A Computational Investigation into the Authorship of Sister Peg

This article engages with the longstanding debate over the authorship of the Scottish Militia pamphlet Sister Peg (1761). While previous evidence is born out of rigorous historical research, a debate remains between whether Adam Ferguson or David Hume was the author. This article uses computational stylometry to statistically investigate this question, with the aim of complementing existing historical evidence rather than overturning it. In doing this it concludes that the work was not written solely by David Hume and, instead, Adam Ferguson is likely to be the sole author or there was a more complicated history of co-authorship.