Introduction to Using Scottish Documents

Content of Course

1. Introduction to older documents – intent and nature; simple case studies; how to make a transcription; dates and calendars; numbers and money.

2. Statutory and Civil Registration post-1855 and censuses 1841-1911.

3. Old Parish records and Kirk Session records 1560s to 1854.

4. Testaments, Wills and other Documents of Executry.

5. Documents of Landholding: retours; charters; sasines; wadsets; resignations etc.

Teaching method(s)

Informal lecture giving a brief introduction to each type of document. Students will then have particular documents to work on throughout the day, culminating in the complete transcription and explanation of one document each, shared with the class.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Find different types of documents;

• Understand the context of documents;

• Extract the relevant information from a document (names, relationships, placenames etc.);

• Critically assess different types of document.

Sources

Core Readings

Recommended:

• Durie, B., 2013. Documents for Genealogy & Local History. Stroud: The History Press Ltd.

Web Sources

www.scottishhandwriting.com

Scottish handwriting

www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl

Dictionary of the Scots Language

www.nas.gov.uk and www.scan.org.uk

Various guides

Class Handouts

All PowerPoint slides will be available as downloadable PDFs. The same applies to the documents to be examined during the day. Any accessory materials (transcription sheets etc.) will be available on the day.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.