Of thygaris nocht to be thollyt
Alsua it is ordanyt that na thigar be thollyt to thyg nor bege nothir in burghe nor to lande betuix xiiij and iij score [and ten] of yheris of age bot thai be seyne be the consall of the toune or of the cuntre at thai may nocht vyne thar leyffing othir vays. And thai that sa beis fundin sall have a takin to land of the schera and in bwrowis off the aldirmen and baylyheis, and that undir the payn of birnynge on the cheyk and bannyssing of the cuntre.

Translation:
Of beggars not to be suffered
Also it is ordained that no beggar be suffered to thig or beg either in burghs or in the land between fourteen and seventy years of age, unless it is seen by the council of the town that they cannot make their living in other ways. And they that are so found shall have a token from the sheriff in the land, and from the aldermen and bailies in the burghs, and that under pain of burning on the cheek and banishing from the country.
[The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, K.M. Brown et al eds (St Andrews, 2007-2016), 1425/3/22. Date accessed: 17 April 2016.]

Sic as makis thame selffis fuilis and ar bairdis or utheris siclike rynnaris about, being apprehendit, salbe put in the kingis waird and yrnis salang as they have ony guidis of thair awin to leif on
[​RPS, 1579/10/27]

​all personis being abone the aige of xiiij and within the aige of lxx yeiris that heirefter ar declarit and sett furth be this act and ordour to be vagabundis, strang and ydle beggaris, quhilkis salhappyne at ony tyme heirefter, efter the first day of Januar nixtocum, to be takin wandering and misordering thame selffis contrarie to the effect and meaning of thir presentis salbe apprehendit; and upoun thair apprehensioun be brocht befoir the provest and baillies within burgh, and in every parochyne to landwart befoir him that salbe constitutit justice be the kingis commissioun or be the lordis of regalities within the samyne to this effect, and be thame to be committit in waird in the commoun presoun, stokkis or irnis within thair jurisdictioun, thair to be keipit unlettin to libertie or upoun band or souirtie quhill thai be put to the knawlege of ane assyse, quhilk salbe done within sex dayis thairefter. And gif they happyne to be convict, to be adjuget to be scurget and brunt throw the ear with ane hett yrne
[​RPS, 1579/10/27]

exceptit sum honest and responsall man will, of his charitie, be contentit then presentlie to act him self befoir the juge to tak and keip the offendour in his service for ane haill yeir nixt following, undir the pane of xx libris to the use of the puyr of the toun or parochyne, and to bring the offendour to the heid court of the jurisdictioun at the yeiris end, or then gude pruif of his death, the clerk taking for the said act xij d. onlie. And gif the offendour depart and leif the service within the yeir aganis his will that ressavis him in service, then being apprehendit, he salbe of new presentit to the juge and be him commandit to be scurgit and brunt throw the ear as is befoirsaid; quhilk punishment, being anys ressavit, he sall not suffer the lyk agane for the space of lx dayis thairefter, bot gif at the end of the saidis lx dayis he be found to be fallin agane in his ydill and vagabund trade of lyf, then, being apprehendit of new, he salbe adjuget and suffer the panes of deid as a theif.
​[​RPS, 1579/10/27]

all ydle personis ganging about in ony cuntrie of this realme using subtill, crafty and unlauchfull playis, as juglarie fast and lowis, and sic utheris, the idle people calling thame selffis Egyptianis, or ony utheris that fenyeis thame selffis to have knawlege of prophecie, charmeing or utheris abusit sciences, quhairby they persuaid the people that they can tell thair weardis deathis and fortunes and sic uther fantasticall imaginationes
​​[​RPS, 1579/10/27]

​utheris nouthir having land nor maister, nor useing ony lauchfull merchandice, craft or occupatioun quhairby they may wyn thair leavingis, and can gif na rekning how they lauchfullie get thair leving, and all menstrallis, sangstaris and tailtellaris not avowit in speciall service be sum of the lordis of parliament or greit barronis or be the heid burrowis and cieties for thair commoun menstralis, all commoun lauboraris, being personis able in body, leving ydillie and fleing laubour, all counterfaittaris of licences to beg, or useing the same knawing thame to be counterfaittit, all vagabund scolaris of the universities of Sanctandrois, Glasgw and Abirdene not licencit be the rectour and deane of facultie of the universitie to ask almous, all schipmene and marinaris allegeing thame selffis to be schipbrokin, without they have sufficient testimoniallis
​​[​RPS, 1579/10/27]

correction-houses for receaving and intertaining of the beggars, vagabonds and idle persones within their burghs, and such as shall be sent to them out of the shires and bounds aftir specified

