In July 1740 members of the presbytery of Kirkcudbright arrived in the parish of Kells. Despite the miserable weather, a crowd of some 200 parishioners met them in the church. The occasion was the moderation of a contested call for their new minister, a call that occasioned extensive debate. That debate does not surface in the pages of the Fasti, where we learn simply of the ordination of the successful candidate. Thanks to the detailed minutes taken by the clerk we can trace the events of the day and in so doing appreciate the sheer volume of business that a presbytery could be faced with, even when questions of patronage were not at issue. This enables us to frame the trajectory of visitations and the other governance mechanisms at the disposal of presbyteries. It helps us to measure practice against the prescriptions set out in the guidance manuals and come to a more balanced assessment.

The events at Kells commenced with the death of Andrew Ewart, minister since 1691, in January 1739. He had had a young assistant in the later years of his ministry, Robert McMorran, who seems to have been highly regarded by his session and many of his parishioners. Certainly, by July that year a petition arrived at the presbytery signed by thirteen elders and a heritor asking for a trial for McMorran. However, signs of impending tensions were provided by a counter petition from Sir Thomas Gordon of Earlstown and his son requesting that others might be heard ‘so that Man might not be imposed on the Parish by a few leading Men in the Session’. At this distance in time and without other sources, it would appear that in part the tensions that were to be revealed lay between a number of heritors in the parish, with others being rather at their mercy. The presbytery appointed several of their members to talk to each side to see if a harmonious solution could be reached.

However, those who adhered to McMorran were not to be moved from their commitment. What appears from the minutes is a determination on the part of both some in the parish and some in the presbytery to pay particular attention to the wishes of Lord Kenmure.