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The booklet has three objects:

1. To list all records of baptisms, marriages, proclamations, deaths and burials which for one reason or another were never transferred to the Old Parish Registers of the Church of Scotland, but have remained engrossed in the Kirk Session Records of that church or in a few cases are to be found elsewhere.

The Old Parish Registers were called in 1855, the year in which civil registration began in Scotland. They are housed in New Register House (GRH) in Edinburgh and have been microfilmed. It is from these that the Mormon International Genealogical Index (IGI) and the indexes on the Scots Origins site have been compiled.

There are two points to bear in mind. Firstly, many of these registers only begin in the 18th century, while some only start in the 19th (see The Parishes, Registers and Registrars of Scotland (1993) published by the SAFHS).

Secondly, it is not always realised that a large number of parish registers have suffered damage or contain gaps. A useful source for finding this information is A Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland (1872). There are many causes for the gaps. One is general ageing - ink has faded, the edges of the pages have become wasted, blackened or torn, while some are missing. Then, quite a few clerks or ministers were remiss in keeping the registers up to date. This is where this booklet comes into play.

Baptie