INTRODUCTION


THE MANUSCRIPTS

There are here printed two manuscripts by Sir John Lauder, Lord
Fountainhall, and portions of another. The first[1] is a kind of journal,
though it was not written up day by day, containing a narrative of his
journey to France and his residence at Orleans and Poictiers, when he was
sent abroad by his father at the age of nineteen to study law in foreign
schools in preparation for the bar. It also includes an account of his
expenses during the whole period of his absence from Scotland. The
second,[2] though a small volume, contains several distinct portions. There
are narratives of visits to London and Oxford on his way home from abroad,
his journey returning to Scotland, and some short expeditions in Scotland
in the immediately following years, observations on public affairs in 1669-
70, and a chronicle of events connected with the Court of Session from 1668
to 1676; also at the other end of the volume some accounts of expenses. The
third[3] may be described as a commonplace book, for the most part written
during the first years of his practice at the bar and his early married
life, but it also contains some notes of travel in Fife, the Lothians, and
the Merse in continuation of those in MS. H., and a list of the books which
he bought and their prices, brought down to a late period of his life.
These manuscripts have been kindly made available to the Scottish History
Society by the owners. The first is in the Library of the University of
Edinburgh. The second is the property of the late Sir William Fraser's
trustees. The third has been lent by Sir Thomas North Dick Lauder,
Fountainhall's descendant and representative.

[1] Referred to as MS. X.