​in every such Parish as aforesaid in which the Funds requisite for the Relief of the Poor shall be provided without Assessment the Parochial Board shall consist of the Persons who, if this Act had not been passed, would have been entitled to administer the Laws for the Relief of the Poor in such Parish; and in every such Parish as aforesaid in which it shall have been resolved, as herein-after provided, to raise the Funds requisite for the Relief of the Poor by Assessment, the Parochial Board shall consist of the Owners of Lands and Heritages of the yearly Value of Twenty Pounds and upwards, and of the Provost and Bailies of any Royal Burgh, if any, in such Parish, and of the Kirk Session of such Parish, and of such Number of elected Members, to be elected in manner after mentioned, as shall be fixed by the Board of Supervision

Died in Old Assembly Close on 23d ult, Mrs Isobel Taylor, aged 105. She was born in the parish of Crieff, county of Perth, on the 4th of March 1713, in the reign of Queen Anne. Her memory remained nearly unimpaired, and she would converse on the events of 100 years since, with surprising correctness. Her hearing and sight were good to the last day of her life, and her recollection continued till within an hour of her death.

​Aberdeen Journal, 6 May 1818 p. 4

Old Widow Ellis
This print was taken from a painting by Mr William Donaldson of this city, by whom it was exhibited and sold to the late Earl of Buchan. From a card, in the hand-writing of his lordship, we observe in addition to the information conveyed by the inscription on the Engraving, that Widow Ellis was married in 1745 to Francis Ellis, shoemaker in Keltie, Kinross-shire, who died next year of an iliac passion.

At the time the portrait was executed (December 1816), Widow Ellis lived in Rose Street, where she had resided for many years. The particulars of her life are few and uninteresting. She was a sensible, shrewd person; had been active in her youth, and retained even in old age an unusual degree of freshness and vigour.

​Kay, John. A Series of Original Portraits and Caricature Etchings. Edinburgh, 1877. New Edition. p. 154

​Pittenweem. Longevity. Thomas Adamson, weaver in Pittenweem, died on Saturday week at the advanced age of one hundred years, five months, and two days; having been born on the 1st of May 1746. Throughout the whole course of his lengthened pilgrimage, Thomas was never peculiarly distinguished as an instrument by whom the simple denizens of earth were excited to wonder or admiration. In the literary world, he was only characterised by the “noiseless tenor of his way”. In the commercial world, by means of his industrial apparatus, he made as much noise as any other wabster of the last century. In the political world, he was merely a silent observer of the election hubbubs, for which his burgh was so eminently distinguished in days of yore, having never been invested with the franchise, either under the old or new system. In the religious department of society, he created considerable stir and noise, having for many long years occupied the precentor’s desk in the Old Kirk, where he conducted the sacred music, and gave the people line upon line according to the fashion of the good old time. In this he always aided the devotion of the sincere, and sometimes supplied fuel to the fire of waggery that through all ages has been found smouldering even in the kirk itself. Through all the vissicitudes [sic] of the commercial horizon to which this nation has been subjected, Thomas managed to rear a numerous family, and keep himself beyond the pale of starvation by tossing the shuttle, harmonising the kirk, and polishing the cheeks and chins of his fellow mortals who could not perform that duty for themselves. Being a member of a respectable society in Pittenweem, called the Trades’ Box, he in his latter years derived much benefit from the funds thereof, when the infirmities of age began to cramp his energies. We are not aware, now that Thomas has departed from the stage of time, that he has left his equal in age on this coast.
Fife Herald 15 October 1846 p. 3

