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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: Ronda231 on Friday 09 May 25 22:15 BST (UK)
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One of the most famous of the Scottish witchcraft trials, with 11 executions (see first image below)
Ref: https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/psas/article/download/6264/6233/6222
Note: this link gives an instant download of a small pdf of the trial proceedings.
Agnes Drysdale was implicated in the 1662 Crook of Devon Witchcraft trials but apparently managed to avoid the fate which was meted out to 11 of her contempories:
viz.
........to be taken away to that place called Lamblaires bewest the Cruik Miln
the place of their execution tomorrow.... betwixt two and three hours in the afternoon,
and there to be strangled to the death by the hand of the hangman and thereafter their
bodies to be burnt to ashes for their trespasses. .....
The purpose of this post is to request help in understanding the 1622 marriage record of Agnes Drysdale & John Blackwood (see second image below).
The record seems quite straightforward in that on 24 February 1622 John Blakwod of Coldrain is being married to Agnes Drysdell from dollar?? with maybe some witnesses (see red arrow), But towards the bottom of the image there seems to be another entry for Agnes Drysdell (see red underline) am I correct in seeing this second entry and if so what is it for?
Any help would be appreciated.
Some extracts from the trial proceedings are copied here for info:
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ROBERT WILSON
........Lykeways that ye confessed ye had ane meeting with the Devil at the
Stanriegate, bewest the Cruick of Devon, where the Devil desired you to be
his servant and renounce your Baptism whilk ye refused to do at that time;
and that the Devil was riding on ane horse with fulyairt clothes and ane
Spanish cape and that there was with you at that meeting, Bessie Keil in
Gelvin, Marget Hoggan......Christian Young, spouse to James Bennet there;
Agnes Beveridge, in Broughty; Marget Beveridge, there; her sister Agnes
Drysdale, spouse to John Blackwood of Coldrain, riding on ane brown horse
and ane old black plaid about her. This ye said to be on Wednesday about
Yule last, two hours before day, and that the Devil appointed them to meet
at the Bents of Balruddrie on Friday thereafter.
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST MARGARET HUGGON and JANET PATON
Ye both are indyted and accused for suamickle as by Divine law of the
Almighty God set down in his sacred word, especially in the 18 chap, of Deut.
and 30 chap, of Lev., made against the users and practisers of witchcraft,
sorcerie, charming and soothsaying, against the seekers of help or responses
of them, and in the 22 chap, of Exodus at the 18 verse, "Thou shalt not suffer
a witch to live" threatening and denouncing to the committers of such Devilish
practises the punishment of death........
.......Likeways ye confessed that Sathan desired you to renounce and forsake
your Baptism whilk ye lykways did, and immediately after your renunciation
of your baptism he gave you a new name.....
.......Lykeways ye confessed that Sathan had copulation with you, and that his
body was cold and his seed also, and said he was an uncouth man with black
cloathes and ane hood on his head........
.......Ye confessed lykways that ye was at another meeting with Sathan at the
Stanriegait bewest the Cruik of Devon with the foresaid six deceased women,
and Elspet Dempster spouse to James Beverage, Agnes Drysdale,
spouse to John Blackwood of Coldrain...........
One of the reasons for concluding that Agnes Drysdell managed to escape being punished for witchcraft is that she appears to be an executor for her husband John Blackwood's estate after his death in 1668.
The final paragraph of his testament is copied below (see third inage):
Again, any help with the text here would be much appreciated
Many thanks & best regards
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An attempt at the final paragraph.
Confirmationn
I Robert Bruce of Bordie Commissar of dunblain, Ratifie
& approves this p(re)s(en)t testam(en)t [ ] Provyding [ ] Lyke as the said Agnes
Drysdail exe(cut)rix foresaid hes sonne John Blackwood mess… in Culros
to.. Confirmed att dunblain [ ] 16 Junij 1668
No doubt a Scottish expert will be along soon to fill in the gaps!
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Hi goldie61
Thank you very much for your help, it is much appreciated!
Best regards
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As nobody else has taken up the baton ---
The long first clip is pretty difficult to read with all the bleed through from the page before, not to mention the spider scrawl!
ffebruarie 24 1622
The first 3 lines apply to John Blackwood and Agnis Drysdale
Proclaimed Jhone Blakwod in …dras and Agnes drysdea-
l of d.lor
The other two lines give the names of various people - I can see James W?sone at the end of the second line, and an Archibale somebody at the start of the third line. Perhaps sponsors/witnesses. None of them seem to have the surname Blackwood or Drysdale.
The fourth line is the start of another entry -
Compeared jhone [ ] of C
'compeared' means 'appeared'.
