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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.

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.


 * 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.