​Death of Thomas Adamson, the patriarch of Pittenweem - This event took place on Saturday morning last, October 3, at ten o'clock. He was born on the 1st of May, 1746, and on the 1st of May last, had completed the extraordinary long life of one hundred years. Mr Adamson was a weaver, and continued to ply the shuttle until within a very few years back. He was what most long livers are, an early riser; six o'clock scarcely ever found him in bed; he was generally up and at work by five. He had a strong clear voice, and was for many years precentor in the parish church. He had a perfect recollection of seeing Paul Jones sail past Pittenweem, on his way to Leith, about 70 years ago, and of the tempest which providentially arose and drove the pirate out of the Firth. He never was what may be called really sick, and never complained of a head-ache. For the last six months he was confined to bed, but felt no pain or sickness. He retained his senses to nearly the last day of his life, and during harvest he was every day inquiring about how far the different farmers had got in their crops. The failure in the potato crop gave him much uneasiness. During the whole of his long life, he was only three weeks absent from Pittenweem. His fortune was not chequered with ups and downs; he always continued to plod away at work. Perhaps the most remarkable event in his whole life was the meeting which was held in the Town Hall on the 1st of May last, in commemoration of his having on that day completed his hundredth year. His body was laid in Pittenweem Church-yard on Wednesday last, and the attendance at his funeral was numerous and respectable.
Dundee Courier 20 October 1846

At Maxwelltown, on the night of Sabbath last, Catherine M’Donald or Hutchison, at the extraordinary age of one hundred and four years. She was born in the castle of Edinburgh early in the ’45, a year memorable for the last attempt of the Stuart family to regain the throne which they had so long tilled. Her father, a private soldier, was stationed in the garrison at the time, and being ordered to repair to Dumfries, brought his daughter along with him. Soon after her father obtained his discharge, and with his wife and child settled in the Brig-end, and thus became one of the early colonists of the now thriving burgh of Maxwelltown. Here Catherine, best known as Mattie Hutchison, resided as girl, wife, and widow, for a hundred and three years, during which she lived under seven British Sovereigns. Through her long life she conducted herself with propriety, and showed great respect for the ordinances of religion. She was somewhat eccentric in her manners, and her dress to the last was of the primitive cut, fashionable eighty or ninety years ago. She was a little deaf, but with this exception, retained the full use of her faculties up till the day of her death. She was a widow for thirty years, and had one son, who died a few years before her. Latterly she was partly dependent for her support upon parish aid, but the path of life’s decline was smoothed by the benevolence of several charitable ladies, who were very attentive to the grateful centenarian.

​Dumfries and Galloway Standard 24 May 1848 p. 4

Death of a centenarian - On Sunday night last, Catherine M'Donald or Hutchison, residing in Corbelly Hill, Maxwelltown, departed this life, in the one hundred and fourth year of her age. She was born in Edinburgh Castle in the early part of 1745, when her father, a private soldier, was stationed with his regiment. Part of the force was ordered to Dumfries at the time of its occupation by Prince Charles Stuart in the ill-fated rebellion of the '45. Catherine, then a child at the breast, was brought by her parents to this town, and her father, having obtained his discharge, settled at the Brig-end, in which, now become the burgh of Maxwelltown, she has resided, girl and woman, for fully one hundred and three years. She wore her dress in the same fashion which prevailed when she was a young woman, and indeed, in all things was a thorough Conservative. With the exception of a slight deafness she preserved her faculties unclouded to the very last. Dumfries Herald.
Reprinted in the Dundee Courier 14 Jun 1848

On the 16th current, in the Old Fleshmarket Close, Canongate, William Wilson, commonly called Mortar Willie, at the advanced age of 106 years. He was taken from the plough in the rebellion of 1745, to serve in the Royal army, where he remained for several years. After being on the Continent he came home to this country, where he has since been employed in the capacity of druggist-man, 40 years of that time in this town. He has left an infirm old widow, aged 73, to whom he has been married 50 years, in very poor circumstances.

​Caledonian Mercury, 31 July 1815 p. 3

William Wilson, or Mortar Willie
This venerable personage was a native of Perthshire, and born in 1709, to use his own words, “within a bow shot of Castle Huntly”, parish of Longforgan. The first thirty years of his life were devoted to agricultural employment. He then enlisted, fought against the Pretender, and afterwards served for nineteen years in the army – the greater portion of which was spent in the German and American wars. (1) After obtaining his discharge, he wrought for nearly twenty years in a bark mill in the neighbourhood of London.

