Scottish illegitimacy ratios in the early modern period
This is a regional and quantitative study of illegitimacy in Scotland 1660-1780 based on Kirk Session registers a more comprehensive and reliable source than Parish Registers. The illegitimacy ratio for Scotland as a whole did not have the upward trend after 1750 which has been found for England except in two regions the south-west and Ayrshire. Since these areas were not economically advanced or conspicuous for domestic industry the Scottish evidence does not reveal rising illegitimacy as associated with pre-industrial economic growth. (EXCERPT)