Papers : c.1752-1892.

            James Pringle (1784-1860) was born in Scotland, educated in Edinburgh, and joined the 81st Regiment of Foot as an officer in 1809. After service in the Isle of Jersey and Spain, the Regiment was sent to Canada in 1814 where he met his future wife Ann Margaret Anderson (1796-1870) of Cornwall, Ontario. James Pringle was a not a Loyalist but he married into a family with numerous Loyalist connections, his wife being the daughter of Lt. Joseph Anderson (1763-1853) and granddaughter of Capt. Samuel Anderson (1736-1836), both officers in the King's Royal Regiment of New York during the American Revolution. James Pringle's wife Ann (Anderson) Pringle was the daughter of Johanna (Farrand) Anderson (1759-?), wife of Lt. Joseph Anderson, who had fled from New York with her sister Catherine Farrand Valentine (1756-?), who married Adjutant John Valentine, and her brother, Lt. Jacob Farrand (1763-1803), both officers of the King's Royal Regiment of New York. They were accompanied by their aunt Elizabeth (Low) Gray (d.1800), the wife of Major James Gray (d.1795), also an officer of the King's Royal Regiment of New York. James Pringle settled eventually in Cornwall, Ontario, and the extended family became prominent in the area, various members holding positions in the militia and in legal and civic affairs.            

            The two journals of James Pringle which are noted in the introduction on the microfilm are not journals in the sense of an account of an individual's life, journey, or other activities. Rather, they are notebooks containing literary works (poems), songs, dances, and handwritten musical scores, with the lyrics and authors included in some cases. The second part of the reel contains the genealogy and family history of Jacob Farrand Pringle, his wife Isabella Fraser, and several Loyalist families who were related to the Pringle family. Major subject matter is literature, music, and performing arts.

The second notebook contains "Private Theatrical Society formed at Valenciennes France by the officers composing the garrison in the month of March 1816" and includes the name of the play, officers in the play, and the part they played. Military officers were from these regiments: 88th, 21st, and 81st Regiments of Foot. Next there is a list of the members of the society. There are plays thereafter with the same data and quite often there is a notation, such as this one: "Miss Jonas and Misses Penley Benefit." Seems to have been a performance approximately twice a month. Pringle's son added some notations such as "My father got this book in 1808 and had it with him in Spain in 1813, 1814".            

            
There is an Index of Songs, Duets Dances, Marches and Waltzes at the end of the microfilm reel and in print in The Loyalist Collection red binder.
            

There seems to be a numbering system for the musical scores but they are not on the reel in order by these.