Communicating with the Heavens: Religious Enthusiasm in Nineteenth Century Scotland by Laura Sutherland

What is ‘Religious Enthusiasm?

The devil whispering in your ear. Religious fervor causing you to collapse to the floor. God choosing you, and only you, as a prophetic mouthpiece. These may seem like fictional occurrences but for those living throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries these seemingly odd and frightening displays were more commonplace than one might expect. Prolific research has been done in the American context, leaving the rich Scottish story to the wayside. However, Scotland’s experience of these odd and frightening displays was vast, leaving deep roots in the country’s legacy. The cause was an affliction that become known more commonly as ‘Religious Enthusiasm’. There are lots of different ideas of what this term could mean, but it was perhaps best put by philosopher David Hume in the eighteenth century. Hume described the experience of Religious Enthusiasm as individuals experiencing ‘divine illuminations’ which caused them to act outside of known societal norms. As these experiences were happening mostly during the Victorian era, and the coinciding Scottish Enlightenment, these norms encompassed ideas of Victorian propriety as well as concepts of reason and moral righteousness. Both men and women were diagnosed with religious enthusiasm, experiencing a variety of symptoms and physical manifestations that went against Victorian societal norms. These individuals claimed to have spoken to God, witnessed evil spirits whilst walking the streets, and some even saying that they were visited by the Devil. Alongside experiencing physical symptoms such as violent trembling, fainting, and being unable to hold themselves upright. Religious enthusiasm persisted for many years as an affliction causing both spiritual and physical reactions, all conflicting with the Victorian’s societal norms. Often, these experiences did not happen out of the blue. People, not yet afflicted with religious enthusiasm, would attend various religious revival meetings (which were taking place all across Scotland) and return home infected with religious enthusiasm. The first tangible and recognisable instance of Scotland’s revival movement took place in the winter of 1858, paving the way for a three-year period of intense revival that swept the country. There were many reports of meetings taking place all the way from the Moray Coast in the North-East right down to the Scottish Lowlands. This particular era of revivalism was predominantly led by the Presbyterians, who went to church to pray and sing hymns in a community setting. However, prayer within a revival meeting was transformed beyond the typical and would often last for hours on end. The goal of many of these meetings were to reaffirm Christian beliefs amongst the already religious members of the community, and to convert non-believers through attendance. Attendance at these meetings may not seem to evoke such overwhelming reactions, had there not been another aspect at play during the nineteenth century: the fear of the apocalypse. This fear of “the end of life as we know it” was growing alongside the uptake of revival meetings, becoming the central theme of these sermons. Preachers focused the attention of their congregation onto the ending of days and the coming of hellfire, so to offer religion as the salvation when the apocalypse came. It is not hard to understand why many attendees left these meetings claiming that God was speaking to them, since the sermons were emotionally charged and fear mongering them into believing that the only hope was religious conviction.

The ‘done thing’? Or a higher purpose?

