason, in editions where "The Holy Fair", "The Ordination," found admittance.
Both ministers were elected by their congregations, unlike the Rev James Mackinlay whose patron at the Laigh Kirk was the Earl of Glencairn and the resulting dissatisfaction led to Burns penning "The Ordination". Both were Auld Licht Calvinists.
Moodie was the minister of Riccarton Church near Kilmarnock, having been educated at Glasgow University and starting his ministry at Culross in 1759. He was buried in the Riccarton churchyard, but the present church wasn't built until 1823.
Alexander was a Calvinist and a dedicated adherent of the Auld Licht views. He had a hyperactive and deafening preaching style. Burns also references him in the Holy Fair with :
This was followed by a lampooning in The Kirk's Alarm where his swarthy complexion earned him the title of Singet Sawnie.
Originally from Moray, Black Jock taught at the Cromarty parish school and upon being ordained he became, in 1774, the minister of the High Church in Kilmarnock. At his Cromarty school he was remembered by Hugh Miller in his "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland" as a "large, robust, dark-complexioned man, imperturbably grave, and with a sullen expression seated in the deep folds of his forehead". He was "more ready to thunder forth the terrors of the law than to woo the wicked from the error of their ways, by setting before them the Saviour's love, so fully and freely manifested in the soothing and soul-captivating strains of the gospel". The nickname 'Black Jock or Joke' is a punning reference to the female genitalia.
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The Holy Tulzie AI simulator
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The Holy Tulzie
'The Holy Tulzie', 'The Twa Herds' or 'An Unco Mournfu' Tale was a poem written in 1784 by Robert Burns whilst living at Mossgiel, Mauchline, about a strong disagreement, not on doctrine, but on the parish boundaries, between two 'Auld Licht' ministers, John Russel and Alexander Moodie It was followed by "The Holy Fair", "The Ordination", "The Kirk's Alarm", "Holy Willie's Prayer", etc.
The poem was first published in 1796 by Stewart and Meikle, Glasgow in one penny or two penny pamphlet 'Chap-book' form, 18 mo size. Tulzie in Scots means 'a brawl'. Because of its controversial content it didn't appear in any edition of Burns's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect during his lifetime. It appeared as a pamphlet again in 1799 on Saturday, 3 August and in book form in 1801.
Lockhart comments that this was "a piece not given either by Currie or Gilbert Burns, though printed by Mr. Paul, and omitted, certainly for no very intelligible reason, in editions where "The Holy Fair", "The Ordination," found admittance.
Both ministers were elected by their congregations, unlike the Rev James Mackinlay whose patron at the Laigh Kirk was the Earl of Glencairn and the resulting dissatisfaction led to Burns penning "The Ordination". Both were Auld Licht Calvinists.
Moodie was the minister of Riccarton Church near Kilmarnock, having been educated at Glasgow University and starting his ministry at Culross in 1759. He was buried in the Riccarton churchyard, but the present church wasn't built until 1823.
Alexander was a Calvinist and a dedicated adherent of the Auld Licht views. He had a hyperactive and deafening preaching style. Burns also references him in the Holy Fair with :
This was followed by a lampooning in The Kirk's Alarm where his swarthy complexion earned him the title of Singet Sawnie.
Originally from Moray, Black Jock taught at the Cromarty parish school and upon being ordained he became, in 1774, the minister of the High Church in Kilmarnock. At his Cromarty school he was remembered by Hugh Miller in his "Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland" as a "large, robust, dark-complexioned man, imperturbably grave, and with a sullen expression seated in the deep folds of his forehead". He was "more ready to thunder forth the terrors of the law than to woo the wicked from the error of their ways, by setting before them the Saviour's love, so fully and freely manifested in the soothing and soul-captivating strains of the gospel". The nickname 'Black Jock or Joke' is a punning reference to the female genitalia.
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