INTRODUCTION

IN issuing the Accounts of Sir John Foulis to the members of the Scottish History Society, the Council are carrying out the object for which the Society was formed, the discovery and printing . . . of unpublished documents illustrative of the civil, religious, and social history of Scotland,' and thanks are due to Dr. Foulis for allowing the contents of the accountbooks kept by his ancestor to be printed. It may not, however, be out of place to point out that though this volume contains simply the accounts of daily expenditure, not of a state department, but of an individual, it is specially valuable as throwing light on social life in Scotland two hundred years ago. Perhaps only the editor of such a work can fully realise how clear that light is, for he has to note with care every entry, and consider its value; the attentive reader will, however, find himself interested, nay, in some cases almost fascinated, by the undesigned touches of nature which will be found, and by the revelations of the writer's inner life and feelings to be met with in entries made day by day for his own use and satisfaction, and by reason of his methodical nature, without any thought that they might in after years see the light, and, better still, do something to increase the light.

Diaries are valuable, but they are usually intended for preservation, with the apprehension that they will influence the mind of the reader in forming an opinion of the writer. This apprehension may not be recognised by the writer, and it may not, as far as he is aware, restrain him from using frankness; but, on the other hand, a diary may be made a vehicle for

presenting a very unreal picture of a man, of his actions, and of his motives. From such faults account-books are from their very nature free.

Sir John Foulis possessed the qualifications to make a daily summary of his life and actions interesting and instructive; he presents us with facts, and such facts as fill up the details of a busy, cheerful, and well-ordered life. He belonged to a class which took its tone from the court, and gave a tone to the trading class, then rapidly rising in the social scale. He held an official position in Edinburgh, and he had also a country house not far from the city, and he thus attended to his public and private duties both in town and country, and found relaxation in country sports and in urban conviviality: he had dealings with all sorts and conditions of men, and recorded these dealings with scrupulous minuteness. Nor do we only meet with dry facts; as we follow his life day by day, and year by year, we learn to know him as the husband, the parent, the friend, the employer, and to feel an interest which puts life into the picture, and adds to its power. Married four times, and having a large family by his first wife, there are no evidences of family friction; his children congratulate him on the occasions of his later marriages, as we learn from the drinkmoney given to the bearers of their letters. The connections of his wives are his companions in his convivial hours, and he does his duty by such stepchildren as the widows he marries bring under his care. Of the welfare of his own children he is most careful. The eldest son, Archibald, known by the name of Primrose instead of Foulis, died in youth, before he had entered on the management of the Dunipace estate, which he inherited from his mother's father, Sir Archibald Primrose. On his death his next brother, George Foulis, became George Primrose, and was served heir to Dunipace. His position was peculiar; the heir of his father's honours as Baronet of Ravelston, his succession to it would extinguish the name of ‘Foulis, of the house Ravelston.' Sir John clearly felt this, and though

Foulis of Ravel

he was powerless to avert the absorption of ston' in 'Primrose of Dunipace,' he set to work to found a family of Foulis, who would be known as 'of Woodhall.' To accomplish this he let Ravelston, on which he had spent much money and care, and having purchased Woodhall from the heirs of John Cuninghame of Enterkin (whose widow was his third wife), he devoted the latter part of his life to improving the estate, which had been much encumbered and injured by the debts of its former possessor. William, his second surviving son, was the destined owner of Woodhall, and there after his marriage he lived with his father. We shall speak more of him later on.

Before proceeding to consider in detail the various subjects brought under our notice in the Accounts, it may be well to note the valuable light this volume throws on the manners and customs of the day. It affords additional proof of the exact knowledge of Sir Walter Scott, and his correctness in the details he gives of bygone social and public life. The social customs are particularly worth noting the free intercourse between the laird and the peasant, and the laird's interest in his tenants' affairs, are frequently shown. Again, the city life was very different from what it is now. There were no select clubs, no palatial hotels; the baronet and the shopkeeper settled a bargain in the backshop of the latter, and he dealt with his uncles, the apothecary and the merchant, and with their sons after them, and yet Sir John was a proud man, proud of his name, of his lineage, of his title, and of his duly registered coat of arms,1 but his pride was healthy, and he did not dread a poor relation coming between the wind and his nobility. Again, he was of a cheerful nature; he enjoyed the frequent potations of claret, sack, canary, mum beer, herb ale, warm wine and ale, and occasionally rare sorts of wine, in which he and his friends indulged. We need not infer that this denoted an intemperate mode of life-it was the 1 Patent 1671. Ordinary of Scot. Arms, by J. B. Paul, Lyon King.