The principal works are:

(i) Copy of ‘Genealogical Account of the Family of Maclean from its first settlement in the Island of Mull and parts adjacent’, undated (folio 2). An earlier version, dated 1716, which corresponds more or less with folios 2-10 of the present manuscript, appears among Walter Macfarlane`s ‘Genealogical Collections’, Adv.MS.35.4.8, volume I, page 175.

(ii) Descriptions of several Western Isles (Lewis, Skye, Iona, Tiree etc.) by various authors, 1693, and undated (folios 20-23), the originals of which are to be found in Sir Robert Sibbald`s ‘Topographical Notices’, Adv.MS.34.2.8, folios 193-198. Other copies appear in Macfarlane’s ‘Geographical Collections’, Adv.MS.35.3.12, volume II, pages 242-256. These descriptions were also published in ‘The Spottiswoode Miscellany’, volume II, pages 337-351.

(iii) The diary of Robert Birrell, Burgess of Edinburgh, covering the period from 1532 to 1605 (folio 24 verso). It was published in Sir John Graham Dalyell’s ‘Fragments of Scotish History’. For a copy by Sir James Balfour which corresponds with the present manuscript, see Adv.MS.33.7.28.

(iv) `An Account of the Transactions of the Covention of the Commissioners of the Royal Boroughs concerning a visitation to be made and accounts taken of the State and Condition of the several Boroughs represented by them`. An apparently unpublished work by William Maitland, author of ‘The History of Edinburgh’ (Edinburgh, 1793) (folio 42).

(v) `The Stated Case of Captain John Slezer, Commander of the Artillery Company of North Britain, and formerly likewise Surveyor of Her Majesty`s Maggazines there, humbly representing what remains due to him by the Publick` (folio 50), written circa 1709. This claim was printed evidently in view of applying to the British Parliament. An extract from it also appears in ‘The Bannatyne Miscellany’, II, page 342, and is discussed in detail by Dr John Jamieson in his Preface to Slezer`s ‘Theatrum Scotiae’, 1874.

(vi) Copy of a letter of Mary, Queen of Scots, to Robert Pitcairne, Commendator of Dunfermline and Secretary of State for Scotland, dated March, 1570/1571, apparently unpublished (folio 55 verso).

(vii) Copy of ‘The Expedicion into Scotland of the most woorthely fortunate Prince Edward, Duke of Somerset’ by William Patten, the historian and teller of the Exchequer (folio 57 verso).

Apart from the above items, there are several other smaller pieces mostly of a more fragmentary nature, including copies of accounts, extracts from letters and various notes and descriptions.