What is 'palaeography'?

Palaeography is the study of old handwriting. As well as reading old handwriting it also covers the dating of manuscripts (although you won't have to do that here, as our records are all dated!).

The oldest records on ScotlandsPlaces are from the end of the fourteenth century, although the majority cover the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Some handwriting is easier to read than others and of course it varies according to the writer!