The contents are as follows:

(i) Discharge of Andro Hart, printer, to Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney, 1592 (folio 1);

(ii) Discharge of Robert Brysone, printer and bookseller, and Evan Tyler, printer, to Mr George Halyburton for liturgies delivered to the Chapel Royal, Edinburgh, 1637 (folio 2);

(iii) Letter of the Earl of Mar to Thomas Kennedy, Lord Advocate of Scotland, demanding an immediate report on the presence of a French ship near Inverkeithing, 1714 (folio 3);

(iv) Declaration, signed by William III, granting to David Ramsey of Moneyleggan the sum of money owed by Lord Shelburne to the Earl of Seaforth and forfeited by the latter, 1688/1690 (sic) (folio 5);

(v) Letter of Gustavus II Adolphus, King of Sweden, to the Marquess of Hamilton, asking him to expedite the arrival of the troops promised for his invasion of Germany, 1631 (folio 7);

(vi) Permit signed by General Wade licensing Thomas Shaw in Kinrara to carry arms, 1737 (folio 9);

(vii) Agreement between Patrick Cockburn of Borthwick and Robert Broune in Coldstream, regarding a horse-race, 1677 (folio 10);

(viii) Receipt given by the Earl of Haddington to James Anderson, Writer to the Signet, for a letter of the Pope borrowed by the latter, 1727 (folio 12);

(ix) Commission of James II, signed by the Earl of Melfort, appointing Colonel Alexander Canan to be Brigadier of Foot, 1689 (folio 13);

(x) Letter of General Monck to the Marquess of Argyll, regarding the provisioning of Inveraray, 1654 (folio 15);

(xi) Order of James II to M Couleau to join Purcel's Regiment of Foot as Reformed Captain, 1689 (folio 17);

(xii) Letter of Lord Chesterfield to the Earl of Stair, undated (folio 19);

(xiii) Letter of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, to Sir James Dalrymple, 1st Baronet of Borthwick, regarding the former's proposed ‘History of his own times’, 1713 (folio 21);

(xiv) Letter of Joseph Addison, describing Jacobite activities and changes in the government, ?1720 (folio 24);

(xv) Letter of William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury, regarding the gift of a benefice, 1718 (folio 26);

(xvi) Discharge given by General Thomas Dalzell of Binns, 1681 (folio 28);

(xvii) Letter of Alexander Murray, afterwards 3rd Baronet of Stanhope and Broughton, mentioning certain adverse reports about him made to Lady Grisell Baillie, probably connected with his approaching marriage with her daughter Grisell, 1710 (folio 29); two letters of this Grisell to her uncle, Lord Kimmerghame, 1716, and his wife, 1715 (folio 33);

(xviii) Letter of the Privy Council, in civilité type, ordering every parish to advance £5 Scots to Alexander Arbuthnot, for the printing of the Bible, 1575 (folio 35), with a facsimile (folio 36);

(xix) Blank warrant, signed by William III, for the gift of the office of Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, 1689 (folio 37);

(xx) Commission appointing Gavin Hamilton to be Major in Bowles's Regiment of Dragoons, 1710 (folio 38);

(xxi) Letter of Alexander Stanhope, Minister at the Hague, to Sir Charles Hedges, Secretary of State, on his negotiations with the Estates General over the Grand Alliance and other matters of foreign policy, 1703 (folio 40);

(xxii) Order of Prince James Edward for the burning of Dunning, signed by the Earl of Mar, 1716 (folio 42);

(xxiii) Letter of William Shenstone to John McGouan, Edinburgh, enclosing a song or ballad (missing) for collation at the request of Bishop Percy, and mentioning that the latter has begun to print his 'Collection of Antient Ballads', 1761 (folio 44); “O Annie! wilt thou gang wi' me”, 'a song in imitation of the Scotch manner', in Percy's hand, with notes of Shenstone and Percy, undated (folio 45);

(xxiv) 'Willie Wastle' by Burns, transcribed by Alexander Macdonald 'from the original which I had lent me by Mr. Forrest ... 1830' (folio 46); two songs, “O saw ye my Flora, she's fairest and dearest”, and 'O saw ye yon dragon that frightened the twilight', addressed to Alexander Macdonald, undated (folio 48);

(xxv) Letters of John Thomson, Minister of Duddingston, to Alexander Macdonald and others on private affairs, with two letters to him, 1826-1837, undated (folio 50); see also MS.3167;

(xxvi) Share-certificate of Edinburgh Academy, 1824 (folio 66).