Lowland Lairds

Sir James Fergusson of Kilkerran Bt (1904-1973), for twenty years Keeper of the Records of Scotland, was a distinguished historian and author whose many original explorations of events, figures and families prominent in Scottish history still bring the past fascinatingly to life. The first of three studies, Lowland Lairds he presents a broad portrait of country gentry in Eighteenth Century Scotland, still backward in accepting and practising the new agriculture. Sir James's account of the work carried out by his own ancestors at Kilkerran in Ayrshire is drawn from his extensive family papers. It tells the story of the development of a country estate typical of many in Scotland at the time.