'Holy Willie', a local farmer from Montgarswood near
Mauchline. He became an elder of the Parish at the age of
thirty-five and was a confirmed 'Auld Licht' believer in
'predestination'. It was probably Fisher who persuaded the
minister William Auld and the Kirk Session to accuse Gavin
Hamilton, Burns' close friend, of failing to observe the
Sabbath. Their action led Burns to use his considerable
satirical powers to ridicule Fisher in 'Holy Willie's Prayer', 'the
epistle to Willie Fisher' and 'The Kirk's Alarm'.
