[2] It was intended as a rival to the London-based Gentleman's Magazine, in order that "our countrymen might have the production of every month sooner, cheaper and better collected than before".
Popular through the 18th century, it innovated a register of births, marriages and deaths, which other journals soon copied.
Its popularity, however, was eroded by competition with serious literary journals such as the Edinburgh Review and Blackwood's Magazine.
[3] In December 1887 publication resumed as a partial successor to The Scottish Church under a new owner (S. Cowan, Perth) and continued until 1893 when once again it was withdrawn.
In 1924 publication as The Scots Magazine resumed, this time by the St Andrew's Society (Glasgow).