Found a review of a book which talks about them - Women and Work in Eighteenth-century Edinburgh by Elizabeth Sanderson, published by MacMillan, 1996. The review (by Dingwall, 1998) says
So will have to get hold of that, now! Will let people know more if/when I find out more. In the meantime, if anybody comes across a copy of the book at a reasonable cost, please let me know!The book is divided into sections dealing with women in the retail trade; women acting as roomsetters, nurses and graveclothes-makers; single women, married women, and poverty... The author has used a considerable amount of new archival material, particularly from court processes... The previously unknown activities of 121 'rouping' women, acting as auctioneers, are well portrayed, and it is also shown that these women's husbands followed a wide range of occupations, from university professors and surgeons to ministers, gardeners and tailors...
Jenny