Hey, that is not a "silly me". Obviously if I had to resort to a paid researcher to sort out the Margarets, it wasn't something that could be done remotely. I had two days at New Registry House and a 17 BPS pass and I couldn't figure it out.
It just shows that you should be aware that there are more people out there than the records indicate. Here's a forinstance. If a man called James Smith were to have five sons that lived to maturity, the third son would be James (Scottish naming practice = 3rd son after the father). However, the five sons would be obliged to call each of their first born sons James. In one generation, you could have James Sr., James Jr. and five other James Smiths all in the same parish.
I am sure William Penman married to Margaret Welsh is a relative, I just haven't taken the time to figure out how.
So, Dano, don't feel bad just keep plugging along. We're all in the same lifeboat together! We build on each other's research and faulty though it may be, it may lead to another breakthrough.
I am in the midst of dissecting Eric Edward's Penman family tree. Eric did a great job with the tools he had but it didn't include a computer. Nor did he leave references. I have just discovered that the Alexander Penman that was suppose to come from Fife, was actually born around Airth to Duncan Penman and Jean Strang. They did not baptise their children until ten years after they were married. I found both Alexander and John Penman in Airth, baptising their first borns as Duncan. Ergo dad was Duncan.
I am sure that when I am gone, somebody else is going to find out through DNA that we're all completely wrong in our historical paperwork. It's already happened on the Border Reivers DNA. A bunch of people thought they were Elliotts but in fact, their DNA is Irvine. Given my grandmother was an Irvine, I gave a quiet cheer.