Then several other entries about other people.
The bit at the bottom where Agnes is again mentioned says:
Just squeezed in above it is -
March 3 1622
Proclaimed (I think) Jhone Blackwod and Agnes drysdale
[ ] No Impediment.
It looks as though this is from the Session minutes?
It sounds like 2 of the 3 entries for the calling of the Banns.
Perhaps there’s another entry the week before - Feb 17.
I see you written 'John Blackwood of Coldrain', but I can't see those letters in the word giving his place of residence. I can't see an 'l' in there. There's a 'dra' near the end.
Agnes's place could be 'dolor'
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Fantastic - thank you goldie61 for your help on these difficult Scotlandspeople documents.
I now understand why there are two entries on this page (one relates to banns) and also I see that you've identified 'of Dolor' as the place of residence for Agnes.
Her father owned lands in Sheardale, Dollar so that ties up that loose end very nicely.
Your point about Coldrain not being clear on this marriage record is certainly right - I had, sort of, assumed that place name based on the witchcraft article, the marriage being in the Parish of Fossoway and Tullibody and the fact that John Blackwood's will states he is a portioner of Wester Collindren [Coldrain]
Thanks again & best regards
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Just to tidy up this thread, I've attached the complete ScotlandsPeople image of the will of John Blackwood where Wester Collindren [Coldrain] is mentioned as his place of residence.
Coldrain (or another variant thereof) may also be mentioned in the last two lines of the Will but as Goldie61 has pointed out this is not clear at all.
Best regards
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ffebruare 24 1622
Proclaimed Jhone blakwod in [ ] and Agnes drysdell
of dolor p[ro] primo
Can't be sure of where John Blackwood lived. Pro primo [tempore] is Latin for "for the first [time]". What follows immediately after begins with "Ite[m]..." and refers to a different matter.
The bit marked further down the page is from the minutes of the following session meeting.
march 3 1622
Procla[im]ed Jhone blakwod and Agnes drysdall p[ro]
secundo No Imp[e]dime[n]t
Pro secundo [tempore] is Latin for "for the second [time]". No doubt, later in the session records, it will state they were proclaimed pro tertio (= for the third time)
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Confirmationn
I Robert Bruce of Bordie Commissar of dunblain, Ratifie
& approves this p(re)s(en)t testam(en)t [ ] Provyding [ ] Lyke as the said Agnes
Drysdail exe(cut)rix foresaid hes sonne John Blackwood mess… in Culros
to.. Confirmed att dunblain [ ] 16 Junij 1668
line 1 Confirmatioun
line 3 the squiggles at either side of "Provyding" are just meaningless fillers and can be ignored.
lines 4-5 hes (= has) found Jon blackwood mess[enge]r in Culros
Cau[tioner] Confirmed att dunblain the 6 Junij 1668
I think the date is the 6th rather than the 16th. What looks like a 1 is probably part of the J from the line above. Executors had to find a cautioner to act as surety for their carrying out their job properly.
As usual, goldie61 does all the hard work!
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line 3 the squiggles at either side of "Provyding" are just meaningless fillers and can be ignored.
Well no wonder I couldn't fathom out what they meant! ;)
Thanks GR2
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Thank you very much GR2 for clarifying the last line - "John Blackwood messenger in Culross" as cautioner.
So this was a different John Blackwood to the person whose will it was (it's difficult to be a cautioner for your own will if you are dead!)
Also for clarifying that the Banns would probably be read three times.
Some additional tidying up - in one of my previous posts I mentioned the "Parish of Fossoway & Tullibody" this should of course been 'Fossoway & Tullibole'.
