Quakers celebrate 400th birthday of founder
Four hundred years after the birth of their founder, Quakers in Scotland are celebrating.
Born into times of religious and political upheaval, George Fox gathered together people interested in a more egalitarian form of faith. With time they became known as the Quakers, or Friends.
When Fox arrived in Scotland in 1657 he recorded "when first I set my horse's feet upon Scottish ground I felt the Seed of God to sparkle about me, like innumerable sparks of fire". He continued to Dumfries, Douglas, Badcow, Edinburgh, Leith, Linlithgow, Glasgow and Dunbar.
Fox shared his belief in the divine as inward Light in all people's hearts, which negated the need for pre-appointed clergy. This brought him into conflict with the authorities, as did the decision to disrupt a gathering in the capital about burning a witch. In October 1657 he was banished from Scotland.
Despite this, the movement continued to grow. Today there are 400,000 Quakers worldwide, including 34 groups meeting on Sunday mornings in Scotland.
On Saturday, October 5 renowned Quaker scholar Ben Pink Dandelion will speak at Edinburgh Friends Meeting House on Victoria Terrace about the society and times Fox lived in, as well as how the Quaker movement was established.
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