This week's poser is taken from a report by the General Inspector of the Forfeited Estates in 1768 (National Archives of Scotland, E787/24/1). To modern eyes, handwriting from the mid-1700s is much easier to read than the handwriting of a hundred years earlier. Indeed, the handwriting from this period is often much clearer than the handwriting of the mid 1800s, which goes to show that the history of handwriting is not one of gradual improvement.

Some problems still remain with 18th and 19th century handwriting, however. Capital letters, inconsistent spelling and earlier forms of place names can hinder the modern reader. Relics of older handwriting can be seen. In the poser below, the older form of the letter w is obvious when it starts a word but not when it occurs in the middle of a word. The letter J is used for a capital I. The long s is often used as first s in double s. A form of the letter d is sometimes used, whose vertical stroke curls back over the word, especially when the d is at the end of a word.

This week's poser is fairly easy. What three place names contain the double-s, consisting of the long s and short s?

Help
For help with reading the poser, use our coaching manual. The following areas may be of particular assistance.

Letters i, j, m, n and u
Letter s
Capital letters

Answer