These are some of the online and paper published primary sources for the study of Scottish history -- published collections of charters, annals, chronicles, acts of parliament, and other primary source documents and records from the Middle Ages. Some are still in print, while others may be found in large or specialized university libraries. (Note that some of the below are translations only.) Sections marked www in the index to this page include links to texts available online. See also the Literature section of the Scottish Medieval Bibliography and the listing of Scottish Primary Record Publishing Societies in my collection of useful internet discussion Postings.
Index to this page:
Barrow, G.W.S., ed. The Charters of David I: The Written Acts of David I King of Scots, 1124-53, and of His Son Henry, Earl of Northumberland, 1139-52. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press, 1999. Amazon.com - Amazon.co.uk
, ed. Acts of Malcolm IV, 1153-65. Vol. 1, Regesta Regum Scottorum, 1153-1424. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1960. Order from Amazon.co.uk
Barrow, G.W.S., and W.W. Scott, eds. Acts of William I, 1165-1214. Vol. 2, Regesta Regum Scottorum, 1153-1424. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1971. Order from Amazon.co.uk
Duncan, Archibald A. M., ed. The Acts of Robert I, King of Scots 1306-29. Vol. 5, Regesta Regum Scottorum, 1153-1424. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1988. Order from Amazon.com Order from Amazon.co.uk
Webster, Bruce, ed. Acts of David II, 1329-71. Vol. 6, Regesta Regum Scottorum, 1153-1424. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1982. Order from Amazon.com
Innes, C., and T. Thomson, eds. The Acts of the Parliament of Scotland. Edinburgh, 1814-75.
Thomson, John Maitland, ed. Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum: The register of the Great Seal of Scotland. A.D. 1306-1424.. New Edition, to which are added Indexes and Remains of the Lost Charter Rolls. 11 vols. Edinburgh: Scotland's National Archives reprinted and presented by The Scottish Record Society, 1984.
Livingstone, M., and others, eds. Registrum Secreti Sigilli regum Scotorum: Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland 1488-1580. Edinburgh, 1908-.
Bower, Walter. Scotichronicon. 9 vols. Edited by D.E.R. Watt. Edinburgh: The Mercat Press, 1987-1997.
This is a history of Scotland from the beginning until his own time written by Walter Bower in the 1440s. This edition includes the original Latin with facing page translations into modern English.
Bower, Walter. A History Book for Scots: Selections from Scotichronicon. Edited by D.E.R. Watt. Edinburgh: The Mercat Press, 1998.
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This is a selection of passages (in English translation) from the multivolume Scotichronicon (see above), a history of Scotland from the beginning until his own time written by Walter Bower in the 1440s.
Froissart, Jean. The Chronicles of Froissart [WWW]. Translated by John Bourchier, Lord Berners. Edited by G. C. Macaulay. Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia Library, Aug 1994 [cited 2 Jan 2002]. Original edition, 1369 - circa 1410; translation, New York: P. F. Collier & Son Company, 1910.
This is an English translation.
Froissart, Jean. The Chronicles of Froissart [WWW]. Translated by John Bourchier, Lord Berners. Edited by G. C. Macaulay. Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Aug 1994 [cited 2 Jan 2002]. Original edition, 1369 - circa 1410; translation, New York: P. F. Collier & Son Company, 1910.
This is an English translation.
Holinshed, Raphaell. Excepts from Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande [WWW]. Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text & Image, 14 Dec 2001 [cited 9 Jan 2002]. Available from http://www.library.upenn.edu/etext/furness/holinshed/index.html. Original edition, London: 1577.
This is the scanned images of excerpts from the original 1577 edition, including the woodcut illustrations. It is part of the Furness Shakespeare Library.
Adamnan. Life of Saint Columba [WWW]. Edited by William Reeves. The Saint Columba Home Page, 14 Jan 1998 [cited 3 Jan 2002]. Original edition, circa 690; this edition and translation, Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1874.
This is the original Latin text, written c. 690 by Saint Adamnan (c. 625-704), presented with an English translation side by side for each chapter. Columba (521-597), known in Gaelic as Colum Cille, was to Scotland as Saint Patrick was to Ireland, more or less. The index to the text can be found about halfway down the web page.
. Adamnan: Life of St. Columba, [Latin Text: Book I and Book II, cc 1-30] [WWW]. Edited by William Reeves. Internet Medieval Sourcebook, 1998 [cited 3 Jan 2002]. Original edition, circa 690; this edition, Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1874.
This is the first book and part of the second book of the original Latin text written c. 690 by Saint Adamnan (c. 625-704). Columba (521-597), known in Gaelic as Colum Cille, was to Scotland as Saint Patrick was to Ireland, more or less.
. Adamnan: Life of St. Columba [WWW]. Edited by William Reeves. Internet Medieval Sourcebook, 1998 [cited 3 Jan 2002]. Original edition, circa 690; translation, Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1874.
