Scottish Geographical Magazine ISSN: 0036-9225 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rsgj19 John Adair: An early map-maker and his work Harry R.G. Inglis F.S.A. Scot. To cite this article: Harry R.G. Inglis F.S.A. Scot. (1918) John Adair: An early map-maker and his work, Scottish Geographical Magazine, 34:2, 60-66, DOI: 10.1080/14702541808554887 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14702541808554887 Published online: 30 Jan 2008. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 10 View related articles Citing articles: 2 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rsgj19 Download by: [University of Birmingham] Date: 09 June 2016, At: 21:30 6O ~CO'FEISH GEOGRAPHICALMAGAZII~E. JOHN ADAIR: AN EARLY MAP-MAKER AND HIS WORK. By HARRY R. G. INGLIS, F.S.A. Scot. W~SN a wordy dispute arises between two antagonists of fairly equal c~libre, however important the point at issue may be, the onlooker is usually only interested in its amusing side. In no case is this side more observable than in the papers preserved in the Register House, Edin- burgh relating to Slezer, the author of Theat¢'u~n Scoriae, and John Adair, the map-maker. Of Adair's personality or history we know tittle more than that between 1682 and 1688 he drew a series of maps of the Scottish counties, of the fines~ quality, the originals of which are preserved in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh ; the British Museum, London ; and the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Other maps are known to have existed, but these, and a few of his "Sea Maps," are all that have come to light so far. These maps are, in almost every respect, models of workman- ship, being clear, minute, and with an artistic effect in their appearance, quite different from the confused manuscripts of Timothy Pont. But, on the other hand, the Register House papers reveal a not very satisfactory state of affairs for which there is no adequate explanation. Large sums of money were given to Adair from time to time, without any visible result being attained in the way of issuing the maps. From the Privy Council Records we know ~hat in 1682 he got a subsidy of £100 a year, to enable him ~o complete a series of County Maps of Scotland which he projected, and although these were actually sum'eyed and drawn by 1686, it was not till long after Adair was dead that the chief maps were engraved and published. As there is no public record of what Adair did, or was expected to do, to understand the earlier course of events between the Privy Council grant in 1682, and the Register House papers beginning 1691, we have to go to the maps themselves, and as they are nearly all dated, we can see the rapid progress made at this period. Assuming that he would begin at Edinburgh, and then do West Lothian (neither map is dated, nor is Ciackmannan), the following is the list of manuscripts extant :-- Date. Map. Manuscript in Midlothi~n Advocates' Library. Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 21:30 09 June 2016 West Lothian" Do. Clackmannan. Do. East Lothia~ . Bodleian and Advocates' L~brary :less complete)3 1683 Forth Do. do. 1683 Strathearn Add-coates' Library. 1684 Eas~ Fife Do. ]685 Stirlingshire . British ~WIuseum and Advocates' Library (less complete)3 1686 Clyde Chart . Bodleian Library. 1686 West of Scotland . British Museum and Advocates' Library (less complete)3. Ettrick Forest Advocates' Library. See note at end. JOHN ADAIR: AN EARLY MAP-I~IAKER AiND HIS WORK. 61 With the completion of these maps passes what might be called the most satisfactory period of Adair's life, and as the date of the last map came fairly near the political crisis of 1688, it is a natural inference that the advent of William and Mary brought about a new set of conditions, and in the process Adair was dropped and his work unsupported. Be that as it may, Adair was "ready to perish" for want of funds in 1686, and it was not till 1691 that help appears to have been given in some form° As already stated, it is not by any means clear in what relation Adair stood to the authorities, for all along he seems to have been working on the maps, but whether it was through having a little means of his own, or through the help of Sir Robert Sibbald, his patron--the Geographer Royal for Scotland--is so far quite unknown. The Register House papers, however, contain a series of reports, in which Adair, having succeeded in interesting the authorities, informs a Commission, in 1692, that four maps are complete--The Water of Forth, the ~¥ater of Tay, the Water of