Off with his head

[Ryohei56]

Hi. In the course of my ongoing battle with the Minute Book of the Guild of Hammermen in St. Andrews, I came across something rather unexpected. This was a fairly brief paragraph, dated 1581 - which is odd, as the entries immediately preceding it, and following it, are in chronological order but with dates just over 100 years later!

At present, I have completed around 65% of the entire transcript and I am fairly certain that, in the text I have transcribed so far, this is probably the only part referring specifically to events taking place outwith the city of St. Andrews.

My efforts so far have yielded the following:

memora(n)du(m)
The secund day off June the yeir off our lord 1581 yeir The erill
off mortoun was behedit at edimbirgh & wass **** for ****** off
the ******** off king James the saxt father q(uha)tt wass muderit at
the kirke afild

I would really appreciate any help in filling in the blanks

[goldie61]

Very interesting Ryohei
No doubt you know all this, but for a bit of context, Lord Darnley, King James the sixth father, was murdered in 1567 at Kirkfield House,  and Lord Morton was implicated in the plot. He had been one of the four Regents of the infant James sixth.
He was executed in 1581 for complicity in this plot, (by an early form of Guillotine).

I wonder if this is some other colourful Tudor phrase like Drake’s ‘Singeing the King of Spain’s beard’? It doesn't say that obviously, but another phrase possibly.

Let’s hope a Scottish expert can decipher it!

[Archivos]

I have been looking at this off and on, and haven't got very far! I wondered if the first blank, "and wass [...] for [...]" is maybe a contraction of a longer word? Can't get anything out of the second blank, and the third one looks like something like 'mouthoun'.

[Watson]

As the King of Spain's beard has been mentioned, could it possibly be " ... moustat off King James ..."?

[Watson]

Another thought.  Is it: " ... for tosiling off the moustat off King James ..."?

The word "tonsure" is to do with shaving, so perhaps it is a form of that?

We need some Scottish input!

[Watson]

There is also the verb "tousle", which means make untidy or handle roughly, but that doesn't seem to apply to shaving the moustache, as the word "off" suggests.

[arthurk]

I agree about the need for Scottish input, but in the meantime with a lot of help from the Dictionaries of the Scots Language I suggest the following:

1. co[n]vic (pronounced guilty) would fit - https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/convict_pp

2. possibly co[n]siling, ie concealing - https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/conseling

3. Note that in the top line the letter 'u' is written with a mark like a 'v' above it, no doubt to distinguish it from 'n'. So here, this could be something like mou[r]thuer (for the middle letters compare 'th' in father), which will presumably be either murder or murderer -
https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/murther_n_1 and https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/murther_n_2

Added: 'off' is used here for 'of'

[goldie61]

I agree about the need for Scottish input, but in the meantime with a lot of help from the Dictionaries of the Scots Language I suggest the following:

1. co[n]vic (pronounced guilty) would fit - https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/convict_pp

2. possibly co[n]siling, ie concealing - https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/conseling

3. Note that in the top line the letter 'u' is written with a mark like a 'v' above it, no doubt to distinguish it from 'n'. So here, this could be something like mou[r]thuer (for the middle letters compare 'th' in father), which will presumably be either murder or murderer -
https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/murther_n_1 and https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/murther_n_2

Added: 'off' is used here for 'of'

You have been busy arthurk!
I had wondered what the 'ticks' were above certain words, but didn't get as far as identifying them as being above the letter 'u'. As you say, no doubt to distinguish it from an 'n' or other letter. Well done! That's that puzzle solved.
I see there is a different mark above 'Mortoun' - it's a tilde - a little straight line, which shows there is letter missing.
The last letter of that word is an 'e' - compare it to the end of 'the' at the beginning of the next line and the last line.
I'd suggest the Earl's name is written here as 'Mortonne' not 'Mortoun.

Certainly getting near to a possible meaning that fits the context.

[GR2]

memora[n]du[m]

The second day off June The zeir off our lord 1581 zeir The erill
off mortone was behedit at edimbrch & wass co[n]vic for co[n]siling off
The mou[r]thur off king James The saxt father q[uhi]lk was murderit at
The kirk afild

Memorandum

The second day of June the year of our Lord 1581 years the Earl
of Morton was beheaded at Edinburgh & was convicted for concealment of
the murder of King James the Sixth's father which [= who] was murdered at
the Kirk o' Field.

NB He admitted at the trial that he had been told by Bothwell about the plan to murder Darnley (hence concealment), but he claimed not to have taken part in the deed itself.

If you want to behead anyone, the "maiden" that decapitated Morton is in the National Museum of Scotland, in perfect working order.