In The Skating Minister, how is the Robert Walker discussed?
The minister portrayed in this painting is the Reverend Robert Walker.  He was a Church of Scotland minister who was born on 30 April 1755 in Monkton, Ayrshire.  When Walker was a child, his father had been the minister of the Scots Kirk in Rotterdam, so the young Robert almost certainly learnt to skate on the frozen canals of the Netherlands. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh in 1770 at the age of fifteen. He married Jean Fraser in 1778 and had five children. He became a member of the Royal Company of Archers in 1779 and their chaplain in 1798. 
He was minister of the Canongate Kirk as well as being a member of the Edinburgh Skating Club, the first figure skating club formed anywhere in the world.  The club met on Duddingston Loch as shown in the painting or on Lochend Loch about 1.4 miles (2.3 km)  to the north, when these lochs were suitably frozen.
Royal Company of Archers Lochend Loch Canongate Kirk Church of Scotland Edinburgh Skating Club Rotterdam Monkton, Ayrshire Duddingston Loch Presbytery of Edinburgh Edinburgh Robert Walker Scots Kirk figure skating club