Parish Life in 18th-Century Scotland - A Review of the Old Statistical Account. Maisie Steven

208 pages. paperback

In 1790 Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster sent an exhaustive questionnaire to every parish minister in Scotland, covering such diverse subjects as lifestyle, customs, industry, agriculture, geology and wildlife. The results were gathered and published in the 'Old Statistical Account', a massive 20-volume work. 'Parish Life in 18th Century Scotland' presents a selection of that wealth of material in a lively and accessible form. It is a remarkable and unique insight into the lives of Scottish people from very different parishes, urban and rural, rich and poor, highland and lowland.  It positively bursts at the seams with insights into just about every area of life in an age of radical change.This book is an essential resource and even includes the original questionnaire.

'The remarkable “Statistical Record of Scotland” is the envy of social historians the world over. And yet few Scots have ever heard of it, let alone read it. Maisie Steven tries to put that to rights with her gem-studded compilation.'  DUNDEE COURIER