Ninian Stewart - Scottish 1661 Inventory

[Gilby]

I have a 1661 document in Scots which I'm struggling to translate.  It starts off saying it is a testament dative, so to quote GR2...

If the document starts by saying it is a testament testamentar, then it will contain a will in which the deceased gives details of legacies , nominates an executor etc., followed by an inventory. If the document starts by saying it is a testament dative, then the deceased did not make a will and what is given is the confirmation of an executor and an inventory.

So far I have managed to get the first two lines (I think), but beyond that I am stuck.

The testament dative and inventar of ye goods geir debtes and sommes of money
quhilk perteinit to unquille Niniane Stewart of Kilcatten the tyme of his deceis

Some Stewarts in County Antrim are said to have inherited the estates if a cousin Ninian Stewart of Kilchattan in about 1664.  I guess this is that Ninian, so I'm wondering if the will mentions any family.

[Gilby]

2nd and 3rd pages attached (there are 9 in total)

[Gilby]

4th and 5th pages attached.  I think that will do for today!

If GR2 happens to be reading - this is very long so I'm not expecting a full transcription! 

[GR2]

The first part of the first page:

The Testament dative and Inventar of the goods geir debtis & soumes of money
q[uhi]lk (= which) perteined to umq[uhi]ll (= the late) Niniane Stewart of Kilcatten (= Kilchattan)
                                                                                                             the tyme of his deceis
who deceist within the paroshonne of Kingarth within the Iyle & shrefdome (= Isle & sheriffdom) of
                                                                                                                             buit (= Bute)
In the moneth of may Jaj vj c thrie scoir ane zeiris (= 1600 three score one years = 1661) ffaithfullie
                                                                                                                        maid & given up
be (= by) Johne Stewart of ardinho (= Ardnahoe, in Kingarth parish) Lau[fu]ll creditor to the said
                                                                             defunct (= deceased) surrogat be (= by) the
pro[curato]r fiscall who is exe[cuto]r dative dec[er]n(i)t ffor payment to the said Johne of the
soumes of money afterspec[ife]it To witt of the soume of ane thowsand two hundreth
fyftie ane punds Scottis money restand awand (= resting owing = still owed) wnpayit of the
                                                                                  bygonne @rent (= annualrent = interest)
of the prin[cipa]ll soume of Twa thowsand thrie hundreth seavintein merks ( a merk = 13/4d) sex
                                                                                                                                   (= six)
shilings aught (= eight) penneis since the terme of martimes (= Martinmas) Jaj vj c ffortie seavine
                                                                                                                               (= 1647)
zeiris (= years) to the terme of witsonday (= Whitsun) Last bypast in this instant zeir (= year) of
                                                                                                                             god Jaj vj c
thrie scoir ane zeiris (= 1600 three score one years = 1661) Spec[ife]it & conteinit in ane band     
                                                                                                       (= bond) and obligatioune
maid and grantit be (= by) the said defunct as prin[cipa]ll and the said Johne Stewart of
Ardinho and Alex[ande]r fraser broy[e]r (= brother) Jermane (= german) to James fraser feir       
                                                                                                       (= fiar = owner) of Knock
as cautioners & soverteis (= sureties) y[ai]rfoir (= therefor) conjunctlie & severallie (= jointly and
                                                                    individually) To Johne birsbane (= Brisbane) elder
of bishoptoune for himself and in name and behalf of Johne birsbane you[nge]r of
bishoptoune his sone daitit (= dated) at Ed[inbu]r[gh] ye twentie ane day of august the said zeir
of god Jaj vj c ffortie seavine zeiris (= 1647) insert[it] and reg[ist]rat (= inserted and registered) in
                                                                                                         the court books of justice
for the tyme upone the fyft day of maj (= fifth day of May) Jaj vj c ffyftie four zeiris (= 1654) In
                                                                                                                             and to the
q[uhi]lk (= which) band (= bond) haill (= whole) soumes of money y[ai]rincontaind (= therein
                 contained) prin[cipa]ll @rentis (= annualrents = interest) y[ai]rof (= thereof) restand
                                                                                                                  (= resting = still)
awand (= owing) unpayit and in tyme cuming after the dait of the assignation wnder
writtin (= under-written = written below) dicreing (= decreeing) the not payment of the said
                                                                  prin[cipa]ll soume and tuo hundreth (= two hundred)
pundis (= pounds) money foirsaid (= foresaid) of Liquidat (= fixed by decree) expenses [con]tenit
                                                                            (= contained) in the said band The said Johne
birsbane elder of bishoptoune with expres advyce consent and assent of...