Thanks again to goldie61 and best regards
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The testament testamentar (= a testament made by the deceased when alive)
Letterwill (= latter will) and Inventar (= inventory) of the goods &
geir pertaining to umq[uhi]le (= the late/deceased) Jon black
wood po[rtione]r of wester Collindren w(i)t(h)in
the parish of [-left blank-] Comissariot
of dunblain The tyme of his deceas
which was in the moneth (= month) of [-left blanl-] 1668
yeares ffaithfullie maid (= made) & given up
be (= by) himself upon the Twentie sext (= twenty sixth) day
of de[cembe]r 1667 yeares Befoir thir (= these)
witness[es] Duncan martin servitor (= servant) to
thomas blackwood his sonne James
beverage po[rtione]r of tullilochie wester & Jon
Sanders in annacroick
Inventar
Inprimis (= firstly) the s[ai]d Jon blackwood gives up his goods & geir at
the availls (= values) and pryces following viz (= abbreviation of the Latin videlicet = namely) ane
(= an) old mear (= mare) with her
staig (= a colt under 3 years old) pryce therof x li xiij s iiij d (= £10 13/4d) Item tuo (= two)
kye (= cows) with ther stirks (= bullocks or heifers between 1 and 2 years old)
pryce of them in cumulo (Latin for "in total") xxiiij li (= £24) It[em] threttie (= thirty) Lambs pryce
of the peice orehead (= a head/per head) xx s (20/-) Inde (Latin for "hence") xiij li (= £13)* It[em]
eight older sheip pryce
of the peice overhead (= a head/ per head) xxx s Inde xij li (= 30/- hence £12) It[em] standing in
the barne
and barneyard of oatts four bolls pryce of the boll with the
fother (= straw) iiij li Inde xvj li (£4 hence £16) It[em] of bear ane (= one) boll pryce of the boll
5 li (= £5) It[em] standing in the barne of threshin (= threshed) corne sex (= six) firlots
estimat (= estimated) to iiij li (= £4) It[em] the outinsell (= utensils) & domicell (= household
effects) [a meaningless filler] estimat to iiij li (= £4)
Summa Inventarij (Latin for "total of the inventory") - iiijxxiiijli xiij s iiij d (=
£84 13/4d)
(* The arithmetic is wrong here. 30 lambs at 20/- a piece should come to £30.)
Continued in following post..
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Debts awand (= owing) to him
Item be (= by) Edward Malcom xxj li (= £21)
Summa patet (Latin for "the total is clearly")
Inventar therwith j c& vli xiij s iiij d (= £105 13/4d)
Debts awand be (= owed by) him
Item to Robert blackwood his law[fu]ll sone of borrowed mo[ne]y
xxx li (= £30) It[em] to w[illia]m blackwood also his law[fu]ll sone xxiij li iiij s (= £23 4/-) It[em] to
andrew taylyeor (= Taylor) in Cassig[oiore?] vij li (= £7) It[em] to Ro[ber]t Stirk mer[chan]d (=
merchant)
xxx ss (= 30/-) It[em] to w[illia]m Glass xiij s iiij d (= 13/4d) It[em] to Jon Sanders xiij s iiij d (=
13/4d)
Sum[m]a of the s[ai]ds debts Lxiij li viij d (= £63 0/8d)
Summa of frie geir (= free gear) xxij li xiij s (= £22 13/-)
Half Is xj li vj s vj d (= £11 6/6d)
Legacie
The s[ai]d Jon blackwood being sick in body yitt (= yet) of perfyte (= perfect)
memorie recomends his soule to God and Nominats (= nominates) agnes drysdal
his spous his only ex[ecut]rix and intromessatrix (= a woman entitled to deal with the estate of a
deceased person) w(i)th his heall (= whole) goods & geir &
debts secluding (= excluding) all others yrfrae (= therefrom) be (= by) thir (= these) p[rese]nts
with power to her to
exerce (= exercise) the s[ai]d office frielie (= freely) in all respects as effeirs (= is suitable) It[em]
the s[ai]d Jon Leavs (= leaves)
and appoynts the heall (= whole) frie (= free) gear above[wri]tin for the espens[e]s of the
funeralls (= funeral)
funeralls ( repeated from the previous page) In witnes q[uhai]rof (= whereof) ([wri]tin be (= by)
John day notar (= notary) in [ ])
are sub[scribe]d be (= by) the s[ai]d Jon blackwood as follows day year & place
fors[ai]d (= foresaid) Befoir the witnesses above insert John blackwood fors[ai]d
with my hand at the notars (= notary's) pen led at my hand* Ita est Joannes
Day no[ta]rius pub[licu]s in premissis sub[scribe]re requisitus de mandato dicti
Joannis blackwood scribere ut nescie[n]s assueruit teste manu pro-
pria**
Confirmatioun
I Robert Bruce of Bordie Commisser (= commissary) of dunblain Ratifie (= ratify)
& approves this p[rese]nt testa[men]t [meaningless filler] Provyding [meaningless filler] Lykeas (=
furthermore) the s[ai]d Agnes
drysdal exe[cut]rix fors[ai]d hes (= has) found Jon blackwood mess[enge]r in Culros
cau[tione]r Confirmed att dunblain the 6 Junij (Latin for "of June") 1668
* When you see "with my hand at the pen led by the notary", it means the person could not write and touched the pen as the notary signed for them.
** The Latin section means "It is so. John Day, notary public, required to sign by command of the said John Blackwood as he asserted that he does not know how to write, witness my own hand."
