Leighton Library, Dunblane

Scotland's oldest purpose-built library founded in 1687

Leighton Library has a 1754 first edition of "A short conference betwixt Mr Adam Gib, Minister of the Gospel in the Associate Congregation at Edinburgh, and a country-man in the parish of Biggar"

Added at 04:54 on 14 April 2024

Leighton Library has a 1754 first edition of "A short conference betwixt Mr Adam Gib, Minister of the Gospel in the Associate Congregation at Edinburgh, and a country-man in the parish of Biggar" about a heated exchange with Adam Gib, who was born #OnThisDay 1714. He was a Scottish religious leader, head of the Antiburgher section of the Scottish Secession Church. Throughout his life he was described as an active controversialist, rude, scornful, and despotic, and earned himself the nickname "Pope Gib". As a student at the University of Edinburgh he'd witnessed the controversy in the general assembly of the Church of Scotland which led to the formation of the secession church, and the harsh treatment of the seceders, so much that he decided to follow them. In 1745, when Edinburgh fell into the hands of Bonnie Prince Charlie, when most presbyterian ministers fled from the city, Gib instead drew huge crowds to open air services where he spoke against the "popish pretender" and his cause. He prayed for George II, for the preservation of the Protestant succession, and for the suppression of the rebellion. A couple of years later among the Seceders a dispute arose about the lawfulness of an oath to be taken by burgesses or burghers. Gib took the side of those who deemed the oath unlawful, and ultimately became the leader of the Antiburgher section of the Secession Church