The Scottish Reformation saw the introduction of a new hierarchical system of courts to run church affairs: the General Assembly, synods, presbyteries, and kirk sessions.

The records created by church courts are very useful for family history, local history and academic research. Of most interest for genealogists and local historians are the minutes of the kirk sessions, which typically contain a detailed and often colourful record of the discipline the minister and kirk elders handed out to errant parishioners for offences such as drunkenness, swearing, breaking the Sabbath, quarrelling and sexual misdemeanours.

After reading through the handout of Kirk Session (Parish) Registers, please complete the following:

• Write 3 general observations about the historical time/place, citing at least two, but preferably three entries from the kirk registers. Cite the Register (what parish it came from), the page number, and entry date.
• Copy down a passage from any of the documents that provoked a substantive historical question about the time/place.

Please write complete sentences.