Excerpt from The History, Ancient and Modern, of the Sheriffdoms of Fife and Kinross: With a Description of Both, and of the Firths of Forth and Tay, and the Islands in Them Two editions of this work were printed at Edinburgh in the author's lifetime; and from the most corredt of these in 1710, the present one is carefully taken. It was thought proper, (except where there is obviously an error of the press.) to preserve the original spellin which is by no means corree} or uniform, as a mark of unified state of this branch of literature in Edinburgh, in the beginning of the I 8th century. For the sake of reference, the arrange. Ment of the former editions is strifily preserved, except, that, in the ecclesiastical part of the history, one or two seaions closely conneeted in their matter, which were detached to a considerable distance, are nbw brought together, and that a few passages and quotations, obviously misplaced, (some of which are taken notice of by the author himself, ) are inserted in their proper situations. The Fourth Part too, which, though it contained about go pages folio, has no division in the original, is now, for the convenience of the reader, divided into Seaions. Abridged translations of all the Latin. Quotations, where they had not been given by Sir Robert, are added at the bottom of the pages, except charters, and for the sake of uniformity, his transla tions are also taken from the text into the notes, and they are marked with his name. The Latin is often very care lessly quoted; wherever the Editor had access to the origi nal works, the true reading has been carefully restored. The purpose of the notes is chiefly to illustrate points of history which are discussed in the text, or to point out the modern state of the places described. Where the Editor has had occasion to controvert either statements of faats, or opinions, the reasons or the authorities by which he was. Led, are given, that the reader may judge for himself. To the catalogues of Natural History, the Linnean names of plants and animals are subjoined, and where the author has given no descriptions, such particulars as'seemed gene rally interesting are added. This edition also contains a large Appendix, comprehending several useful lists and other papers; and a copious Index. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.