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Hi. Just wanted to share the demolition of one of my oldest 'brick walls'

My maternal grandfather was William Maxwell, born 1902. His marriage and death certificates list his parents as Jane Ewing and John Maxwell, however his birth certificate was not to be found. I searched everywhere for it, but to no avail and his parents were similarly absent from official records. His sons would not discuss the matter, and his daughters (including my mum) knew nothing.

I eventually discovered that my grandad was in fact christened William Ewen. He was the youngest of four boys, born to Georgina Ewen and David Maxwell. Of the four, three started off with the Ewen surname, while son #3 was a Maxwell. The birth certs of sons 1, 2 and 4 show only the mother's name, that of son#3 shows both, alongside a date and place of marriage (which turned out to be fictitious anyway).

Errant dad David was of Orkney stock from the island of Stronsay, and he returned there permanently around 1903, leaving behind a destitute partner and four illegitimate children, all of whom spent parts of their lives in local poorhouses. David, however, became a tea merchant, and died around 1916, leaving about £7500 to his brother (and nothing to his ex or his offspring).

Totally not what I expected to find, but  I was so happy to finally get to the bottom of this family mystery.

Hi. After a long downtime I have returned to bashing away at the Minute Book of the St. Andrews Hammermen. This time I'm working on a page from the late 1600s (see image).

So far, for this paragraph I have:

xxxxxxx September 1668
The same day Alex(ande)r Pryd xxxx Decan
to this traid for a(ne) yeir to come quha acceptit xxx
and maid faith de fideli administratione

The word at the start of the date is, I suspect, a number in the 'teens'. As for the second gap, context suggests an expression conveying 'was re-elected'. The third gap - the usual format here would be 'who accepted and made faith as use is'. Here, though, there is an extra word after 'accepted' which I can't make out. The final Latin phrase 'de fideli administratione' is one I hadn't encountered previously, but Prof. Google was kind enough to provide a translation and context.

Any help filling in the gaps would, as always, be greatly appreciated.

Hi folks. I'm looking for some help with deciphering a small part of an early 18th century text. The part in question is indicated by the two red marks on the attached pic.

The first word, I'm assuming, is an abbreviation of 'present', but the second word is a bit of a mystery. The first few letters look to be something like 'Theat..' but the word 'theatre' wouldn't make sense. That said, I believe a part of the Bell family had interests in the theatrical life, so there may be a clue there.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you think.

Hi. I recently came across a reference to an individual who "Is bound prentise and servant for the Space of fyve yeares and ane year for meat and fie". There's a faint bell ringing at the back of my mind, but still I can't quite work out what the phrase 'meat and fie' means. I suspect in this context that it might indicate the new 'prentise' has to work a standard period plus an extra year to cover the cost of his food etc. Equally, I could be well wide of the mark.

Does anyone have an idea what is meant here? Dr. Google is remarkably silent on the matter.

Alan S.