Annals of the Parish (full title: Annals of the parish: or, The chronicle of Dalmailing; during the ministry of the Rev. Micah Balwhidder, written by himself) is an 1821 novel of Scottish country life by John Galt. Micah Balwhidder, considered to be the finest character created by Galt, reveals himself in the fictional first-person account to have human failings including conceit and vanity, as well as a keen interest in how the economy prospers. The book provides a humorous and realistic account of a typical parish minister of the late 18th and early 19th century, the way of life in rural Scotland, and the social changes of the Industrial Revolution.[1]
As Balwhidder proudly notes in his introduction, the Annals begin with Balwhidder's appointment as minister on 25 October 1760, the same day that King George III came to the throne, and end with 1810 when the king "was set by as a precious vessel which had received a crack or a flaw, and could only be serviceable in the way of an ornament," and Balwhidder's ministry ends.[2]
Annals of the Parish, written in Scots and English, is part of a series of Scottish stories written by Galt in the 1820s, which he referred to as 'theoretical histories' or 'Tales of the West'.
- ^ O'Hagan, Andrew (1 January 2005). "John Galt - Annals of the Parish (1821)". 100 Best Scottish Books of all Time. Edinburgh: The List. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Galt 1821, pp. 1–2.