Help!!! Testament Dative from 1618 Janet Cuthbert

[Ryohei56]

Hi there. I have obtained a copy of Testament Dative from 1618, which I believe is connected to a distant relation, one Janet Cuthbert. It looks to be written in Secretary Hand (either that or Sanskrit!), and it's giving me a severe case of brainache.

As far as I can work out, the first line or so reads:

"The Inventar and Testament Dative of the guids, geir ...... of umqll Janet Cuthbert.."

However, beyond that I can pick out only the odd word here and there.  I've attached an image of the first sections of the text (about 40% of the whole - I'm not asking for a translation of the lot, as I want to try and get there myself, but some help with at least a few key words and phrases would be greatly appreciated.

My hope is that somewhere in the text there may be some clues as to how (or indeed whether) Janet fits into my family tree. There are a lot of Cuthberts in it, between about 1600 and 1780, almost all connected in some way with the Guild of Hammermen, so I'll be interested to see any names that pop out.

Thanks in advance

Alan Stewart

[horselydown86]

Here's what I can be reasonably sure of in the first section:

1.  ...& dettes
2.  ...with(in) the paroch of
3.  ...The tyme of hir
4.  decesse in the moneth of dec^r 1618 ffaithfullie maid &
5.  ...be Catharin cuthbert onlie law^(fu)ll sist(er) germa(n)
6.  to the defunct and exe^(cutor) dative...to hir be...of
7.  my Lord comiss^(ioner) of.... the xxj day of J(?) 1619

We do have a couple of contributors far more skilled than I in Scottish documents.  With luck they will be along soon.

ADDED:

To line 5:   ...onlie law^(fu)ll sist(er) germa(n)

[Ryohei56]

A brilliant start, with one sibling clearly identified. This will help a lot, thanks.

[GR2]

The inventarie and testame[n]t dative of the gudes geir & detts
of umq[uhi]le Jonet Cuthbert in [              ] with[in] the paroch of
Lewcharis and shreffdome of Fiffe the tyme of her dec[eis] q[uh]a
deceist in the moneth of dec[embe]r 1618 faithfullie maid &
given up be Catharin Cuthbert onlie law[fu]ll sis[ter] germa[n]
to the defunct and exe[cuto]r dative decernit to her be decreit of
my lord comissary of [        ] the xxi day of Ja[nua]r 1619

[Ryohei56]

Thank you for this awesome chunk of transcription. I'm a step or two nearer to claiming Janet as a distant relation, however it's early days yet. At least I know she had a sister called Catharine, and that she most likely lived - as GR2's transcription indicates - in the parish of Leuchars (Lewcharis), at the time of her death. The latter fact fits in well with other Cuthberts in my family tree; though the majority were in St. Andrews & St. Leonards parish, there are some who lived in neighbouring parishes.

My task now turns to the two sections which follows the introductory paragraph. I'm going to attempt this on my own, using the help so far received as a key. I'll keep you posted....

Alan

[goldie61]

This is a really good site for all those particularly Scottish words that you've no idea if they exist or what they mean!
Dictionary of the Scots Language
http://www.dsl.ac.uk/

eg 'umquhile' meaning late, deceased
http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/umquhile

Good luck!