Balwhidder is so life-like and consistently in character, the depiction of life in the second half of the 18th century so convincing that at times I found myself wondering if maybe I'd misunderstood that this was a novel, because it seemed a lot more like an actual memoir of the times - maybe in reality Galt had just found and edited it? - which just shows how brilliant it is. Irvine, Ayrshire: 'The rustic, pre-industrial West Coast town was on its way out when Galt sat down to write.Īn utterly enjoyable and insightful book! The voice of Rev. Reverend Micah Balwhidder settles in his study to pen an account of his fifty year ministry in the parish of Dalmailing.ġ/5: Balwhidder's appointment in 1760 tears the community apart as the young minister is placed in his post by an absentee landowner - inciting the rage of the parishioners.Ģ/5: Settled in his study at the end of his career, Balwhidder remembers how news of trouble in the Americas trickled through to the sleepy town of Dalmailing in 1769.ģ/5: It's 1776 and change is in the air as the outside world intrudes upon rural Dalmailing.Ĥ/5: Incomers from America bring changes to the sleepy parish of Dalmailing, and the second Mrs Balwhidder's extreme thriftiness causes a rift with the session.ĥ/5: Settled in his study at the end of his career, Balwhidder remembers the loss of a dear friend and the shocking events at the cotton mill which changed Dalmailing for ever. Description: John Galt's masterpiece of small-town Scottish life, written in 1821.

Annals of the Parish by John Galt