This is a modern English translation of the original Latin text written c. 690 by Saint Adamnan (c. 625-704). Columba (521-597), known in Gaelic as Colum Cille, was to Scotland as Saint Patrick was to Ireland, more or less.
Jocelyn of Furness Abbey. The Life of Saint Kentigern [WWW]. Translated by Cynthia Whiddon Green. GypsyFire: Cynthia's Medieval Section, 1998 [cited 3 Jan 2002]. Original edition, circa 1180; translation, Master's Thesis, University of Houston, 1998.
An English translation of a 12th century Latin life of Saint Kentigern. Kentigern was a 6th century monk, missionary, and saint who born and mainly lived in what is now the southern part of Scotland (Lothian and Strathclyde). This translation was done as part of Cynthia Green's graduate degree work at the University of Houston; her Master's Thesis is available online.
Innes, Cosmo, ed. Ancient Laws and Customs of The Burghs of Scotland. Vol. I, A. D. 1124 - 1424. The Scottish Burgh Records Society Publications. Edinburgh: The Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1868.
Ancient Laws and Customs of The Burghs of Scotland. Vol. II, A. D. 1424 - 1707. The Scottish Burgh Records Society Publications. Edinburgh: The Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1910.
Anderson, Peter John, ed. Charters and other Writs Illustrating the History fo the Royal Burgh of Aberdeen MCLXXIÑMDCCIV. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1890.
Dickinson, William Croft, ed. Early Records of the Burgh of Aberdeen: 1317, 1398-1407. Publications of The Scottish History Society, 3rd ser., vol. 49. Edinburgh: The Scottish History Society, 1957.
Stuart, John, ed. Extracts from the Council Register of the Burgh of Aberdeen, 1398-1570, Volume 1. The Spalding Club Publications. Aberdeen: The Spalding Club, 1844.
Needs to be used with caution -- Stuart got the dates wrong for many entries.
, ed. Extracts from the Council Register of the Burgh of Aberdeen, 1570-1625, Volume 2. The Spalding Club Publications. Aberdeen: The Spalding Club, 1848.
Needs to be used with caution -- Stuart got the dates wrong for many entries.
, ed. Extracts From The Council Register of the Burgh of Aberdeen, 1625 - 1642, The Scottish Burgh Records Society Publications. Edinburgh: The Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1871.
Needs to be used with caution -- Stuart got the dates wrong for many entries.
Extracts from the Council Register of the Burgh of Aberdeen, 1643-1747, The Scottish Burgh Records Society Publications. Edinburgh: The Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1872.
"Register of Burgesses of the Burgh of Aberdeen, 1399 - 1631." In The Miscellany of the Spalding Club, xv - liv, 1 - 162. Aberdeen: The New Spalding Club, 1890.
Note that these names have been transformed ("translated") from the original Latin and that the full entry context is not always indicated.
Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 1589-1718, The Scottish Burgh Records Society Publications. Edinburgh: The Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1927-67.
Grant, Francis J., ed. The Commissariot Record of Edinburgh: Register of Testaments. Vol. 1 - 3, Scottish Record Society Publications. Edinburgh: Scottish Record Society, 1897-99.
Charters and Other Documents Relating to the City of Glasgow, The Scottish Burgh Records Society Publications: The Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1985-1906.
Mackay, William, and Herbert Cameron Boyd, eds. Records of Inverness, Volume I. Burgh Court Books: 1556-86. Vol. 38, Publications of the New Spalding Club. Aberdeen: New Spalding Club, 1911.
Selected extracts from the Inverness Burgh Court Books
Charters and Documents Relating to the Burgh of Peebles with Extracts from the Records of the Burgh, 1165 - 1710, The Scottish Burgh Records Society Publications. Edinburgh: The Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1872.
Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Peebles, 1652 - 1714 (with Appendix, 1367 - 1665), The Scottish Burgh Records Society Publications. Glasgow: The Scottish Burgh Records Society, 1910.
Renwick, R., ed. Extracts from the Records of the Royal Burgh of Stirling. Glasgow, 1887.
Cooper, Jacobus, ed. Cartularium Ecclesiae Sancti Nicholai Aberdonensis. 2 vols. Aberdeen: The New Spalding Club, 1888-92.
Liber Officialis Sancti Andree, Curie Metropolitane Sancti Andree in Scotia Sententiarum in Causis Consistorialibus Que Extant., Publications of the Abbotsford Club. Edinburgh: The Abbotsford Club, 1845.
Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis: Bannatyne Club & Maitland Club, 1843.
Robertson, J., ed. Liber Collegii Nostre Domine: Munimenta Fratum Predicatorum de Glasgu, Maitland Club Publications: Maitland Club, 1846.
Lindsay, E. R., and A. I. Cameron, eds. Calendar of Scottish Supplications to Rome 1418-1422. Vol. 23, Publications of the Scottish History Society, Third Series. Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1934.
