This study looks broadly at the composition of the Scottish peerage in James VI's reign, and specifically at a subset, of the Scottish aristocracy who bore the titles of viscount or better between the years 1587 and 1625. Eighty-five subjects are identified, and classified according to the age of their titles, their religious leanings and the geographical regions from which their titles and powers were drawn, to form anumber of distinct groups---the established nobility, new peers, Protestants, Catholics (both overt and conforming), peers from the highlands and isles, peers from central Scotland, and peers from the Anglo-Scottish border region. / A social analysis of the total body of these peers and its sub-groupings is undertaken, and focuses on patterns associated with their birth, descent, education, succession, marriage, fertility and death. Where appropriate, the results are compared with data available from studies of the contemporary English aristocracy. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

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