This is an 1821 novel of Scottish country life by John Galt. The Reverend Micah Balwhidder is considered to be the finest character created by Galt, who provides a humorous and realistic account of a typical parish minister of the late 18th and early 19th century (the novel spans 1760 to 1810), the way of life in rural Scotland, and the social changes of the Industrial Revolution.

The Annals of the Parish chronicles the social and industrial changes which took place in Scotland in the late eighteenth century. Narrated by the Reverend Micah Balwhidder, a Presbyterian minister, the book is an account of his fifty-year ministry in the parish of Dalmailing from 1760 to 1810.

John Galt (2 May 1779 – 11 April 1839) was a Scottish novelist, entrepreneur, and political and social commentator. Because he was the first novelist to deal with issues of the Industrial Revolution, he has been called the first political novelist in the English language. He was the father of Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt of Montreal.