About 1778 he returned to his native country, and settling in Edinburgh, found employment in the capacity described in the Print. He was a long time in the establishment of Dr Burt of this city, who generously continued to pay him his usual allowance of two shillings daily for his labour, after he had attained the long age of a hundred years, and although unable to work more than a small portion of the day. Willie was gratefully sensible of the Doctor’s kindness in this respect – “Eh, man,” he would remark, on occasions when he had done little, “ye’ve got a bad bargain the day.” He was remarkably honest and attentive. He occasionally nursed the children; and as he sat by the fire, used to tell them amusing stories. He always rose about four in the morning; and, at this early hour, seldom failed to rouse the domestics of his employer, in order to gain admission to the laboratory. He lived in the Old Hard-Well Close, Canongate, where he died on the 16th July 1815, in the hundred and sixth year of his age. It is supposed that, but for a hurt he received by a fall, he might have lived several years longer. He left an infirm old widow, aged seventy-three, in very poor circumstances, to whom he had been married fifty years.

(1) He was for many years servant to Lord John Murray, eldest son of the Duke of Atholl, who in 1745 was appointed Colonel of the 42d Highlanders, and fought at the battle of Fontenoy.
(2) He had previously been in the employ of Mrs Macdonald, who kept a laboratory shop in the Lawnmarket, with whom Dr Burt served his apprenticeship, and to whose business he afterwards succeeded. Indeed the labours of Mortar Willie were not confined to one or two employers, his important services having been rendered, at various periods, to almost every drug establishment of any extent in town.

​​Kay, John. A Series of Original Portraits and Caricature Etchings. Edinburgh, 1877. New Edition. p. 101

​We hear from Buchan, that on Sunday the 29th ult. Margaret Keith, in Auchtydonald, was barbarously murdered. She was seen that morning with a man to whom she was supposed with child, who decoyed her to the river Ugie, and threw her in. she was scrambling to the other side, when the villain went across by a small bridge a little higher up, and ere she could reach the brink, he knocked her on the head by repeated blows of a bludgeon, when she sunk and perished. The murderer immediately absconded.
[Aberdeen Journal 21 July 1800, p. 4]

