Series 1 > Journals of Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall, with his observations on public affairs and other memoranda, 1665-1676

INTRODUCTION
THE MANUSCRIPTS
There are here printed two manuscripts by Sir John Lauder,
Lord Fountainhall, and portions of another. The first1 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 expedi¬
tions in Scotland in the immediately following years, observa¬
tions 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 third3 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
1 Referred to as MS. X. 2 Marked by Fountainhall H.
3 Marked by Fountainhall K.
b