Statistical Accounts of Scotland - The Third Statistical Account of Scotland

The Third Statistical Account of Scotland

The Third Statistical Account was initiated after the Second World War and followed a similar parish format to the earlier accounts. The first volume, covering Ayrshire, was published in 1951. Ultimately it was more rigorous and wide-ranging than either of its predecessors, covering industry, transport, culture and demographics. Volume editors ensured a more generic approach than before, but even so the spirit of the originals was retained, even if idiosyncrasies remained.

The scale of the project, difficulties with funding and finding publishers (which included Collins and Oliver & Boyd) meant that the project took over forty years to complete and it was not until 1992 that the last volume, The County of Roxburgh, was published, under the auspices of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. Another consequence of this delay was that the later volumes covered administrative divisions which no longer existed. Several parish accounts had to be revised or rewritten due to the lapse of time between the fieldwork and publication. One account, the parish of Livingston in West Lothian, was revised twice and all three versions appear in the published volume. The account for the parish of Currie went missing by the time the Midlothian volume was put together and the book appears without it.

Although the project was more secular than before, sections of the accounts continued to focus on religious life, and several of the parish accounts were still written by Church of Scotland ministers. The tone of the comments in the 'Way of Life' often appear surprisingly judgemental to a modern reader, and there can be ill-concealed exasperation with the behavior of working-class parishioners. For example again and again spending on football pools is denounced as are other ways of spending money and leisure time. Judgementalism turns to plain insult in remarks like 'The people of Dura Den can be extremely ignorant' (Parish of Kemback, Fife) and 'Singing in the schools and the church is painful to an educated ear' (Parish of Inch, Wigtownshire).

Note: each volume is entitled either County of... or City of....

• Aberdeen (1953), MacKenzie, H.
• Aberdeenshire (1960), Hamilton, H.
• Angus (1977), Illsley, W.A.
• Argyll (1961), MacDonald, C.M.
• Ayrshire (1951), Strawhorn & Boyd
• Banffshire (1961), Hamilton, H.
• Berwickshire (1992), Herdman, J.
• Caithness (1961), Smith, J. S.
• Dumfriesshire (1962), Houston, G.
• Dunbartonshire (1959), Dilke, M.S. & Templeton, A.A.
• Dundee (1979), Jackson, J.M.
• East Lothian (1953), Snodgrass, Catherine P.
• Edinburgh (1966), Keir, D.
• Fife (1952), Smith, A.
• Glasgow (1958), Cunnison & Gilfillan
• Inverness-shire (1985), Barron, H.
• Stewartry of Kirkcudbright & Wigtownshire (1965), Laird, J. & Ramsay, D.G.
• Kincardineshire (1988), Smith, D.
• Lanarkshire (1960), Thomson, G.
• Midlothian (1985), Kirkland, H.
• Moray & Nairnshire (1965), Hamilton, H.
• Orkney (1985), Miller, R.
• Peeblesshire & Selkirkshire (1964), Bulloch, J.P.B. & Urquhart, J.M.
• Perthshire & Kinross-shire (1980), Taylor, D.B.
• Renfrewshire & Bute (1962), Moisley, H.A., Thain, A.G., Somerville, A.C. & Stevenson, W.
• Ross & Cromarty (1987), Mather, A.S.
• Roxburghshire (1992), Herdman, J.
• Shetland (1985), Coull, J.R.
• Stirlingshire & Clackmannanshire (1966), Rennie & Gordon
• Sutherland (1988), Smith, J. S. D.
• West Lothian (1992), Cadell, P.