Showing Browse Resources: 1 - 25 of 101
Additional papers to the collection of John Riddell, the Peerage lawyer.
Series
Identifier: Adv.MSS.81.2.1-81.2.10
Scope and Contents
Most of the correspondence is addressed to James Law, Writer to the Signet, who acted as London agent in many Peerage Cases in which Riddell was involved; and much of it is from other lawyers.
Dates:
16th century-19th century.
`Adversaria`, being miscellaneous notes and copies of correspondence of Sir Robert Sibbald, with scholars such as William Nicolson, Edward Lhuyd and John Smith of Durham on Scottish history and antiquities.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.33.3.19
Scope and Contents
Smith`s letters (folios 47-61), some of which are originals, concern the records of Scottish history surviving at Durham. Other contents are as follows:(i) Notes on historical manuscripts in Edinburgh University Library (folio 2).(ii) The life of Robert Morison copied from his ‘Plantarum Historiae Universalis Oxoniensis’, part 3, with notes on the same volume (folio 4 verso).(iii) `A list of Gold Scotch Coyns` (folios 13 verso, 18).(iv) `The...
Dates:
Circa 1682-1706, and undated.
Album of Adam White, the naturalist (1817-1879), entitled on the cover 'Weeds and wild flowers'.
Item
Identifier: MS.10306
Scope and Contents
A draft title-page (folio 24) suggests that in 1850 Adam White was proposing to publish a work on 'Weeds and wild-flowers loved by Wordsworth', and the first part of the album contains a collection of materials towards this purpose: drawings and engravings of wild flowers with some specimens of pressed flowers, newspaper-cuttings, and copies of letters and poems of Wordsworth.The collection of information is then extended to include other poets: Coleridge, Cowper, Southey,...
Dates:
Mid 19th century-?late 19th century.
Album of ‘Jacobite relics’, containing printed and manuscript material and portraits, formerly owned, perhaps started, by James Maidment, and containing additions made by a later owner.
File
Identifier: MS.2960
Scope and Contents
The printed matter is recorded in the Catalogue of Printed Books. In addition to some forgeries, the manuscript material is as follows:(i) Letter, undated, of John Stevenson, James Maidment's publisher, probably to Maidment (folio 2);(ii) A version, in a hand of about Maidment's time, of part of the poem on Lord justice Clerk Whitelaw, 'Old Nick was in want of a lawyer in hell,' printed by Maidment in ‘A book of Scotish pasquils’ (Edinburgh, 1827), page 73 (folio 2...
Dates:
1696-1891, undated.
Albums of letters and documents, almost entirely of Scottish interest, written by or relating to historical celebrities, and dealing with public and private affairs.
Sub-Series
Identifier: MSS.2955-2956
Dates:
1589-1881.
Antiquarian papers of James Dennistoun of Dennistoun, advocate and antiquary.
Series
Identifier: Adv.MSS.19.2.16-19.2.27
Scope and Contents
The papers consist of materials for a projected history of Dumbartonshire (Adv.MS.19.2.16-19.2.24), materials towards a projected work on the Scottish religious houses on the Continent (Adv.MS.19.2.25), and notes and extracts of Scottish interest from manuscripts in continental libraries (Adv.MS.19.2.26), together with a record of the bequest of Dennistoun`s manuscripts and a calendar of them (Adv.MS.19.2.27). The papers were arranged and bound by Mark Napier, executor of James...
Dates:
?1825-1856.
Balcarres Papers.
Collection
Identifier: Adv.MSS.29.2.1-29.2.9a
Scope and Contents
In the original inventory (a copy of which is at MS.3581, folios 6-7) signed by Thomas Ruddiman, then Underkeeper of the Library, the papers are listed in thirty-eight bundles. Most of these were arranged and bound during the period 1820-1849. Of the remainder, Adv.MSS.19.1.24 and 29.2.9a were bound in 1896, when it was not realised that Adv.MS.19.1.24 belonged to the collection. Adv.MS.16.2.3, now a small quarto volume, had also become separated from the rest of the papers, but can be...
Dates:
1231-1686, and undated.
‘Breviary of the Decisions of the Lords of Session ... and of the Acts of Sederunt, from June, 1661, to July, 1681, observed by Sir James Dalrymple of Stair.’
