Parish of Cramond : John P. Wood : Edinburgh : 1794 Facsimile Scotland

The Antient and Modern State of the Parish of Cramond:
To which are Added, Biographical and Genealogical Collections, Respecting Some of the Most Considerable Families and Individuals Connected with that District, Comprehending a Sketch of the Life and Projects of John Law of Lauriston, Comptroller General of the Finances of France

By John P Wood

Published by Cramond Heritage Trust, 1994. Paperback book with 291 pages. Illustrated.

A very good clean copy throughout. Covers good.

FROM THE REAR COVER
Visitors to Cramond, a former fishing village and Roman fort five miles north of Edinburgh city centre, on their way to the beach and harbour cannot help noticing the 18th-century whitewashed cottages, eighteen in number, which occupy the ground between the River Almond and the village inn.

When they see the gulls perching on the smokeless chimneys (one block has as many as thirty-six), they may well wonder who lived in the cottages two hundred years ago and what sort of lives they led.

Thanks to the determination and zeal of a profoundly deaf young man aged thirty-two the answer is within these pages. With the invaluable assistance of Robert Spotswood, the local doctor and Kirk Treasurer, John P. Wood (1762-1838) included in 'The Antient and Modern State of the Parish of Cramond' an account of the ages, occupations and diet of the 84 households and their 323 inhabitants.

Readers, whose interest lies in those who lived at that time in such mansions as Cramond House and Lauriston Castle, will also find the answers in John Wood's book.

However, the book is long out of print and those copies which can be found from time to time in antiquarian bookshops command a price which may be outside the range of the general reader. For this reason the Cramond Heritage Trust decided, on the two-hundredth anniversary of its publication in 1794, to bring out this facsimile edition, dedicated to the memory of Barclay Fraser (1907-1991) historian and lover of Cramond.

(Loc: Scottish shelves; |Edinburgh shelf)