104:, which continues to this day. Eight years later when Scotland's second and third largest Presbyterian denominations formally unified, a small group within the Free Church chose to stay outside the union. They were given the epithet the Wee Free Church (or Wee Frees) and, since they litigated for a share of the church's endowment through the Scottish Courts and right up to the House of Lords, they became well-known and the phrase passed into common usage. The Lords decision in the case of
197:
184:, a remnant of the very body the name was supposed to distinguish from, its greater part having united with the Church of Scotland in 1929. The Free Church has publicly tried to distance itself from the name, calling it a "derogatory and offensive slur". However, some people both inside and outside the denomination do not mind, even if it causes some to cringe.
116:
A pair of rhyming jibes remain from the time of the heated split of the
Disruption in 1843 when about a third of the Auld Kirk of Scotland left to form the Free Kirk. The Free Kirkers who had sometimes given up homes as well as church buildings and started financially from scratch were taunted with
71:
in modern usage is used, usually in a pejorative way, of any small group who because of their, arguably obscure, religious principles choose to remain outside or separate from a larger body. A Wee Free attitude might show as a preference for being part of a smaller but ideologically sound group
117:
the rhyme: "The Free Kirk, the wee kirk the kirk without the steeple." This rhyme linking the Free Kirk with the derogatory diminutive "wee" was offensive and a reply was devised in: "The Auld Kirk, the cauld kirk, the kirk without the people." It may even have been known in
America.
251:
of Scots or churchmen, saying, "The Nac Mac Feegle are not
Scottish. There is no Scotland on Discworld. They may, in subtle ways, suggest some aspects of the Scottish character as filtered through the media, but that's because of quantum."
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100:, changing or clarifying their doctrine so that there would be no barrier to union. The Free Kirk's Declaratory Act of 1892 was objected to by a minority some of whom formed the
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39:. Since the United Free were approximately 25 times larger, but hard to distinguish without some knowledge of Scottish history and theology, the rhyming Scottish
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Denominations other than the Free Church are also regularly called Wee Frees in the press. For example, the epithet has been used about the
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became used as an epithet of the post 1900 Free Kirk. The epithet Wee Free was also applied to a small group in the 1918
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188:, a Free Church minister, uses a version of it in his blog after being called a flea by a well-known atheist.
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There is no group specifically known as the Wee Wee Frees. Groups coming out of the Free Church include the
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In 1900 the Free Church had been the second largest
Presbyterian church in Scotland since the 1843
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Timeline showing the evolution of the churches of
Scotland from 1560 including pejorative epithets
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84:, its exit from the "Auld Kirk" (the Church of Scotland). In the years leading up to 1900 the
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323:"Vince Cable's "exotic spresm" moment disguises bigger questions for the Liberal Democrats"
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156:(Asquith remained Liberal Party leader, although he was out of Parliament between the
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548:"'Wee Frees' minister wins lottery but his church won't see a penny of the dosh"
502:"Scottish independence: Self rule would be a 'provocation of God' say Wee Frees"
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444:(14 ed.). London: The National Unionist Association. 1922. pp. 80–82
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aligned themselves with each other, with full union as the goal. This led to
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was in favour of the small body, a decision which surprised many.
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Party who on principle did not want to go into coalition with the
302:(first ed.). New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce. p. 14
420:. Sioux Falls, South Dakota: Sessions-Mannix Co. p. 63
686:
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although political boundaries were not black and white.
345:"Church at crossroads over issue of gays in the clergy"
372:(2nd ed.). London: A. & C. Black. p. 240
469:
A History of the
Liberal and Liberal Democrat Parties
417:Home-made jinglets cast in the rough at odd times
614:"Free Church in plea over nickname "Wee Frees""
765:. Telegraph Media Group Limited. The Telegraph
525:"Bible-basher Beat Children With Leather Belt"
8:
828:Political terminology in the United Kingdom
216:sometimes is labelled with the derogatory
763:"The 'sinners' set sail for the Hebrides"
152:when he took over as prime minister from
664:"Spendidly Pointless Second City Debate"
195:
288:
472:. London: A&C Black. p. 185.
