In the Preface it is stated "The object of this work therefore is, to form and bring together into one volume as complete a collection as possible of the fragments which still remain of the early chronicles and memorials of Scotland, prior to the publication of Fordun's History." At the beginning of the Preface is "In the latter part of the 14th century, John of Fordun, a priest of the diocese of St. Andrews, and chaplain of the church of Aberdeen, compiled the first formal history of Scotland. He did not live to complete it. He left behind him the first five books of his history, bringing it down to the death of David I, and the materials for the rest of his history arranged by himself, the last date in which is 1385."​