d, and at the present moment (1896) the once
hated "kist of whistles" has found its way into no fewer than thirteen
out of the sixteen parishes which at present compose the Presbytery.
Since the days of that conflict, indeed, its spirit has broadened and
broadened. The old independent tone, for which it had been conspicuous
even in the seventeenth century, has become more and more marked. In
recent years the Presbytery has never been willing tamely to follow the
lead of Assembly leaders and Assembly Committees, but has insisted on
expressing a vigorous opinion of its own upon all the questions of the
day.

In the course of the present century several ministers, afterwards to
become better known, have begun their respective careers within the
bounds of the Presbytery. Dr. William Robertson, latterly minister of
New Greyfriars, Edinburgh, was ordained as minister of Muckhart in
1831. Dr. Robert Home Stevenson, minister of St. George's, Edinburgh,
Moderator of the General Assembly of 1871, was ordained in 1840 as
assistant and successor in the parish of Crieff. Dr. John Cunningham,
minister of Crieff from 1845 to 1887, was Moderator of the General
Assembly of 1886, and was latterly Principal of St. Mary's College, St.
Andrews. His successor in the Moderatorship of Assembly, Dr. George
Hutchison, Banchory-Ternan, was ordained as minister of Monzie in 1845.
Dr. Paton J. Gloag, then of Galashiels, Moderator of the Assembly of
1889, was ordained in 1848 as assistant and successor in the parish of
Dunning. Dr. John Wilson, a genial man, much beloved by all his
brethren, was minister of Dunning from 1861 to 1878, Clerk of
Presbytery from 1864, and author of "Index to the Acts of Assembly."
Dr. William Mair, minister of Ardoch from 1865 to 1868, is now of
Earlston, and author of the well-known "Digest of Church Laws."

The loss of Muckhart and Fossoway, the addition of Ardoch and Crieff
West left the Presbytery still with its original number of fifteen
parishes. There was yet another to be added. In the extreme west of
the parish of Comrie, at the point where the River Earn leaves its
parent lake, was the district of Dundurn. Next to Ardoch, it was
probably the oldest historic spot within the Presbytery. There, first
of all places within the bounds, had the Gospel in the course of the
sixth century been preached by the saintly Fillan. It was still
haunted by sacred memories. It had been the site of a pre-Reformation