​O’er scenes of woe, where common griefs prevail
Where pity melts at sorrow’s mournful tale
Death’s solemn call in peaceful hope obey’d
No law transfress’d, no innocence betray’d
Oft has the muse pour’d forth her doleful lay
And wept the just effects of Heaven’s dread sway.
And shall no muse be found to wield the rod
And vindicate the injured laws of God?
No friend of truth to scan the murd’rous mind
And rouse the virtuous feelings of manking?
O say, thou impious wretch! What fiend posses’d?
What dire delusion steel’d thy hard’n’d breast?
Hadst thou no fear of God, no fell remorse
No dread of angry Heaven’s avenging curse?
No thought of that blest day – the first of seven
Ordain’d to life the souls of men to heaven?
Could nought awake thee, nought make thee relent
Or lay aside thy murderous intent?
No – nought avail’d, thy hardy soul enchain’d
Fix’d in its purpose to the last remain’d.
That sacred day, when mortals find release
And leave their toils to seek th’ Almighty’s peace
On that blest day the impious deed was done;
No covert sought, but brav’d the mid-day sun;
When all the neighbours to God’s house repair
And pour out all their souls in fervent prayer;
In pious adoration bend the knee
And leave the world to Satan and to thee.
Methinks I see thee bold, yet still afraid
Through all thy mien, thy purposes betray’d:
Now hurrying rapid on, now moving slow
As thy just fears impel thy feet to go;
On ev’ry hand thy guilt creates a spy
And dread detection trembles in each eye;
Till all the threat’ning ddangers having pass’d
And all thy guilty fears dismiss’d at last
Th’ infernal worker gives the needful aid
And crowns th’ intent his own devices laid.
But see the guileless object of thy hate
The hapless victim of a dreadful fate!
See her advance in homely, trustie guise
Thoughtless of aught thy malice might devise;
Perhaps deluded by some tale of love
Perhaps some proffer’d marriage vow to prove;
Mean was the conquest o’er such poor defence;
Unguarded, easy, heedless, see her come
With careless step, to meet her certain doom.
Perhaps no time allow’d, no respite given
No power to use the trembling lungs beneath
See her resisting, struggling hard for breath
And striving oft to shun the double death;
Till faint and languid in th’ unequal strife
She courts thy strangling grasp, scarce feeling life
And from that fatal brink where late she stood
Is thrown resistless sinking in the flood.
Yet she revives, and panting seeks the shore
And rears her head, thy mercy to implore;
Mercy, a boon thy ruthless soul deny’d.
Again, she plunges in th’ o’erwhelming tide.
Thy ready bludgeon ply’d with brutal force
In deepest gulph to sink the hated corse.
But say, what first impell’d thee? What the train
That brough thee under this relentless chain?
Where was thy manhood, where thy better sense
What the temptation to this foul offence?
Thy feelings though couldst not at once forego
And be the thoughtless worker of such woe.
No – thou hadst motives, motives worth such fruit
Motives, of all our ills the baneful root;
False pride, false shame, a sordid love of self
Fear of abridging thy well hoarded self
These were thy guides, these urg’d thee to conceal
By this black deed, what time would soon reveal;
These steel’d thy breast, and in the fatal hour
Mark’d thee a proper tool for hell’s dark power;
Crush’d all thy tender feelings, left thee blind
To every nobler impulse of the mind;
To all th’ inhuman guilt, the monstrous shame
The horrid action would in end proclaim;
A woman murder’d in deliberate mood
Thy savage hands imbru’d in human blood!
No provocation given, no passion try’d
But ineffective, merk, the victim died!
A mother too! A widow! Once the ward
Of manly feeling, virtuous regard;
A widow, reft of her protector’s arm
To shield her breast from ev’ry dire alarm;
A mother torn from all her wedded joy
Two little daughters and a smiling boy;
Torn from her house, her home by guileful art
Of unprepared for death to feel the smart;
Sent to her last account in trembling dread
With all her imperfections on her head.
Here, let us pause, and drop a silent tear
O’er this poor widow’s sad untimely bier
And hope, that mercy she from God will gain
Which, from relentless man, she fought in vain.
Her infants, may th’ Almighty shield from ill
And bend their tender hearts to do his will;
Preserve them in his ways till life be o’er
Then take them to himself to die no more.
And thou, ill-fated man! Whose impious deed
Has made each heart on Ugie’s banks to bleed;
If doom’d a wanderer o’er the world to roam
And ne’er in peace to hail thy native home
Thy greatest, only curse, O! May it be
In blackest dye thy heinous guilt to see;
The pangs of deep remorse still mayst thou know
And let thy conscience be thy greatest foe;
That, if no earthly doom thy crimes await
Thou may’st in wringing sorrow expiate;
With contrite heart thy Savior’s wrath remove
And flee the vengeful judgment from above.
And let the tale to youth this rule convey
To shun th’ approach of sin’s imperious sway.
From flight beginnings, mighty crimes arise
And little faults indulg’d, inure to vice;
The lesser sins, the greater always claim
To ease the anguish, and to hide the shame.
This awful truth the horrid tale declares
And youthful minds for wisdom’s paths prepares
Shewing in sin the progress of disgrace
And of forbidden roads the rapid downward pace.
[Aberdeen Journal 28 July 1800 p. 2]

​A Reward Offered
Whereas, upon Sunday the 29th day of June last, Margaret Keith, in Auchtydonald, was barbarously assaulted and drowned in the Water of Ugie, where her body was afterwards found – and whereas, there is the strongest reason to suspect, from some investigation already made, that this most atrocious deed was committed by JAMES CARLE, in Auchtydonald, who has absconded and fled from justice; these are offering a REWARD of TEN GUINEAS, to be paid by Chares Keith, in Pitcow of Kininmonth, to any person who will give such information to William Burnett, advocate in Aberdeen, procurator fiscal for the county, as may enable him to cause apprehend and incarcerate the said James Carle in the tolbooth of Aberdeen – or to any person whatever, who will procure the said James Carle to be confined within any jail in Scotland, upon intimation thereof being given to the said William Burnett.

