Burns was close to Gavin Hamilton, friend and supporter of his first edition of his poems, and Hamilton, apparently a likeable and genial fellow and of liberal mind regarding the church, was an irresistible target for Fisher.
WHAT WOULD a man called William Fisher say, if he rose from the grave to find that he had been a subject of abiding interest for more then two hundred years, and that every January his alleged transgressions are made public yet again? Would he recognise the figure in sark and nightcap, candle guttering as he seeks to intercede with the Almighty for wee Willie’s benighted soul?
This refers, of course, to the object of Robert Burns’ scathing satire on Scottish religious hypocrisy - Holy Willie’s Prayer. But while audiences listen and laugh at the verses, how many are aware that Willie was a real man? Fisher was a married farmer with several children and when he was elevated to Kirk Elder in Mauchline Parish Church in Ayrshire, it was noted that he carried out his role with utmost diligence. While his duties included visiting the sick and the aged of the parish, it was said that the man lacked a sense of Christian forbearance. To put it bluntly, he came down on perceived sinners like the proverbial ton of bricks.