Dunlop, Annie I., ed. Calendar of Scottish Supplications to Rome 1423-1428. Vol. 48, Publications of the Scottish History Society, Third Series. Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1956.
Dunlop, Annie I., and Ian B. Cowan, eds. Calendar of Scottish Supplications to Rome 1428-1432. Vol. 7, Publications of the Scottish History Society, Fourth Series. Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1970.
Dunlop, Annie I., and David MacLauchlan, eds. Calendar of Scottish Supplications to Rome: Volume IV: 1433-1447. Edited by Ian B. Cowan. Glasgow: University of Glasgow Press, 1983. Order hardcover from Amazon.co.uk
Kirk, James, ed. Calendar of Scottish Supplications to Rome: 1447-1471: Scottish Academic Press, 1997. Order hardcover from Amazon.co.uk
Burns, Charles, ed. Calendar of Papal Letters to Scotland of Clement VII of Avignon 1378-1394. Vol. 12, Publications of the Scottish History Society, Fourth Series. Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1976. Order hardcover from Amazon.co.uk
McGurk, Francis, ed. Calendar of Papal Letters to Scotland of Benedict XIII of Avignon 1394-1419. Vol. 13, Publications of the Scottish History Society, Fourth Series. Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1976. Order hardcover from Amazon.co.uk
Bliss, W. H., and J. A. Twemlow, eds. Papal Letters, A.D. 1362-1404. Vol. 4, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1902.
Twemlow, J. A., ed. Papal Letters, A.D. 1455-1464. Vol. 11, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1921.
, ed. Papal Letters, A.D. 1458-1471. Vol. 12, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1933.
, ed. Papal Letters, 1471-1484. Vol. 13, part 1, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1955.
, ed. Papal Letters, 1471-1484. Vol. 13, part 2, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1955.
, ed. Papal Letters, 1484-1492. Vol. 14, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1960.
Haren, Michael J., ed. Papal Letters, Innocent VIII: Lateran Registers, 1484-1492. Vol. 15, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Dublin: Stationary Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1978. Order hardcover from Amazon.co.uk
Fuller, Anne P., ed. Papal Letters, Alexander VI (1492-1503), Lateran Registers, Part One: 1492-1498. Vol. 16, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Dublin: Stationary Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1986.
, ed. Papal Letters, Alexander VI (1495-1503). Vol. 17, part 1, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Dublin: Stationary Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1988.
, ed. Papal Letters, Alexander VI Vatican Registers (1492-1503). Vol. 17, part 2, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Dublin: Stationary Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1998.
Haren, Michael J., ed. Papal Letters, Pius III and Julius II, Vatican Registers (1503-1513), Lateran Registers (1503-1508). Vol. 18, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Dublin: Stationary Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1989.
Haren, Michael J., ed. Papal Letters, Julius II, Lateran Registers (1505-1513). Vol. 19, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Dublin: Stationary Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1998. Order hardcover from Amazon.co.uk
Cain Adamnain: An Old-Irish Treatise on the Law of Adamnan [WWW]. Translated by Kuno Meyer. Edited by Kuno Meyer. Internet Medieval Sourcebook, 4 Mar 2001 [cited 3 Jan 2002]. Original edition, n.d.; translation, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.
This is an English translation of a later treatise which "seeks to explain" the 697 'Law of Adamnan' or 'Law of Innocents'.
Cain Adamnain: An Old-Irish Treatise on the Law of Adamnan [WWW]. Translated by Kuno Meyer. Edited by Kuno Meyer. Early Medieval Resources for Britain, Ireland and Brittany, 2000 [cited 3 Jan 2002]. Original edition, n.d.; translation, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.
This is an English translation of a later treatise which "seeks to explain" the 697 'Law of Adamnan' or 'Law of Innocents'.
The Declaration of Arbroath [WWW]. Gateway to Scotland, n.d. [cited 3 Jan 2002]. Original edition, 1320.
A transcription of the original Latin text and an English translation.
Instrumenta Publica Sive Processus super Fidelitatibus et Homagis Scotorum Domino Regi Angliæ Factis A. D. MCCXCI-MCCXCVI. (Title on spine: The Ragman Rolls, 1291-6.) Edited by Thomas Thomson. Bannatyne Club Publications, vol. 50. Edinburgh: Bannatyne Club, 1834. Full text available at Google Books at <http://books.google.com/books?id=JlgJAAAAIAAJ>.
The Ragman Rolls are the records of the Scots who pledged homage to King Edward I of England, first in 1291 and then (a much larger number) in 1296. They were written in Anglo-Norman French and Latin by English clerks. The names in the index of the Bannatyne edition can be found online at Ragman Rolls - Index at the Rampant Scotland web site; however, the letter "long s" (which is simply a different shape of <s>) in the printed edition has been mistranscribed as <f> rather than <s> in the online index.
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