seeming omission in the minutes may arise from the fact that for long King's College claimed and exercised a jurisdiction outwith that of the Magistrates and Council..

As an opportunity, however, will be given in a subsequent volume to treat of the history of Old Aberdeen in detail, it is not desirable to touch further on the subject here.

The Records from which the extracts contained in this volume have been drawn consist of :

1. A series of Charters and Acts of Parliament, selected with the view of showing the foundation of the Bishopric and the erection of the Bishop's seat into a burgh of barony, with the subsequent acts of the Scottish Parliament dealing with subjects closely connected with the welfare of the burgh.

2. Extracts from the minutes of the Town Council which commence with the election in December, 1602. These proceedings are complete with the exception of two volumes covering the periods from May, 1617, to November, 1634, and from June, 1728, to July, 1738, respectively,' and although efforts have been made to trace the missing volumes they have proved unsuccessful. An inventory of the volumes containing the proceedings of the Council is referred to in more than one minute, but nothing earlier than the first existing minute-book is mentioned.

3. The Treasurer's Accounts consist of the separate accounts made up by the respective persons holding the office of Treasurer of the burgh, and they have been sorted out from a very large mass of papers and recently bound into a volume. They are necessarily very incomplete, and the earliest recovered account is that of William Angus, treasurer from Michaelmas, 1660, to Michaelmas, 1661. The selections from the accounts

1 From 1707 to 1709 and from 1712 to 1719 no regular meetings seem to have been held, and no minutes are engrossed in the minute-books.

have been made with a view of supplementing the extracts from the minutes.

4. Merchant and Trade Burgess Roll. It has been thought advisable to give in full the merchant and craftsmen lists, in view of the fact that this class of record is becoming more and more recognised as a most valuable aid in all matters relating to genealogical research. The honorary burgess list may not be so brilliant as that of some burghs, yet it contains numerous names of illustrious visitors and others of sufficient interest to have them recalled in their capacity as honorary freemen of Old Aberdeen.

The roll till 1719 is compiled from the Council Registers, after which date a separate register was kept for all admissions whether ordinary or honorary.

4. The Merchant Society, dissolved within the present year (1899), possess the charter by Bishop Patrick Scougall in 1680 granting the merchants liberty to form themselves into a Society. The charter was produced on several occasions as the writ securing to the merchants the privilege to be received and acknowledged as a corporation, and of so great importance was it that strict injunctions were given from time to time for its preservation in their box. The extracts taken from the extant minute-books show the origin and nature of the Society, and also that it possessed nothing of the character of the Guildry Incorporations in other burghs.

5. Trade Incorporations. A selection only has been made from the records of the various trades as illustrative of the whole. The two charters by Bishop Adam Ballenden, in 1637, and Bishop George Haliburton, in 1684, are the foundation for the rights exercised by the craftsmen. The trades as incorporations had an existence prior to the first of these charters, and even before the date of the earliest extant minute-book in

b

1604. The licence or seal of cause in favour of the Gardeners' Society in 1754 shows the Council acting in the same capacity as the Bishop, and with powers similar to those exercised by the magistrates of a royal burgh.

6. The Miscellaneous papers include an interesting list of the inhabitants within the Spital and Old Aberdeen as compiled by the order of the Magistrates in 1636, from which it appears there were then 829 persons within the liberties of the burgh, including 268 children. For comparison there has also been given the list of persons liable for poll in 1696, showing the total at that date to have been 843, but that number is exclusive of children under sixteen years of age. The valuation roll of 1796 is of considerable interest not only as showing that the population had by that date increased to giving an index to the house rents payable at the close of last century. The total valuation amounted to the sum of £540 15s. od., and as indicating the enormous increase in the wealth of the community, it is worthy of note that for the year 1890-91, the year before the amalgamation with Aberdeen, the rental of Old Aberdeen was about £8300.

The concluding papers, taken from the proceedings of the Parliamentary Commission for Trade, in 1699. give a glimpse into the commercial status of the Old Town and to the strong feeling prevailing between the two towns as to their respective rights and privileges of trade.

I have to express my best thanks to the various gentlemen connected with the Merchants' Society and the various Trades for the permission so kindly granted me to inspect their records and to extract whatever I considered of interest. I am also indebted to T. R. Spence, Esq., London, for his kindness in furnishing the beautiful drawing of the Arms of the Burgh which forms the frontispiece to the volume, and to William

F. Webster, Esq., Chanonry, for specially photographing the views of Old Aberdeen, from which the reproductions were made. To F. C. Eeles, Esq., and P. J. Anderson, Esq., the Secretary of the Club, my acknowledgments are due for assistance and advice in the preparation of the volume.

A. M. M.