The contents are as follows.

(i) Correspondence and documents relating to the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh: (a) Dispute in 1792 between John Jackson, the proprietor, and Stephen Kemble, the lessee. The persons concerned were the Duke of Hamilton and Henry Dundas, as patentees, Robert Playfair, trustee for the creditors of John Jackson, and Mrs Harriet Esten of Covent Garden Theatre. (Folio 1.) (b) Renewal of the Patent, 1808, 1810. See also MS.19. The persons concerned were the Duke of Buccleuch and Viscount Melville, as applicants for renewal, Lord Dartmouth, as Lord Chamberlain, the family of John Jackson, and Henry Johnston, actor. The trustees under the patent included Walter Scott, Henry Mackenzie and William Erskine. There is a reference to Scott’s application for clerk to the commission under the Judicature Act on folio 40. (Folio 33.)

(ii) Letter of R Smith regarding theatre in Well Street, London, 1796. (Folio 77.)

(iii) Letters of various persons, 1795. (Folio 79.)

(iv) Correspondence relating to Prisoners of War, 1804, [?1809], 1811-1812, with one of 1790. Includes letters of French Prisoners of War, 1804, 1813; Letter of Henry Dundas criticizing proposal to make Linlithgow Palace a prison for French Prisoners of War, 1811; Expenses of keeping Prisoners of War [?1809]; Sir Ilay Campbell, Lord President of the Court of Session, and the renewal of the Bankrupt Act, 1790. (Folio 91.)

(v) Memorials of the Judges of the Consistorial Court of Scotland, 1827, for the Clerks of Session, 1806, and for the Sheriffs Depute of Scotland, 1786, all relating to fees and salaries. (Folio 118.)

(vi) Letters and papers of, or relating chiefly to, Scottish peers. The correspondents and subjects dealt with include: The Perth peerage, 1793; The Duke of Atholl’s claim of a baronetcy for Colonel John Murray, 1794; Lord Napier, 1810; Sir David Wedderburn, 1811; William Baillie, Lord Polkemmet, 1812; Earl of Glasgow, 1806, 1825; Earl of Selkirk, 1819; Duke of Roxburghe and his vote, 1819; Earl of Mar, 1824; Lord President Hope, on the late Lord Napier’s affairs, 1835; Lord Erroll’s affairs, 1798; Memorandum on the duties and privileges of the High Constable of Scotland, addressed to the Earl of Erroll, 1801. (Folio 146.)