Designed specifically to identify immigrant vessels, this work lists hundreds of ships that sailed from Scotland to North America between 1628 and 1828. As there are few official records of emigration for this period, the work is based primarily, though not exclusively, on contemporary newspapers published on both sides of the Atlantic. Newspapers are far and away the most fruitful sources of information, and notices announcing the departure of a particular ship "with passengers" were a regular feature of Scottish newspapers from the mid-eighteenth century onwards. While not exhaustive, this work contains the names and the ports and dates of departure and arrival of the majority of ships carrying emigrants from Scotland to America prior to 1828.