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.81.1.1
Scope and Contents
The Acts of Sederunt, 1661-1681, as in the printed ‘Decisions of the Lords of council and session’, are followed by a summary of Decisions arranged alphabetically according to subject. The text is apparently copied from an incomplete manuscript.At the end, inverted, is a copy of ‘Instructions and rules ... to the Commissaries, clerks, procurators fiscalls, and other members of the court of the whole ecclesiasticall jurisdiction,’ forwarded under cover of a Royal letter dated...
Dates:
1661-1681.
`Chronicle of Perth`, 1210-1668, also known as Mercer`s Chronicle and Fleming`s Chronicle, with other documents relating to the burgh of Perth.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.35.4.4
Scope and Contents
The `Chronicle` was compiled probably between 1600 and 1668 by more than one person. Though attributed to John Mercer, town clerk of Perth, only the latter part appears to be his work. From 1660 it is almost entirely a register of burials.
Other items in the volume are a fragment of a legal memorial, circa 1597, concerning the foundation of the King James VI Hospital in Perth (folio 1), and a group of letters concerning Royal Burgh affairs (1614-1628), all copies (folio 20).
Dates:
?1600-1688.
Collection of papers, chiefly seventeenth century, which appear to have belonged to Richard Almack, Suffolk.
File
Identifier: MS.3922
Scope and Contents
The papers fall into two main categories: papers relating to John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, including an account of fees paid by him on his installation as a Knight of the Garter, 1672, printed in ‘The Herald and Genealogist’, volume iii (1866), pages 222-224; and papers relating to Catherine Murray, Countess of Dysart, including a number of passes signed by prominent parliamentarians, such as Warwick and Essex. There are also typescript copies of correspondence between Richard Almack...
Dates:
1567-1873, undated.
`Collection of Papers Experiments And Observations Relating to Husbandry, Grass, And other Branches Of Country Affairs,’ by William Baird of Auchmeddan.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.4.12
Scope and Contents
The collection was compiled over the years 1736 to 1756, and was written in the latter year (pages iii, 234). It is made up of extracts from books, copies of letters, and notes of the experiences of the writer.
Dates:
1736-1756.
Collection of state papers of the reigns of James VI and Charles I made by Sir James Balfour of Denmilne, Lord Lyon King of Arms.
Collection
Identifier: Adv.MSS.33.1.1-33.1.15
Scope and Contents
The collection is known both as the `Denmilne State Papers` and the `Denmilne Collection`. Less formally it is often referred to as the `Denmilne Manuscripts`.
Dates:
1548-1641.
‘Collections’ made by Robert Beatson, Doctor of Laws, containing a number of genealogical papers and copies of military documents which he probably used when engaged on compiling ‘Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain from 1727 to 1783’.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.34.3.21
Scope and Contents
The contents of the volume include:(i) Genealogical accounts in a variety of hands of a number of British peers, collected while Beatson was gathering material for his work on the English Peerage. (See also Adv.MSS.33.5.9-33.5.10). For another copy of the account of the family of Calder (folio 29), see MS.9982.(ii) An account, in Beatson`s hand, of the Parish of Dysart, his birthplace, undated (folio 57).(iii) Description of a Tour of Scotland made by...
Dates:
1785-1803, and undated.
Commonplace book of the Earl of Buchan.
Item
Identifier: MS.963
Scope and Contents
The comonplace book contains drafts of letters to the ‘Bee’, an inventory of the Earl of Buchan’s property, lists of Scottish portraits, an ode, ‘To the Shepherd of the Cot’, and notes and drafts of papers on the Scottish Peerage and other subjects. Included is a manuscript copy of ‘The New Order of Gooding and Manuring all sorts of Field Land with Common Salts’, by Archibald, afterwards 1st Lord Napier (said to have been printed by Robert Waldegrave), referring to the right to issue...
Dates:
1778-1791.
Composite manuscript consisting of two volumes (folios 1, 75) of copies, circa 1585, 1607, of papers, 1537-1606, in Italian and Latin concerning attempts to restore Roman Catholicism in England in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.31.4.15
Scope and Contents
Each volume has a contents list (folios 1, 77) and the second volume has its own foliation added in an apparently later hand.The first volume (folios 1-74) consists of copies (in the same hand), made apparently in or about 1585, of the following:(i) ‘Discorso del Priore d`Inghilterra a Papa Pio V circa la Riduttione di quel Regno’ (folio 2), being an account by Sir Richard Shelley, Grand Prior of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, written apparently early in 1570,...
Dates:
1537-1606.
