HomeThe Secret Commonwealth
Robert Kirk &
The Secret Commonwealth
Once upon a time, there was a man called Robert Kirk. He was born December 1644, in Aberfoyle, the red dot on the map. The seventh son of a minister, he became a minister himself, first of Balquhidder and then later of Aberfoyle, where he died May 1692.
None of this information earns him a place in my Mythical Scotland, if it were not for the fact that the man had a genuine interest in the fairy world and wrote a book about its creatures. It was not published in his lifetime. Sir Walter Scot 
was the first to pick it up, but it became really popular nearly 200 years later, when it was published under the title "The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies".
What is even more surprising, is that for a minister he was neither trying to deny the existence of the other world nor did he aim to vilify it by equalling its inhabitants to servants of Satan. Instead he wrote a kind essay about them. But fairies are still fairies. And they cannot be trusted.
So one fine - well, I don't know if it was all that fine - May evening, the minister was walking out and about again. Some sources say he had a habit of walking in his night gown on Doon Hill, a fairy hill close to the church.
To all intents and purposes, it is a silly decision to do so, even if you call them kind. Fairies are fairies and have their own ulterior motives. So it came to happen that Robert Kirk died on his fairy hill.He was buried near the kirk, where his grave is marked by the drawing on the right.
Popular belief has Robert Kirk's spirit still locked in the big pine tree on top of Doon Hill. Its size is so impressive it breaks through the foliage of the other trees (though it shouldn't be called a lone pine since there is a wee pine right next to it). 
People still try to please the fairies by hanging ribbons in the trees - which is totally ludicrous since there is no appeasing fickle creatures like fairies.
That is one version. There is another version though.
Some say Robert Kirk "disappeared" into a hole and was held captive by the fairies. He had only one chance of returning to the "real world". At the baptism of the minister's son, a cousin of the good man had to throw a dirk over the ghost which would set him free again. Unfortunately, the cousin lost his nerve and failed to throw the dagger. Hence Robert Kirk is officially still held captive by the fairies, with whom he serves as Chaplain to the Fairy Queen. A royal function, but I wouldn't envy the man.
So you can try to visit his grave, but Mr Robert Kirk won't be there. 
You can also try to find his grave in ridiculously horrendous weather and fail to trace it. Instead you can bump into an impish creature, reminding you there is something rather out of place on Aberfoyle cemetery.
