The difficulty with kirks, however, was that there was almost always someone, apart from unsuccessful candidates for the post of minister, who was unhappy.
Moreover, the kirk sessions which implemented this system in the parishes left excellent records.
Scots did have a choice of courts to go to (quite apart from kirk sessions).
In other cases both members of a north/south pair of words belong to general usage but with some semantic distinction: kirk/church, skirl/shrill.
There the kirk, omnipresent and quasi-omnipotent, ran effective parish schools, inspired an excellent university system and was in fact the depository, and largely the creator, of the national identity.
Hospitals, schools, post offices and kirks are essential to maintain our communities.
I need hardly say that except the kirks, and one exception, there was nothing outside the dull monotony of a practically deserted hotel.
They were frequently located outside churches or kirks for the use of parishioners attending services, etc.