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Thank you so much GR2!
When I posted the complete ScotlandsPeople image of the will above, 2 days ago, I was not expecting anybody to tackle this very big job - but of course I was secretly hoping that somebody would take a look at it!
I had suspected there were no children from this marriage, but now find that there were.
Moreover, I have just discovered that in 1802 the Blackwood family was still working the land in Coldrain (William Blackwood - 1802 Land Tax roll for Tullibole - see image below).
Thank you again GR2 for expending your valuable time on this work.
Best regards
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I have now completed the final section of the will in my previous post.
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Hi GR2
Perfect!!
I'll endeavour to write a fair text copy from your transcription and will post this here shortly.
Many thanks & best regards
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Hi again
I've made a fair copy from GR2's transcription ~ text below:
Jon Blackwood, portioner of Wester Coldrain, Testament, Will and Inventory dated 6th June 1668
The Testament Testamentar, latter Will and Inventory of the goods & gear pertaining to the deceased Jon Blackwood, portioner of Wester Collindren within the parish of ………. Comissariot of Dunblain.
The time of his decease, which was in the month of ……… in the year 1668, faithfully made & given up by himself upon the twenty sixth day of December in the year 1667, before these witnesses: Duncan Martin servant to Thomas Blackwood his son, James Beverage portioner of Tullilochie, Wester & Jon Sanders in Annacroich.
Inventory
Firstly, the said Jon Blackwood gives up his goods & gear at the values and prices following viz
One old mare with her colt under 3 years old, price thereof £10 13/4d
Item two cows with their bullocks or heifers (between 1 and 2 years old), price of them in total £24
Item thirty Lambs price per head 20/-, hence £13*
Item eight older sheep, price per head 30/-, hence £12
Item standing in the barn and barnyard of oats - four bolls, price of the boll with the straw £4, hence £16
Item of bear one boll, price of the boll £5
Item standing in the barn of threshed corn, six firlots, estimated £4
Item the utensils & household effects estimated to £4
Total of the inventory - £84 13/4d
* The arithmetic is wrong here. 30 lambs at 20/- a piece should come to £30.
Debts owing to him
Item by Edward Malcom £21
The total is clearly £105 13/4d)
Debts owed by him
Item to Robert Blackwood his lawful son of borrowed money £30
Item to William Blackwood also his lawful son £23 4/-
Item to Andrew Taylor in Cassigoiore? £7
Item to Robert Stirk merchant 30/-
Item to William Glass 13/4d
Item to Jon Sanders 13/4d
Sum of the said debts £63 0/8d
Sum of free gear £22 13/-
Half is £11 6/6d)
Legacy
The said Jon blackwood being sick in body yet of perfect memorie recomends his soul to God and nominates Agnes Drysdal, his spouse, his only executrix and intromessatrix (a woman entitled to deal with the estate of a deceased person) with his whole goods & gear & debts excluding all others therefrom by these presents with power to her to exercise the said office freely in all respects as is suitable.
Item - the said Jon leaves and appoints the whole free gear above written for the expenses of the funeral
In witness whereof written by John Day, Notary in [ ] are subscribed by the said Jon Blackwood as follows, day year & place foresaid. Before the witnesses above insert John Blackwood foresaid with my hand at the notary's pen led at my hand*
Ita est Joannes Day notarius publicus in premissis subscribere requisitus de mandato dicti Joannis Blackwood scribere ut nesciens assueruit teste manu propria**
Confirmation
I, Robert Bruce of Bordie, Commissary of Dunblain ratify & approves this present testament, providing furthermore the said Agnes Drysdal executrix foresaid, has found Jon Blackwood messenger in Culross, cautioner
Confirmed at Dunblain the 6 of June 1668
* When you see "with my hand at the pen led by the notary", it means the person could not write and touched the pen as the notary signed for them.
** The Latin section means "It is so. John Day, notary public, required to sign by command of the said John Blackwood as he asserted that he does not know how to write, witness my own hand."
I've also attached a pdf which includes full transcription, ScotlandsPeople image and faircopy of the text.
Best regards
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As a post script:
Agnes Drysdaill obviously managed to overcome the 'Witchcraft misunderstanding' that she had had with the church in 1662, as she was ultimately allowed to have a christian burial in 1683 - as the Mortcloth records for the Kinross Kirk sessions show:
The accounts show that in 1683, £2 was paid for the rental of a Mortcloth for Agnes Drysdaill in Coldrain
Note Mortcloth records in Scotland, also known as mortcloth accounts, are historical documents that record the rental of a mortcloth, a fabric draped over a coffin or body at a funeral.
Best regards