In compiling the following memoirs of the Arbuthnot family the author cannot claim to have done justice in any way to the long descent and interesting family history of the Arbuthnotts of Kincardineshire. She has considered herself to be only seriously in charge of the Aberdeenshire branch of the family, and this task will probably seem, on consideration, amply sufficient for one individual. But this apparent neglect of the senior line will carry with it, she trusts, no eventual loss to the genealogical student, for there is reason to believe that a publication of exceptional interest, dealing with that family, is shortly to make its appearance. Some facilities with regard to the important and unique family records preserved at Arbuthnott were, it is true, kindly offered with reference to the present volume, but the work was then too far advanced towards completion to enable advantage to be taken of a privilege often previously coveted and abandoned with extreme regret.<br><br>The point of junction between the Kincardineshire and Aberdeenshire branches of the family has been made the subject of special research. While no absolute certainty has been reached, it is believed that the evidence now collected and presented to the reader will show fairly clearly at which point the Aberdeenshire branch separated itself from the main stem.<br><br>The spelling of the name, which varies in the two branches, has often been a puzzle to genealogists.