Forgotten evangelist recalled
Tribute to leading preacher of Victorian era
Published:
A CHURCH in Aberdeenshire will be the setting for a tribute to a local man who became a leading preacher of the Victorian era, Scotland’s forgotten evangelist Duncan Matheson.
Historian Patrick Scott will tell of the once-famous preacher during a talk tomorrow in Huntly-Cairnie-Glass kirk.
Guest speakers take part in services held on the second last Sunday of each month, and Mr Scott is well known for the books he has written on the history of the Strathbogie area.
Mr Scott, of Seton Drive, Huntly, said: “It was while I was recording epitaphs in the old Dunbennan Kirkyard just outside the town some years ago that I came across a memorial erected to Duncan Matheson, with the intriguing inscription The Soldiers’ Friend.
“Further research revealed a fascinating story of the man who has been described as Scotland’s forgotten evangelist.”
Mr Matheson was born in the town in 1824 and became an evangelist in his twenties. In the 1850s he went to offer spiritual support to British troops taking part in the Crimean War, also preaching and handing out thousands of Bibles and religious tracts to soldiers of the French and Sardinian armies.
After the war he went to Sardinia before returning to Scotland to produce a monthly gospel magazine that had a circulation of 32,000.
Mr Scott said: “By the 1860s he had become one of the most famous evangelists in the country.
“He developed a huge following in Aberdeen and went on to speak throughout Scotland. The Duchess of Gordon from Huntly was among his thousands of supporters.”
The staunch Christian and speaker died at the age of 45. He had continued preaching until just days before his death, despite illness.
In following years American evangelists Ira Sankey and Dwight Moody toured Britain and became leading religious revivalists of the Victorian age.
The powerful preaching of Mr Matheson was gradually forgotten. Sankey’s hymn tunes became enduring favourites and are still popular today.
Mr Scott’s talk will start at 6.30pm.
