This CD contains the Scottish Admiralty Court records held by the National Records of Scotland for the years 1627 to 1750 which provide an unparalleled insight into the maritime and mercantile affairs of Scotland in the seventeenth to early eighteenth centuries.

The Court dealt with a wide array of maritime matters: disputes over charter parties (including slaving voyages), non-payment of freight charges, negligence by skippers, damage to cargoes, wrecks and other accidents at sea, wage claims by ships' crews and beached whales. Pirates were tried before it as were criminal charges of assault and even murder onboard ship. In wartime the Court dealt with the legal 'condemnation' of prize vessels, and disputes over payment of ransom for captured Scottish ships and hostages. It also heard maritime related debt cases.

Recorded in Microsoft Word 97 format it has over 3,700 entries (each representing a court record).