To see a full entry in the General or Particular Register of Sasines, what information will I need from the sasine abridgement?

You require several bits of information from each abridgement. Firstly the county involved. Secondly whether the entry is in the Particular Register or the General Register. Thirdly the reference number to the corresponding volume in the register.

At the end of each sasine abridgement is a numerical or alpha-numerical reference. If this begins with the letters G. R., then the full sasine entry will be found in the General Register of Sasines prior to 1868, held by the National Records of Scotland (reference RS.3). If the reference begins with the letters P. R. it refers to a full sasine entry in the Particular Register of Sasines for a county or group of counties. If the reference has no letters prefixing it, then it refers to a sasine entry in one of the county divisions of the register after 1868.

Whether or not the reference has a P. R. or G. R. prefix, the remainder of the reference consists of two numbers. The first refers to a volume in the relevant series of registers. The second refers to a folio number within that volume. Once armed with these reference numbers, the next step is to consult the catalogues to the sasine registers at the National Records of Scotland, and then the sasine entry itself.

The example below is taken from the sasine abridgements for Aberdeenshire. The reference at the end of the entry, ringed in red, reads ‘P. R. 249. 114.’ This shows that the full sasine entry will begin on folio 114 of volume 249 of the Particular Register for Aberdeenshire.