Sir James Fergusson of Kilkerran, for twenty years Keeper of the Records of Scotland, was a distinguished historian and author whose many original explorations of events, figures and families prominent in Scottish history still bring the past fascinatingly to life. Lowland Lairds is the first of three studies.In the eighteenth century, Scotland was still backward in accepting and practising the new agriculture. Sir James's account of the work carried out by his own ancestors at Kilkerran in Ayrshire is drawn from his extensive family papers. It tells the story of the development of a country estate typical of many in Scotland at the time