It is unclear whether these people genuinely did feel as though they had these experiences or whether it was seen as the “done thing” when attending these meetings. Those infected, and experiencing religious enthusiasm, were not always accepted within their communities, with many being admitted to Asylums up and down the country. Dozens of those institutionalised, were sent to Aberdeen Royal Lunatic Asylum alone. Their diagnosis ‘mania’, a seemingly all-encompassing term for a variety of afflictions during the nineteenth century, can be attributed to religious enthusiasm; the true cause of these patients’ troubles. Whether it was the go-to fad or religious fervour, many were institutionalised for their religious enthusiasm, regardless of their infection point. By acknowledging that this was not merely accepted in communities, we can see how widespread this movement was and how the ordinary person, and everyday community, had to deal with it – to both survive and to avoid being institutionalised. An ordinary community that was affected by this movement was the village of Ferryden, a small fishing village near the city of Aberdeen (on the Scottish coastline). This was most notably documented by historian David Bebbington, in a chapter of his book Victorian Religious Revivals. In 1859, the village had semi-weekly revival meetings all of which with continuously high turnouts. Many of the classic signs of religious enthusiasm can be found within the individuals who attended these meetings. Young women were documented to fall into trances, whilst others were said to have collapsed or to have let out cries due to being so overwhelmed with religious fervour. The location of Ferryden has often been seen as something that played a key role in why the residents seemed all too keen to throw themselves headfirst into this newfound religious revival movement. By being situated on the coast in the nineteenth century, this fishing village experienced a lot of death with fishermen often dying at sea and leaving behind both their wives and children. Could this have been the reason why so many members of the community turned to religion for guidance? All signs seem to point to yes, with psychologists such as Eva-Maria Stelzer agreeing that participation in religion and religious activities is particularly useful in allowing individuals to cope with grief as it cultivates communities around worship, as well as religious acts being comforting for those who were grief stricken in and of themselves. It is not far-fetched to make the assumption that religion and, by extension, revivalism was a way of escapism for those residents who had been struck by grief whilst residing in the village. For many of those who had been widowed, religion may have been all they had left, with the community aspect of revival meetings in particular ensuring that they were not alone in their suffering. However, this does not explain fully explain why the villagers were able to transcend normal religious practice and become religiously enthusiastic in the way that Hume describes. An alternative angle to look at these occurrences through would be one of class. The working individual may be more willing to embrace a state of heightened religion akin to enthusiasm if it meant that they could gain a higher purpose in their lives. This idea of providing a higher purpose that pushes against the hardship of everyday life may be a more productive way of interpreting the allure of religious enthusiasm. By considering this, the idea that people at this time would be utterly convinced that they were in direct contact with God suddenly does not seem so farfetched, and it may be that the simple answer is that religious enthusiasm and attendance at meetings allowed for the building of community as well as allowing for escapism from the harsh conditions that was synonymous with village life.

1852 Religious revival meeting Eastham, Massachusetts

The Voice of Scotland?

Regardless of the choices that led communities to either accept or shun those experiencing religious enthusiasm, the impact of these individuals on Scotland’s reputation is undeniable. The Scots of the nineteenth century were often stereotyped as obnoxious and loud, with voices and accents that were inherently irritating to the “well-refined” English ear. By retooling their voices to be vessels of God and God’s communications, Scots were able to knowingly or unknowingly reclaim and undermine this stereotype. It was the voice of the Scots that was being repurposed as a loudspeaker for God in Scottish villages such as Ferryden that allowed for this retooling of the harmful stereotype. By considering the wider implications of such claims, we are able to see the ways in which the people of Scotland were able to claim a higher purpose in life through religion by using revivalist meetings and claims of religious enthusiasm as a vehicle for this social elevation. Moving the seemingly individual experience into a national one, with wide ramifications for the Scots, and for religion in Scotland and surrounding countries. The people of Scotland were unique in their ability to use these types of manifestations to their advantage within a larger social context, and thus were able to not only transcend their social station but also transcend deeper into their religion and the revivalist movement of the time. Whether the Devil whispers in your ear or you are overcome with religious fervor, Scotland holds out a hand to those experiencing religious enthusiasm regardless of the time. Today, Scotland reminds us that the best place for religious enthusiasm is on the big screen, behind eerie music, filmed for the horror-fans of the twenty-first century. But back in the nineteenth century, Scotland remained a strong part of the revivalist movement with many of their own transcending their station to a higher purpose or an institution. Though Scotland’s experience is otherwise under-researched, it is vast with tendrils in the many complicated histories of Scotland, as well as leaving an important legacy for the country as a whole. Today historians acknowledge America’s role in the revival movement, but tomorrow we will acknowledge Scotland’s; cementing the importance of Scotland as a historical backbone to religion as we know it today.

Jacobite broadside - Religious scene in the highlands c.1715. National Library of Scotland

About the Author

I am a postgraduate student who is currently completing an MSc in Health History at the University of Strathclyde. I completed my undergraduate degree in History at the same university, during which I fell in love with researching Scottish religious history. I am currently continuing this research in the form of my postgraduate dissertation, which is seeking to understand the relationship between nineteenth century science and religion through the lens of religious revival. I hope this will be a useful contribution to the field, and allow for more people to read about the fascinating world of revivalism and religious enthusiasm in a way that has never been done before!