Series 3 > Miscellany of the Scottish History Society (Fourth volume)

304 MISCELLANEOUS CHARTERS, 1165-1300
he issued between 1858 and 1897, contain not only early
charters and deeds relating to land, but also State Papers
and public documents, which have been of great assistance
to historical students ; and it is this feature of his work
which has proved to be his most valuable and permanent
contribution to historical scholarship.
Sir William in the course of his researches procured
copies of a number of charters which have not appeared
in any of his works, and those covering the period 1165-
1300 are here printed. With the exception of No. 12, it
is believed none of them have been published before. It
is hoped in a subsequent volume to bring the collection
down to 1400. While it has not, perhaps, the same interest
and value as one in which we can trace the development of
a monastic estate, or the rise of a baronial family, the writs
form by no means an unimportant contribution to that
corpus of early charters which Dr. Maitland Thomson and
Sir Archibald C. Lawrie contemplated, and towards the
completion of which they had made considerable progress
before they died. It is interesting to note that a number
of the charters here printed were unknown to them.
While every care has been taken to produce an accurate
text, the reader is warned that collation with the original
has been possible only in two cases. Certain obvious
mistakes have been corrected, but some doubtful readings
remain. Corrections and suggested emendations will be
found in the Notes.
I desire to express my great indebtedness to Mr. Alan
O. Anderson, M.A., of St. Andrews University, for his
help in elucidating several difficult points, and also to
my colleagues, Mr. R. H. Lindsay and Mr. H. M. Paton,
for reading the proofs and for their corrections and
suggestions.