Why wasnt Robert Burnss poem “Holy Willie’s Prayer” published during his life?
The Holy Willie Fisher in question was a hypocritical church elder who judged other peoples actions harshly, while not condoning his own. He took a strong dislike to a Mr Gavin Hamilton (church treasurer) whom he accused of taking money from the church accounts. This case became the subject of national gossip. To cut a long story short, Fisher lost the case, appealed, and lost again. Burns wrote the poem whilst he was alive and the honour or libel laws at the time were punitive. The church or kirk as it was called had great power at the time, and even after Burn’s death the poem was published anonymously. Any humourous jibes at the kirk would have had dire consequences for the author. I hope this will help in explaining why it was not published in his lifetime.