321:Maguire, Patrick (18 September 2018).
72:rather than a larger compromised one.
715:. National Geographic. Archived from
7:
391:Moffat, Alistair (31 January 2000).
299:The Decline and Fall of Lloyd George
102:Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland
707:Evans, Andrew (20 September 2013).
88:and the more theologically liberal
738:Peterkin, Tom (16 December 2002).
31:Churches after the union of 1900:
14:
740:"Spinster's £1m to Wee Wee Frees"
572:. The Telegraph. 21 December 2009
164:). There were around 31 Wee Free
27:commonly used to distinguish two
546:Duke, Barry (11 November 2010).
500:Munro, Alasdair (19 June 2012).
393:"Good riddance to the Wee Frees"
210:Associated Presbyterian Churches
55:either did not get, or refused,
761:Cramb, Auslan (13 April 2006).
713:Digital Nomad 20 September 2013
786:"The Wee Free Men Annotations"
570:"Obituary – Craigie Aitchison"
366:Moncrieff, A. R. Hope (1922).
1:
644:. The Herald. 1 February 2000
523:Burns, Janice (1 July 2012).
214:The Free Church (Continuing)
784:Breebaart, Leo; Kew, Mike.
414:Mills, Frank Moody (1914).
347:. The Scotsman. 23 May 2011
247:novels. He denied they are
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823:Ethnic and religious slurs
296:Beaverbrook, Lord (1963).
243:who appear in some of his
90:United Presbyterian Church
67:of the Conservatives. The
594:. Free Church of Scotland
262:Ecclesiastical separatism
206:Free Presbyterian Church
162:1920 Paisley by-election
136:who did not go into the
208:in 1893 from which the
239:is an epithet for his
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96:being passed by their
719:on September 23, 2013
666:. The Financial Times
642:"Such a messy schism"
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158:1918 general election
126:The Wee Free Liberals
29:Scottish Presbyterian
106:Bannatyne v Overtoun
94:Declaratory Articles
63:of the Liberals and
685:Robertson, David.
622:. 22 February 2013
550:. The Free Thinker
527:. The Daily Record
441:The Campaign Guide
202:
178:Free Presbyterians
142:David Lloyd George
98:General Assemblies
61:David Lloyd George
792:. The L-space web
709:"Sabbath on Skye"
592:"Media enquiries"
479:978-1-85285-353-2
192:The Wee Wee Frees
53:Wee Free Liberals
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180:, and even the
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687:"The Wee Flea"
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228:In literature
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794:. Retrieved
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769:18 September
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721:. Retrieved
717:the original
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464:Douglas, Roy
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374:. Retrieved
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349:. Retrieved
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329:18 September
327:. Retrieved
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304:. Retrieved
298:
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277:Sectarianism
237:Wee Free Men
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218:Wee Wee Free
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172:Modern usage
128:, including
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49:Conservative
20:
18:
626:22 February
485:30 December
306:30 December
249:caricatures
182:United Free
51:Party. The
812:Categories
283:References
112:Background
82:Disruption
59:signed by
57:the coupon
41:diminutive
245:Discworld
150:Bonar Law
144:with the
138:coalition
86:Free Kirk
65:Bonar Law
19:The term
818:Epithets
746:29 April
723:29 April
692:29 April
670:29 April
648:29 April
619:BBC News
598:23 April
576:29 April
554:29 April
531:29 April
508:29 April
466:(2005).
448:29 April
424:29 April
399:29 April
376:27 April
351:29 April
256:See also
220:or even
160:and the
134:Liberals
121:Politics
69:Wee Free
35:and The
21:Wee Free
132:, were
45:Liberal
25:epithet
23:was an
476:
272:Schism
224:term.
76:Origin
796:1 May
798:2017
771:2018
748:2017
725:2017
694:2017
672:2017
650:2017
628:2013
600:2017
578:2017
556:2017
533:2017
510:2017
487:2017
474:ISBN
450:2017
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331:2018
308:2017
790:APF
235:'s
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