Contemporary copies and translations of letters, mainly from Italy, reporting on European and Turkish affairs.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.19.1.20
Scope and Contents
Most of the documents are dated 1596. The subjects include Spanish policy in June and July of that year, leading up to the capture of Cadiz by the English (cf. ‘Calendar of State Papers, Domestic series ... 1595-1597’); a rising of janissaries in Constantinople; and events in Italy and eastern Europe. These are followed (folio 33) by miscellaneous papers, mostly concerning the siege of Montauban in 1621.
Dates:
1595-1761.
Contemporary copies of correspondence and papers of Sir Thomas Smith, mostly concerning the proposed marriage of Queen Elizabeth with the Duc d`Anjou (later Henri III) and the Duc d`Alençon.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.33.3.11
Scope and Contents
Also included is some material related to Smith`s ‘De Republica Anglorum’, books 2-3 (folio 8 verso), and a report on affairs in Germany by Sir William Waad, circa 1583 (folio 99).Much of the material is known from papers in the Public Record Office (see ‘Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series’ for the reign of Elizabeth). For Smith`s Dialogue on the Queen`s marriage (folio 63), cf. ‘ The Life of ... Sir Thomas Smith’, pages 184-259. A list of material on the arraignment of the...
Dates:
1551-1572, and undated.
Contemporary copies of letters apparently written by a high-ranking member of the Army party, taking the form of a weekly newsletter from 12 December 1648 to 29 June 1649.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.33.7.15
Scope and Contents
There is no letter for 22 May, and that for 29 June is in a different hand. The author, who was strongly in favour of the execution of Charles I and of crushing the Royalist party, appears to have held a position of considerable authority. He was responsible for pardoning Laugharne and Powell, and accompanied Cromwell to suppress the mutiny in Whalley`s regiment in April 1649. It is possible that the letters were written by more than one person. They are apparently addressed to a...
Dates:
1648-1649.
Contemporary copy of Sir Ralph Sadler`s correspondence during his embassies to Scotland in 1539-1540 and 1543.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.33.3.10
Dates:
1539-1543.
Copies, 17th and 18th century, of English and Scottish state papers, 1558-1641.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.34.2.10
Scope and Contents
The papers include correspondence relating to the Earl of Essex, 1599, and material on the General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland, 1638-1640.
Dates:
1558-1641.
Copies, 17th century, of correspondence, 1586-1623, and undated.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.33.7.19
Scope and Contents
The topics are very miscellaneous and include the Spanish match (1620), appeals for royal clemency, voyages of exploration and political events.
Dates:
1586-1623.
Copies, 19th century, and original papers collected by Sir William Fraser, 16th century-1793.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.23.3.25
Scope and Contents
The contents of the manuscript are as follows:(i) Latin legal abbreviations, 16th century. (Folio 1.)(ii) Speech in Latin addressed to `domine doctissime coeterique commilitones mei suavissimi`, in praise of modesty. Late 16th or early 17th century. (Folio 2.)(iii) Transcript, 19th century, of the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 3 February, 1590, concerning the slaughter of David Taillor by William Spottiswood of that Ilk and others. Cf. ‘The...
Dates:
16th century-1793.
Copies by Sir James Balfour of royal letters and other documents in the Denmilne Papers.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.33.7.11
Scope and Contents
A list giving the references of the original manuscripts has been inserted.
Dates:
1586-1626.
Copies by Sir James Balfour of some of his own letters and two addressed to him.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.33.7.26
Scope and Contents
The letters are not in chronological sequence. Most of them express his friendship for his correspondent, but in one he comments on the reception of the new Service Book at St Giles in 1637 (folio 9 verso), and in another to Lord Elcho he advises on reading matter (folio 12 verso).
Dates:
1628-1643, and undated.
Copies, early 18th century, of autobiographies and other works of covenanters.
File
Identifier: Adv.MS.34.5.19
Scope and Contents
The manuscript is apparently in the hand of John Elphinston: see Adv.MS.32.3.9, folio 78 verso. Several items in Adv.MS.32.3.9 are also in this hand.The contents of the manuscript are as follows:(i) Autobiography of John Livingstone, minister of Ancrum. It has been published from the version in Wod.Qu.XVIII in ‘Select Biographies’, i, pages 129-197. This manuscript has a few variants from the published version. (Folio 1.)(ii) `An Account of what past when...
Dates:
2nd half of 17th century-early 18th century.