"Designed" relict???

[lanarman]

I realize that a relict was a widow but what was a "designed relict"? Term was used in a Glasgow testament for my 5x great grandmother dated 1795.

[Berlin-Bob]

All wild guesses on my part:

could it be "designated relict"
where designated is used in the sense of "officially declared"
i.e. maybe 5x great grandfather had disappeared, and is presumed dead, so for the purposes of the will we will designate the 5X g-grandmother officially as widow ??

had he married more than once, under dubious circumstances, so for legal purposes, one of the women was "designated" officially as the widow ??

Like I say, just guesses, maybe someone with more understanding of scottish legal terms will see this soon ....

Bob

Update:
ps
just found a text which suggests "designed" used to mean something like 'chosen' or 'elected' or 'approved'

[...]the commissioners of the General Assembly, authorised for visiting the University of Glasgow, unanimously designed and called Mr Durham to succeed Mr Dickson as professor there.

http://www.newble.co.uk/hall/durham/biography.html

[RJ_Paton]

Bob's wild guesses are spot on

design is a scots law term meaning to assign or bestow/grant

alternative spellings are desyne, desinge and designe

In this context relict does mean widow but its general definition means "one left behind" or "survivor"

[lanarman]

Thank you, Bob and Falkryn. GGGGG Grandmother Catherine MATHIE was listed as the "designed relict " of David GRAHAME, Maltman in Glasgow, in a copy of a 1795 document I have.  It also refers to Grahame's "other younger children" so I presume that she must have been married 1st to Grahame (and had children with him) and 2nd to my paternal ancestor James UMPHERSTON. Catherine and James had 10 children born to them between 1746 and 1764. I cannot find the Grahame/Mathie marriage or the names of their children listed on the IGI indexes. That is my new search.

On another note- where would I find Sherriff's Court Books for Lanarkshire?  The 1795 testament I refer to above describes another document dated 1752 and registered 1785 in the Sherriff Court Books, Lanarkshire.
 
Thanks again for your help.
Michael     

[RJ_Paton]

On another note- where would I find Sherriff's Court Books for Lanarkshire?  The 1795 testament I refer to above describes another document dated 1752 and registered 1785 in the Sherriff Court Books, Lanarkshire.

The most likely place is the NAS in Edinburgh.