The authorship is attributed to Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, but an 18th-century footnote added to the title page of Adv.MS.34.3.19 states that the collection was originally compiled by Sir Patrick Lyon of Carse, and that his manuscript was copied by Mackenzie and others who made their own additions to it. One such copy by William Aikman of Cairnie, advocate, is now MS.979; another is in Edinburgh University Library; five more are Adv.MSS.13.2.10, 32.6.1, 34.3.14, 34.3.19 and 34.6.8. For notes on some of these and other manuscripts, and a list of the families treated in the text, see `Notes on Sir George Mackenzie`s "Families of Scotland", pages 38-42.

The original compilation was probably made in 1672 (see Adv.MSS.32.6.1, folio 154 and 34.3.14, folio 42). This copy was probably made between the succession of George Keith as Earl Marischal in 1671 (folio 156) and the death of the Earl of Crawford in 1678 (folio 186). The signature `Cardross` appears on folio 1 in an 18th-century hand.