Author Topic: 18th century writing puzzle  (Read 1772 times)

Offline Jonosue

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Re: 18th century writing puzzle
« Reply #9 on: Saturday 20 January 18 15:32 GMT (UK) »
 ;) Even with your help, that took a bit of solving! I now am faced with another problem: I cannot decipher the place name in this marriage entry for 1712. McGill of ?ummgay phisitian, it looks like, but I have gone through entire lists of Scottish place names and can find nothing that resembles it. This marriage took place in Edinburgh, but the couple's children were born in Fife (Abbotshall).
Any suggestions gratefully received!
Hicks, Thorburn, Bennett, Millar, Parsons

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Re: 18th century writing puzzle
« Reply #10 on: Saturday 20 January 18 17:04 GMT (UK) »
It looks like Rummgay and I think the next word is his occupation, i.e. physician i.e. doctor.

Can you post the full extract please, rather than just the middle portion of it?

G F Black's The Surnames of Scotland says that the surname Rumgay is from Rumgay or Rumgally in Fife.

Scotland's Places has a record, in the Land Tax Rolls 1645-1831, Fife, Vol 5, of Rumgay in the parish of Kemback. I think this is the place named as Rumgally on modern maps.
See http://www.geograph.org.uk/browse.php?p=642954

It's shown as Ramgally on the first edition of the six-inch Ordnance Survey map. See
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=56.3289&lon=-2.9554&layers=5&b=1 - it's just above the gap between the E and M of Kemback.
Never trust anything you find online (especially submitted trees and transcriptions on Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and other commercial web sites) unless it's an image of an original document - and even then be wary because errors can and do occur.

Offline GR2

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Re: 18th century writing puzzle
« Reply #11 on: Saturday 20 January 18 17:18 GMT (UK) »
Rummgay = Rumgay is correct.

Note that he is described as "of Rummgay". That means he owned the property and you might find out more genealogical information in the Register of Sasines. There are references to this person in the online index to the National Records of Scotland.

Many people on Rootschat mention that a person is "of" such and such a place, when they just mean they lived there. In Scottish documents "of" means ownership, "in" usually means tenancy, and "at" means a more temporary arrangement.

Offline Jonosue

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Re: 18th century writing puzzle
« Reply #12 on: Sunday 21 January 18 15:16 GMT (UK) »
Here is the full entry as requested. I have found your replies really interesting; i didn't know about the distinction between 'of,' 'in' and 'at.' in this case, it really does say 'of.' The map website is fascinating, and I shall enjoy looking at that in greater detail. I had decided  myself that John was a physician. My tutorials in reading old writing are obviously beginning to pay off.
This site is amazing; I never fail to learn something new about how and where to research when I post a query. Thank you.
Sue
Hicks, Thorburn, Bennett, Millar, Parsons


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Re: 18th century writing puzzle
« Reply #13 on: Sunday 21 January 18 16:16 GMT (UK) »
i didn't know about the distinction between 'of,' 'in' and 'at.' in this case, it really does say 'of.'
Just a wee word of caution: it is only significant if it is in an original document.

FamilySearch has in its assorted online indexes a lot of people which it describes as 'Of xxxx'. In most cases their indexer, presumably unaware of the distinction in Scotland, has assumed that because someone lived in a particular place at a particular time, they were 'Of' that place.
Never trust anything you find online (especially submitted trees and transcriptions on Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and other commercial web sites) unless it's an image of an original document - and even then be wary because errors can and do occur.