As proposed by Committee of the Society for the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy
Scotland's statistical accounts are detailed resources and references relating to all the parishes of Scotland, and providing information on Scotland's history, geography and society. These are detailed statistical (from the German) accounts and give data on agriculture, antiquities, industrial productions, population and natural history between 1791/99 known as the 'Old' and 1834/1845, known as the 'New'. A third account was undertaken from 1952 until 1992.
The Second or New Statistical Account came about by a request to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland by the Committee of the Society for the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy in 1832, "by requesting from the parochial Clergy a description of their respective parishes".
The New Statistical Account is similar in format to the Old, however, there were some additions such as maps of the Counties, and contributions, from other important people in the parish, such as doctors, landowners and schoolmasters and the final parish reports were mainly written or edited by the resident minister. The important thing to remember about a statistical account is that it is simply a snapshot in time and the quality of the accounts varies enormously. The determining factor in such a massive collation of information is how scientifically the data was collected, as well as unbiased reporting of the past history, and the countries, social, moral and industrial state.
There had been significant changes in Scotland since the First Statistical Account, that the advertisement accompanying the first part of the New Statistical Account, which was published in March 1834, noted how the Committee "do not hesitate to announce, that they now present not merely a new Statistical Account, but, in a great measure, the Statistical Account of a new country". I am providing the text of the Parish of Tongue as a guide to the social history as documented in 1834, however, the historian in me needs to explain that it is only in the study and comparison of other parish reports that we can make serious and informed comment on the condition of the transitional Nation of Scotland at the time and it is fair to say that the new account is more reliable than the Old. Enjoy! Iain.
N.B. The New was published in three formats. The first edition, which took the form of 52 quarterly parts, was published between March 1834 and October 1845. A re-issue in 33 county volumes was published between 1841 and 1845. A second re-issue, in 1845, took the form of 15 collected county volumes.
Contact Iain on E-Mail @
Email Iain
Copyright and Design © Iain Morrison 2005 - 2006 - All Rights Reserved.