Clyde, and St. Abb's Head to (~Sunderland Point), land maps of East Lothian, West Lothian, Middle Lothian ; one of Stirlingshire and Menteith ; one of Clackman- nanshire ; two of Fife and Kinross-shire ~ one of Perthshire ; one about Angus ~ one general map of Gallowayshire ~ one of Nithsdale and Ren- frew ; 1 and one particular map of Cunningham and Renfrew. So satisfied were the Commission with his work, and with his pro- posals to go on with a series of "Sea Maps," that a tax of 4s. a ton was lev~ed on all "foreign" shipping at the Scottish ports, and ls. a ton on home shipping, the revenue to be collected and handed to Adair to prepare maps for the use of mariners. All was well so far. But at this point a Captain Slezer--an Artillery officer, described as a "High German "--appears on the scene ; says he is compiling a most important book relating to Scotland, with many pictures ; asserts that his work is of equal national importance to Adair's; and claims a share of this tax. Withdu~ any reason being given, his claim is admitted ; so ~hat one can only imagine that, in the political changes of the time, Siezer had some Court influence through service rendered to William of Orange, and that for this reason his application was successful. Thereupon ensued a continuous wrangle between Slezer and Adair, which lasted for many years. Adair would apply for a grant towards his expenses, and, getting some money, Slezer would immediately apply Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 21:30 09 June 2016 for his proportion, only to find that, as the funds were low, there was little for him. Then Adair applies for more money, pleads great poverty after heavy outlays, which, when Slezer hears of, he instantly urges the Commissioners not to pay Adair anything more, because he has not done what he undertook to do. After much wrangling, each gets some- thing; but Slezer is never satisfied, while Adair's expenses are always increasing. The unfortunate and inexplicable fact is that Slezer's statements seem perfectly true. We know that by 1686 Adair had drawn and 1 This name, duplicated in the next rnap~ is not lucid, as Nithsdale and Renfrew are not contiguous. 62 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE. completed all his "Land Maps," for which he had drawn his salary, and yet they were never issued. He reports that in 1694 ten "Sea Maps " and ten "Land Maps" were finished, four others were almost ready, and still the Commission seem to be quite satisfied. But, alas, in 1695 he is no further forward, and in 1696 they are still not finished. In 1698 Adair gets another £600 1 for a West Coast Survey, and yet, strange to say, the other maps still remained unpublished. Nevertheless, Adair gives a full list of his disbursements; explains that in 1692 he brought an engraver (Moxon)from Holland; in 1695 he says that Mr. Clark, the engraver, has finished several maps; in 1696 he has paid 21101 for engraving, £85 1 for large copperplates, £921 for polishing same, and still the Commission are satisfied, and Adair continues to get his money. Poor Slezer, on the other hand, is ignored, and his requests for money seem either to be held over, or granted only after persistent pleading. App~zently he is not a 2ersona grata. In the later papers the vituperations come to a climax, for Slezer roundly makes the charge against Adair to the Commissioners that he is no further forward in 1695 than he was in 1694, and that Adair is just inventing excuses for not completing the maps, in order to obtain more money° In return for this, Adair in[orms the Commissioners that Slezer is au "illiterat stranger," gathering together a big volume of scraps "only to amaze " the country, attempting a work that would tax the ability of the most learned men in Scotland, and that most of the book consists of scraps from authors as unlearned as himself; that Slezer sits at home in corn[err, while Adair in his surveying expeditions has been three times driven on shore by storms, and has had great hardships and perils. At this period the Register House papers cease, but we know that in the end five maps of the East Coast were issued in a little Atlas in 1703, with descriptions by Adair, prefaced by a Map of Scotland. This latter was apparently copied from one issued a century previously by a French geographer, Nicolay, but no important changes were made in the outline of the less known North of Scotland, such as we would expect if Adair had surveyed the West Coast, as he.claimed, for the outline of the Hebrides is not changed from that of Mercator of 1564.