Craigston Castle Borrowers’ Register

The loans register from Craigston is to be included in Books and Borrowing: An Analysis of Scottish Borrowers’ Registers, 1750-1850

In the late eighteenth century, the enlightened lairds of Craigston made their collection available to friends and acquaintances from the surrounding area. The register covers the years from the late 1760s to the early 1820s, and while there are only around 680 individual loans, it’s nonetheless a fascinating and useful resource for us to add to our existing datasets.

Craigston’s register is unusual both in its existence, and its survival. We feel very fortunate to be able to consider it alongside our evidence from the other types of libraries currently included in our project. – Books and Borrowing: An Analysis of Scottish Borrowers’ Registers, 1750-1850