The Ministry of Rev John McLeod
The death of Dr Duncan in 1815, though expected, seemed to take the wind from the sails of everyone in the parish. He was clearly a well-respected and loved minister. Six months later John Macleod was presented as his successor by Lady Montgomerie, but he was not regarded as acceptable by the community. Having been assistant at the Laigh in Kilmarnock he was probably known to the parish, and, at close to 60, he was regarded as too old. Being a native of Skye, he had a pronounced highland accent which the people claimed was unintelligible to them.
When the day of Rev Macleod’s induction arrived, with many members of the Presbytery in attendance, there was a near riot in the village. Kelso Hunter describes the day in some detail in “Retrospect of the Artist’s Life” (4). The members of Presbytery were pursued by a raucous crowd of villagers. Some of them ended up in a dung heap when their pony and trap went out of control and overturned. Such was the antipathy of the community that the new minister was reduced to tears and only one man shook hands with him.
However, despite his age and the wrath of his reception, Rev Macleod went on to serve the parish for 26 years until his death in 1841. He seems to have been a diligent and caring minister and won the respect of his parishioners. His ministry coincided with the rapid growth of Troon and the Fullarton district of Irvine, both of which lay within his parish, and he was very active in petitioning Presbytery about setting up new churches there and having them established as a separate parish. This was implemented in 1837.
Dr Macleod was also a noted Gaelic scholar and was responsible for a translation of the bible into Gaelic, and, along with others, he published a Gaelic- English dictionary.