should be raised by sixpence. This did not meet with the approval ot the con-

gregation, and several people refused to pay the increased rents. Accordingly,

a congregational meeting decided to try to raise the money by means of four

additional door collections the following year, but as the total sum raised by

these collections was only £2.7.0., the seat rents were increased to one shilling

and sixpence as the Trustees had at first proposed.

It was decided in 1893 that the church should be altered and extended, and

as there were insufficient funds for them to pay for the alterations, they

applied to the Baird Trust (a church Trust) and to the Home Mission, both of

which gave the church money to enable them to carry out the changes. One

of these alterations was the removal of two or three rows of front seats in

the centre to enable choir seats to be put in. Two rows of choir seats on each

side were installed facing inwards with a table between them and a rail

separating the choir from the congregation. The gallery was extended by

bringing it forward and a passage was put in to divide it into two sections.

A new precentor’s chair was to be bought ‘at a price not exceeding one pound

sterling’. Up until this time the precentor had sat in a small box-like structure

raised up by several steps so he could see the congregation while he was leading

the singing. The precentor, or leader of praise, played an important part in

the church service and the congregation could be extremely critical of his

performance and the way he led the singing which, according to John Duncan,

‘was at a very slow pace.. .in those days’. It is not known when the practice of

standing while singing was introduced in Strathkinness, although it is first

mentioned in St. Andrews in 1866 when the choir at the Town Kirk first

started ‘standing while singing the several Psalms during Divine Service, and

the Kirk Session considered it ‘in every respect an improvement’. The impor-

tance of the precentor began to decline as choirs became more important, and

with the introduction of instrumental music the need for a precentor became

even less. In addition to these internal changes in the church a new gate and

a water supply were provided for the manse. It had been hoped to cement the

outside of the church, but as they found they did not have enough money, it

was left for the meantime.

When Mr. McNab left Strathkinness in 1897 to go to Kirkintilloch there

were two elections for the new minister, as the Rev. John Meikle, the first

choice of the congregation, did not accept the call. At the second election, the

Rev. Walter McLeod, who had not been a candidate in the first election, was

chosen. This was the first election in the Established Church in Strathkinness

in which women were allowed to vote for the minister, although women had

always had that right in the Free Church, and it is probable that the women in

Strathkinness had voted for their ministers in the Free Church.

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