They only embrace a comparatively short period of years, 1722- 1787, and, as Mr. Oliphant tells us in his Historical Notes relating to this congregation:
"it was by a mere accident that even these scanty records were preserved. When or how they were lost or thrown away there is nothing to show, but they were found by Mr. George Cruickshank, postmaster of St. Andrews, and a member of the Vestry of the Congregation from 1821 until shortly before his death in 1874, in a tobacconist's shop, where parts of
them had been already used for wrapping up snuff ! This must have been prior to 1843, as passing mention of these registers is made in Lyon's History of St. Andrews, which was published in that year."