​The said JAMES CARLE is by trade a weaver, aged 30 years or thereby, about 5 feet 8 inches high, stout made, has duskish hair, grey eyes, a sour look, and a swelling on one side of his neck. He left the part of the country where he resided, upon the 3d day of July last, and is said to have passed through the town of Aberdeen. He usually wore, when dressed, a dark green coat and a hat.
August 2, 1800.
[Aberdeen Journal 4 August 1800 p. 1]

Aberdeen
On Wednesday last, James Carle, who was lately advertised on suspicion of the murder of Margaret Keith, Auchtydonald, was brought into prison here.
[Aberdeen Journal 1 September 1800 p. 4]

​Aberdeen
On Saturday morning, the Circuit Court of Justiciary was opened here by Lords Craig and Armadale, with the trial of James Carle, accused of the murder of Margaret Keith in Achtydonald. The trial lasted till near 7 in the evening, when the jury inclosed, and are to return their verdict this morning at ten o’clock.
[Aberdeen Journal 22 September 1800 p. 4]

Aberdeen
On Monday Morning, the Circuit Court received the verdict of the jury, on James Carl, unanimously finding the libel not proven, on which he was dismissed from the bar.
[Aberdeen Journal 29 September 1800 p. 4]

​It having been suggested, that a small fund should be established for the future support of the THREE ORPHAN CHILDREN of the late Margaret Keith, in Auchtydonald, who was recently found murdered in the Water of Ugie – the smallest sum, for this purpose, will be thankfully received at Mr Ewen’s, Castlestreet.
[Aberdeen Journal 29 September 1800 p. 4]

​James Carle
On a Sunday morning, towards the end of June, another barbarous murder, equalling in atrocity that of Elspet Imlach, was committed at Auchtydonald, in Banffshire. Margaret Keith, a widow, living there with her children, had been courted by a man called James Carle, a weaver, to whom, at the time, she was supposed to be with child. Her body was found in the river Ugie. She had been decoyed out of her house on that Sunday morning, and had walked with Carle to the banks of the river, when he seized her, and threw her into the water. The poor creature contrived to scramble to the other bank, when her inhuman murderer seeing her likely to escape, ran up the side of the water, and having crossed it by a bridge, came again on his victim, and, as she was struggling in the water, gave her several blows on the head till she sunk and perished. Carle absconded, but in July following, he was committed to jail in Aberdeen on suspicion of the murder, and was tried at the September Circuit. Mr Gordon of Craig was counsel for the prisoner. We understand that Carle was not identified completely to the satisfaction of the Jury, who brought in a verdict of Not Proven. The evidence was in substance, that, on the Sunday morning, the woman was enticed out of her house by Carle; this fact was proved by the evidence of her children. Her body was afterwards found in the Ugie. A lad, who was keeping sheep on a hill, saw a man, whom he could not identify at the distance, struggling to keep something down in the water, but he did not pay much attention to this, as he thought that it was a person drowning a dog. The verdict of the Jury was unanimous, but, we believe, that it did not give satisfaction to the public at the time.
[Black Kalendar of Aberdeen, [by James Bruce]. Aberdeen, 1845. p. 182-183]

Marriage – At Fintray the 21st cur. Ann Ferguson, after a courtship of ten days, presented herself before the Altar of Hymen, and gave her hand to Robert Porter. The age of this venerable and happy pair amounts to about 150 years. So large was the company who honoured them with their presence, that it was judged expedient for the clergyman to perform the ceremony in the Grand Temple of Nature. That the scene of festivity might not be too soon interrupted by Sunday, the marriage was solemnized on Monday afternoon. In the evening there was an elegant ball, attended by many Ladies of the first rank in that corner of the country. From one family were present no fewer than 30 persons. An assembly so numerous, so chearful, and so elegant, has not been remembered at Fintray for 50 years past.
[Aberdeen Journal, 28 July 1800 p. 4]

[Blind-stamped address]
Vogrie
Gorebridge, N[orth] B[ritain]
Aug 27th 1902

Dear Sir

I understand that a register of the Kirk discipline of Carrington is in existence dating from 1653 also Minutes of the Kirk Session of Carrington from 1695 to 1698,

I do not know whether they will be in your possession or not but if they are I should be greatly obliged if you would be so kind as to examine them & let me whether they contain any references to Dewar. My G. G. G. G. grandfather resided in the parish & his 2nd marriage is duly noted in the Register of Baptisms & Marriages under date 1658.

