This is the first study of Scottish price history to be published, and a major contribution to the economic and social history of early modern and pre-industrial Britain. Using the remarkable series of "fiars" prices for grains and other contemporary sources, Gibson and Smout focus, in particular, on the prices of grain, meal and animal products, and assess how Scots laborers could survive in an economy that could pay only very low money wages. Their conclusions make a powerful contribution to the perennial debate on the standard of living of ordinary people prior to industrialization.

This is the first study of Scottish price history to be published, and a major contribution to the economic and social history of early modern and pre-industrial Britain. Using the remarkable series of "fiars" prices for grains and other contemporary sources, Gibson and Smout focus, in particular, on the prices of grain, meal and animal products, and assess how Scots laborers could survive in an economy that could pay only very low money wages. Their conclusions make a powerful contribution to the perennial debate on the standard of living of ordinary people prior to industrialization.