The Ordination by Robert Burns
The poem celebrates the ordination of Mackinlay at the Laigh Kirk in Kilmarnock as a triumph for a forceful, orthodox party over Common-sense, Heresy, Morality, Learning, and the New Lights. It summons weavers, leather-workers, and other townspeople to attend the church and then drink at Begbie’s in celebration. Common-sense is pictured as an enemy repeatedly abused by Oliphant and Russell and now due for even harsher treatment from Mackinlay. The congregation is urged to sing loudly, choose aggressive biblical texts, and test the new minister’s zeal. Mackinlay is to reject stipend as merely worldly while assuming authority over the flock, feeding them spiritually and punishing transgressors, especially those who oppose the established breed. Kilmarnock is promised abundant “gospel kail” and daily supplies of grace, while its people are invited to replace mourning with energetic music and dancing. The poem praises Glencairn for selecting Mackinlay rather than allowing patronage to damage the Kirk, contrasting this choice with the failure associated with Fenwick. Robertson is dismissed as unfit for preaching and advised to seek other work, while Multrie and Robertson are called useless drones. The devil and his forces are imagined withdrawing from the Laigh Kirk. Orthodoxy then scourges its enemies through the city: Learning speaks Latin, Common-sense goes to complain to Jamie Beattie, and Morality, embracing every opinion, is violently stripped and expelled to hell along with its companions. The poem ends in drinking and renewed rejoicing, acclaiming Mackinlay and Russell as men able to torture heresy. It calls for confusion to fall on every New Light supporter and threatens that, if they continue to trouble the community with their noise or with patronage, they will be driven away altogether.
By Robert Burns · First published 1786 · Genre: Satirical Poetry, Religious Satire, Political Satire · 1,502 words
First lines
For sense they little owe to frugal Heav'n- / To please the mob, they hide the little giv'n.
Kilmarnock wabsters, fidge an' claw, / An' pour your creeshie nations; / An' ye wha leather rax an' draw, / Of a' denominations; / Swith to the Ligh Kirk, ane an' a' / An' there tak up your stations; / Then aff to Begbie's in a raw, / An' pour divine libations / For joy this day.
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Genres
- Satirical Poetry — The poem mockingly celebrates a clerical ordination while exposing the intolerance, factionalism, and self-congratulation of orthodox church figures.
- Religious Satire — Its subject is a Scottish Kirk ordination, and it parodies religious language, biblical interpretation, hymn singing, doctrinal policing, and claims of orthodoxy.
- Political Satire — The poem attacks ecclesiastical power, patronage, and the struggle between orthodox 'Auld Light' ministers and more liberal 'New Light' opponents.
- Scottish Dialect Poetry — Burns writes extensively in Scots vernacular, using regional vocabulary, idiom, comic speech rhythms, and specifically Kilmarnock local references.
Tags
Scottish vernacular poetry · satirical poem · eighteenth-century Scotland · Kilmarnock · Laigh Kirk · Presbyterian church politics · ministerial ordination · religious orthodoxy · New Light controversy · anti-heresy satire · patronage in the Kirk · sectarian conflict
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The Ordination is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated 1786 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Burns
- Date: 1786 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Satirical Poetry, Religious Satire, Political Satire, Scottish Dialect Poetry, Mock-Heroic Poetry
- Length: 1,502 words
- Structure: 1 section, 27 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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