He died in 1699 & is buried at Carrington. The period I should like the two registers examined is from 1653 to 1699.

Very truly yours

J Cumming Dewar

1695 Febry 10 Received from James Dewar in Capilaw & his wife being th[ei]r collection for the building of Kinkell harbour 7 shillings by reason they were not here the day if was gathered.
​
1696 April 26 This day given in by Wm Cunningham as he & Robt Tait had received it from Sir John Ramsay of Whitehill & James Dewar in Capilaw £2-10 as their collection for the harbour of Queensferrie.

​List of the Poor of the Parish of Deskford nominated by the Revd Walter Chalmers Minister of Deskford & George Duffes in Knappycawset in terms of the will to receive the Legacy bequeathed by the late Mr William Duffes of Jamaica 17th November 1826

​In the Case of an illegitimate Child it shall not be lawful for the Registrar to enter the Name of any Person as the Father of such Child, unless at the joint Request of the Mother and of the Person acknowledging himself to be the Father of such Child, and who shall in such Case sign the Register as Informant along with the Mother

​Provided always, that when the Paternity of any illegitimate Child has been found by Decree of any competent Court, the Clerk of Court shall, within Ten Days after the Date of such Decree, send by Post to the Registrar of the Parish in which the Father is or was last domiciled, or in which the Birth shall have been registered, Notice of the Import of such Decree in the Form of the Schedule (F.) to this Act annexed, or to the like Effect, under a Penalty not exceeding Forty Shillings in case of Failure; and on Receipt of such Notice the Registrar shall add to the Entry of the Birth of such Child in the Register the Name of the Father and the Word "Illegitimate," and shall make upon the Margin of the Register opposite to such Entry a Note of such Decree and of the Import thereof

​In the event of any Child, registered as illegitimate, being legitimated per subsequens matrimonium, the Registrar of the Parish in which the Birth of such illegitimate Child was registered shall, upon Production of an Extract of the Entry of such Marriage in the Register of Marriages, note on the Margin of the Register opposite to the Entry of the Birth the Legitimation of such Child per subsequens matrimonium, and the Date of the Registration of such Marriage

At Dunnichen the 18th day of October 1863 years
[…]
Compeared Elizabeth Waterstone Letham and pled guilty of fornication, accusing John Kerr, Junior, Blackhillock as the father of the child to which she had given birth on the 9th day of October last. The said Elizabeth Waterstone being admonished by the Moderator, the Clerk was instructed to cite the said John Kerr and the said Elizabeth Waterstone to compear before this Session on Sabbath the 22nd day of November next immediately after divine service.
[NRS Reference CH2/108/2 p. 35-36]
 
At Dunnichen the 22nd day of November 1863 years
[…]
Compeared also Elizabeth Waterstone but no compearance being made on the part of John Kerr, the Clerk was requested to cite him to compear before the Session next Lord’s day.
[NRS Reference CH2/108/2 p. 36-37]
 
At Dunnichen the 6th day of December 1863 years
[…]
Compeared Elizabeth Waterstone, and the Moderator having produced the following letter from John Kerr Greenhillock
Greenhillock 23 [November?] 1863
Sir,
I have not come as you hopped but I hope you will Baptise the child.
(signed) John Kerr
Your Servant
The Session hold that it was a sufficient acknowledgement by the said John Kerr.
The said Elizabeth Waterstone being suitably admonished by the Moderator was restored to the privileges of the Church.
[NRS Reference CH2/108/2 p. 37-38]

Kerr, George Kerr Waterston (illegitimate), S[on]. [Father] John Kerr Junior, Greenhillock Tulloes; [Mother] Elspeth Waterston, Letham. Birth 9th October 1863, Baptism 9th December 1863
[NRS Reference ​CH2/108/3 p. 32]