Until the middle of the 19th century most Scots lived in the
countryside, rather than in towns. If your ancestors worked the
land, or even owned or rented property, then the surviving
records of landed estates may provide useful sources. Locating
surviving records for a particular locality is largely a matter
of finding out the name of the landowner of the day and then
checking the indexes and catalogues in different archives to see
if any of his records survive. You may already know the name of
the local landowner, in which case you should consult the
National Register of Archives maintained by The National
Archives: Historical Manuscripts Commission (TNA) and the
Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) online catalogue. It may also be
relevant to consult the National Archives of Scotland (NAS)
electronic catalogue (most of the estate records in the NAS are
part of the Gifts and Deposits (NAS ref. GD) series). If you do
not know the identity of the landowner(s) in a particular area,
there are several publications wh