Status Animarum symbols and handwriting help?

[rowanali]

Hi all,  In a quest to work out the identities of the Elspet and the Betty Stuarts in this entry I wonder if anyone can shed light on the symbols used in the Status Animarum?  I thought at first the Betty was daughter to William, but she maybe daughter to Mary.  Can't find a birth for her at all though.  Hoping symbol deciphering might shed light on age (i.e. confirmed or not?).  Does the 'out' mean away from home/living somewhere else, or not attending mass??

I am attaching all three Status Animarum images (1828, 1824 and 1836).  Any info about the symbols next to names of Elspet and Betty much appreciated!

[Skoosh]

Is this Lagavulin on Islay? My favourite hauf but pricey! 

Status Animarum might indicate a Catholic parish so probably not! Huntly direction mebbes?

Skoosh.

[rowanali]

Sorry Skoosh, it is similarly named Lagganvoulin in Kirkmichael, Banffshire.  Near Tomintoul, which has its own (cheaper) tipple!
ali

[Skoosh]

Thought that by the surnames ali!  Means the Mill hollow I think!

Bests,
Skoosh.

[Maiden Stone]

Elspet Stuart in 1st extract seems to me to have been daughter of Mary (Gordon?) widow.
Is it "Con" for Confirmation or "Com" for communicant?
Was it Catholic? What size of congregation? (These would influence my thought re communicant.)

[rowanali]

Thanks Maiden Stone,  There was a large Catholic population in Tomintoul in the 1800's, with many protestants joining.  The Status Animarum's show a healthy growing population.  They had their own RC church in Tomintoul.  Congregation according to Animarum exceeds 220 (my lot are on the middle page, so there could be in excess of 300 souls).  From the RC births I know that most of the folks listed were indeed RC. A few at least were confirmed.  I could try and tally those that I have confirmation records for to see if that accounts for the C with a dot symbol.  Good idea.
Ali

[Maiden Stone]

If there were over 200 regular worshippers I doubt that priest would have kept a tally of Easter Communicants, too many to count, but I may be wrong. So more likely to have been "Con" for Confirmed.
Any idea how many times a bishop visited for Confirmation during those decades?
I have census of Catholics in Preston, Lancashire 1810 & 1820, compiled by the town's priest. It's organised like a census, by street, then families showing relationships and ages of minors. Also noted was whether husband, wife or parent was Protestant. "Needs visit" was written next to a few names.

Edit. Does it say "Out of Scotland" after 2 names? William Stuart and Betty Stuart in 1st extract.
"at service" possibly,  after Elspet and Margaret in 2nd extract. Working away as servants? Or was it "not at Service" meaning they weren't at mass.

[Maiden Stone]

Was Wm. Grant (2nd extract) the  B. son to Ann Gordon? i.e. Anne Grant's illegitimate son.
What do numbers represent on r.h. side of 1st extract?
Another possible meaning of "Con" would be convert but there's an awful lot of them. 
It looks more like com. I'm going to change my mind again. Easter Communicants. I thought the priest just made a return of numbers, a head-count. (That'll be more recent times when they didn't necessarily know names of everyone at Mass.)  That might explain why he wrote "at service" or "out of Scotland" next to some names (if that's what he wrote). There might be records of totals of communicants in certain years for a parish. 
At this time, I think Catholic Sacrament order was usually Confirmation before First Communion. However it might have changed, depending on availability of a bishop to confer Confirmation.
2nd extract: William Stuart and Anne Gordon have a dash in last column. A nameless Stuart above and below William have neither C nor dash. The second nameless Stuart has something written in column in capitals A D ….? 
These are mere thoughts and opinions. None of it is gospel. 

[rowanali]

Thanks again Maiden Stone.  Your knowledge of catholic terms etc is helpful.  I didn't know you needed a Bishop for confirmation.  Explains why they were done in huge batches.

I agree that it is probably 'out at service' for the two ladies.  I know at least Elspet was of an age to be in service.  Not sure about 'out of Scot' but possible.  Wm Stewart was a travelling merchant of cloth, so feasibly he could have been away. 

Yes Wm Grant was the bastard son to Ann Gordon.  As for the numbers on the right, the twentyish numbers would tie in to their age, but the one by the gap is a 3.  I was thinking this gap was for Betty Stuart, but the later info on her suggests she would be similar age to Elspet. 

Will look into the idea of con for convert, as there were many, but I am pretty sure this family was RC from the previous generation.  It does look more like Com.

The second nameless Stuart (below William) really intrigues me as I cannot hazard even a guess at what that notation could be.   Thanks for all your thinking.... helpful.... and gives me more to chase up.