The correspondence as a whole consists chiefly of letters written to successive lairds by their agents, factors and lawyers, by local merchants, and by members of the neighbouring nobility and gentry and other branches of the Dundas family. It relates mainly to the administration of the Dundas estate and the affairs of the Dundas family. Public affairs are touched on to a lesser degree. The 18th-century correspondence, though it continues to centre on the estate and family (in particular the financial difficulties surrounding the trust deed of 1773), contains substantial sections relating to coal mining and salt manufacture (Adv.MSS.80.1.3-80.1.4), the affairs of Janet, Countess of Wemyss (Adv.MSS.80.1.4-80.1.5), and the raising of the 94th Regiment of Foot by James Dundas of Dundas (died 1780) (Adv.MSS.80.1.7-80.1.9). The volumes are arranged chronologically.