Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, Vol. 5: Preserved in the Public Record Office and the British Library
On 25 October, 1878 an official of the Treasury in Iondon wrote to the Deputy Clerk Register, in charge of the public records of Scotland: A certain Mr Joseph Bain is making himself very busy about a proposal of his own that the Government should employ him to make abstracts or excerpts from the English Public Records of all documents connected with Scottish history down to the reign of Henry VII '1. This is a succinct description of the origin and nature of the work which was eventually published, in four volumes, over the years 1881-8. The struggles of the editor to gain acceptance of his idea, and the vicissitudes of his research, have been ably and entertainingly described by Professor e.l.g. Stones.2 It is sufficient to say here that Bain was a pioneer in the publication by calendaring of record materials in large quantities and carried through a task which was daunting enough in his own day and which no scholar would nowadays even contemplate as feasible. The fundamental information which he made available towards the study of medieval Scotland, especially in its relations with England, has remained of very great importance to scholars for almost a century.
The deficiencies of the work, however, have not always been appreciated. Bain's notable industry was not equalled by his standards of scholarship and some who have used the Calendar have failed to realise that it has a number of flaws. These can best be summarised in the words of Professor Stones: A number of important documents in the Public Record Office are omitted.
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