Need help with birth certificate description

[masmarn]

Hi folks,

I have a birth certifcate from 1779 in Cumbernauld which says that Mr and Mrs 'had a Child Begotten in Uncleaness, Bapt. called David'.

A search shows it's a description found in the Bible - relating to when a child was conceived following the birth of another child, as far as I can understand - and I was wondering if anyone could clue me in on what 'Begotten in Uncleaness' would have meant on a certificate at that particular place and time.

Maybe the parents were unmarried at the time of conception or birth, or maybe it had to do with how soon it was born after another child. Unfortunately, I don't have marriage details for the parents or birth dates for other children, so my information is limited.

Another unusual thing is that out of a dozen entries on the page, this is the only one that mentions a sponsor for the child, so maybe that was required for it to be recognised.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Neale1961]

For a date in 1779 you will have a baptism record, not a birth certificate.
My guess is that it refers to an illegitimate child, or that they were irregularly married parents, but without knowing the full detail of what is written, it is difficult to say. I would look at the Kirk sessions to see if anything is mentioned there.

[sparrett]

Several “translations “ of the Biblical reference.

Zechariah 13:2–3

https://biblia.com/bible/nkjv/zechariah/13/2-3

Not sure it's helpful really

Sue

[masmarn]

Sorry, I should have said baptism record instead of birth. Apart from the name of the parents and the sponsor, what I included above is all that written on it, so I can't add any more details. Thanks anyway.

As for the unclean thing, I read that if the previous child was a male, then the parents couldn't have relations for three months after the birth, and if it was a female, then it would be six months. It would seem that there was an irregularity that they weren't happy about.

[Forfarian]

"Begotten in uncleanness" in the C of S registers just means illegitimate.

To get an illegitimate child baptised you usually needed a sponsor, though I'm not absolutely certain exactly what the sponsor was letting her/himself in for. Often the sponsor was a grandparent.

[Neale1961]

I have a birth certifcate from 1779 in Cumbernauld which says that Mr and Mrs 'had a Child Begotten in Uncleaness, Bapt. called David'.

I find it difficult to believe that a baptism record for that time would use the words Mr. and Mrs.

[masmarn]

"Begotten in uncleanness" in the C of S registers just means illegitimate.

To get an illegitimate child baptised you usually needed a sponsor, though I'm not absolutely certain exactly what the sponsor was letting her/himself in for. Often the sponsor was a grandparent.

Illegitimate sounds more like it. And the sponsor I mentioned does indeed appear to be the grandparent, so I guess it's best to look for the simplest explanation first. Mr and Mrs was just me leaving out the names.

Thanks all.

[hanes teulu]

Search for page 102
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/An_Essay_on_the_Possibility_and_Probabil.html?id=UqtkAAAAcAAJ&redir_esc=y

[masmarn]

Search for page 102
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/An_Essay_on_the_Possibility_and_Probabil.html?id=UqtkAAAAcAAJ&redir_esc=y

Well, that clears that up, although in a rather long-winded way. The top of p115 caused a brief moment of confusion, but I got there in the end. Very interesting. Thankfully, the baptism record for a later child is all clear.