Balnaguard (1840)




William Burns was the son of the pastor at Kilsyth and was used to begin the 1839 Kilsyth Revival. He came to Breadalbane in 1840 and the revival came with him. After he left there were several large meetings held. At a few minutes' call the people left their harvesting operations at Balnaguard and crowded into the schoolhouse until it could hold no more.

 

 

Burns passed through the village of Balnaguard while the people were out working in the harvest. At once two young men ran over to him and begged him to hold a meeting in the nearby schoolhouse. In the course of not more than seven minutes the room was crowded to the door by people of all ages, 'from the child of seven to the grandfather of seventy'. Noted Burns, 'There could not be fewer than 120 present and among these I hardly saw one that was not shedding tears'. Again, when he spoke to a packed house in the village a few days later, 'so remarkably was the presence of God granted that all were in tears and some cried aloud'.

'Land of Many Revival', by Tom Lennie, page 351.

Additional Information

The school is just opposite a farm-house at the end of the village. It is beside the main road and you can see a couple of stones which was probably where the entrance was.


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