what does this say?

[jillruss]

if I can successfully upload this, I'm hoping someone might be able to confirm that it says 'uncleanness'. Its an excerpt from a baptism entry in Old Meldrum, Aberdeen in 1803.

I have discovered it via a DNA match search - amazing where they take you, as this one started with very sketchy info in London and lead all the way back to my 3x gt grandfather Alexander Shepherd in Aberdeen. He was 70 in the 1841 census and his wife was 45 so I'd often tried to find out if he'd been married before. However, this baptism entry is for his son John by Martha Alexander but I can't find a marriage for Martha and Alexander. Would the vicar really have described this as uncleanness?

[Gadget]

I read it as a Son in uncleanness as well, Jill

add - illegitimacy

[Rosinish]

Ditto 'uncleanness' i.e. it may mean the father attended the baptism but the couple may never have married?

Annie

[barryd]

or worse.... not a nice thing to say about anyone …. Biblical. The term uncleanness is accompanied in the text by such immoral activities as adultery, fornication, lewdness, murders, drunkenness, etc.

[jillruss]

Charming! Illegitimate it is then - I can see the vicar (or whatever title he'd have gone by) turning his nose up as he wrote. How times have changed!

I was about to see if Alexander might have had any more little b's but Scotlands People seems to have shut down for maintenance! Typical!

Thanks for the confirmation. I shall have to message the DNA match and tell her. I think she's in Australia so may be interested (unlike a lot of DNA matches I message!!).

[Gadget]

Kirk  Sessions minutes have even more details of such events, I discovered that my 3xgreat grandfather's brother and his (later) wife were found guilty of anti-nuptial fornication' in 1808.


Gadget

[Millmoor]

There is a marriage of a Martha Alexander to a William Taylor in Old Meldrum in 1818 which might be worth investigating.

1841 and 1851 census has a William Taylor and Martha Taylor in Old Meldrum with a Margaret Alexander in household. 1851 has Wm. as  a Chelsea Pensioner age 74 and Martha 70 - Margaret Alexander a 67 annuitant.

1861 has Martha Taylor as a widow, a pauper and knitter of stockings in Old Meldrum. Margaret Alexander is showing as her sister in this census. If the correct Martha her death cert. would hopefully give  her parents names

Can I also say that regarding illegitimacy in this period in NE Scotland it was far from uncommon for the parents to later marry other people.

William

[Skoosh]

The NE traditionally had a high rate of illegitimacy probably due to the ferm-toon system. A local minister blamed it on the quantity of dry horse litter about the steadings!

Skoosh.

[Andrew Tarr]

Kirk  Sessions minutes have even more details of such events, I discovered that my 3xgreat grandfather's brother and his (later) wife were found guilty of anti-nuptial fornication' in 1808.

I think that would be 'ante-nuptial' .....