[GR2]

The second part of the first page:

...James birsbane feir (= fiar) his sone in Law and they baith (= both) with ane (= one)
consent and assent Have maid and constitute the said Johne Stewart of
ardinho his airs (= heirs) & exe[cuto]rs y[ai]r (= their) sessonar (= a person to whom property is
                                                     ceded) & assignay (= assignee) as the said assignation of the
dait at bishoptoune the twentie aught (= eighth) day of march Jaj vj c ffyftie nyne (1659)
zeiris (= years) In the self (= in itself) at mair lenth (= more length) proportis Q[uhi]lk (= which)
                                                                                            decreit (= decree) dative given &
pronuncit be (= by) the com[m]iss[a]r (= commissary) of the Iyles (= Isles) Q[uhai]rby               
                                                      (= whereby) the pro[curato]r fiscall is dec[er]nit (= decreed)
exe[cuto]r dative to the defunct and surrogat and the said Johne Stewart of ardinho
creditor foirsaid in his place In pairt (= part) payment and satisfactioune to him of the
said soume (= sum) of ane Thowsand two hundreth ffyftie ane pundis @rentis (= annualrents =
                                                                                                               interest) foirs[ai]d
of the said prin[cipa]ll soume allenerlie (= only) and payment of the expenses of co[n]firmat[io]un
                                                       (i.e. of having the testament confirmed by the commissary)
theirof (= thereof) In sua far (= insofar) as the goods & geir wnderwritten (= listed below) will
                                                                                                         extend to as the said act
and decreit (= decree) of the dait of thir (= these) p[rese]ntis in the self (= in themselves) at mair
                                                                                                                       lenth proportis

                                            Inventar (= inventory)
Item the said defunct (= deceased) had in his possessioune the tyme of his deceis foirs[ai]d the
goods & geir following viz The number of threttein (= thirteen) bolls beir (= bere, a kind of barley)
                                                                              sawine (= sown) vpon the grund (= ground)
of the landis of LitleKilcattan (= Little Kilchattan) extending with the incres (= increase) at four
         seids (= seeds, grains) to Lij (= 52) bolls (i.e. when the crop is harvested a fourfold return is
                                                                                                                                expected)
pryce boll (= price of the boll) vj li. xiij s iiij d (= £6 13/4d) Inde (= Latin for "hence") iij c xlvj li.
                                    xiij s iiij d (= £346 13/4d) Item forettein (= fourteen) bolls whyt (= wheat)
corne sawine vpone the ground of the said Lands extending with the incres at fore (= four) seids
to threttie nyne (= thirty nine) bolls pryce boll v li. (= £5) Inde (= hence) I c Lxxxxv li. (= £190)
                                                                                                                   Item twentie bolls

[GR2]

The second page continues the inventory and ends with confirmation by the commissary of John Stewart of Ardnahoe as executor creditor, so he can recover the money owed to him.

The third page is an inventory given up by Thomas Jackson, lawful creditor. Ninian Stewart (and John Stewart of Ardnahoe as cautioner) had granted a bond to him and his wife, Jean Fraser. The page ends with the confirmation by the commissary of Thomas Jackson as executor creditor, so he can recover the money owed to him.

The fourth page is an inventory given up by Sir James Stewart of Kirkton, sheriff of Bute, and Dougald Stewart, his eldest son, lawful creditors. Ninian Stewart (and John Stewart of Ardnahoe, John Stewart, fiar of L[        ], and Neil McNeil, then bailie of Rothesay, as cautioners) had granted a bond to them. It seems that the original of the bond was granted to Hugh Hamilton, merchant, burgess of Edinburgh, by the then Captain Ninian Stewart, but had come into possession of the Stewarts of Kirkton.

The fifth page is an inventory, mainly consisting of teind payments due to the deceased.

[Gilby]

Thanks very much GR2!  I’ve been working through your transcription of the first page to see what I can learn.

I see the lower case ‘h’ seems to be like a mirror image of a ‘y’ so the “wyo” at the start of the 3rd line is actually “who” … that had me stumped before.  I also now understand the link between “the” and “ye”!

The format of the date is a completely new one to me, especially jaj/jai to mean 1000.

I didn’t know the @ sign was in use in the 17th century!

I feel like if I could get the hang of the handwriting, I could work out what most of the text means.  Some of the Scots words I recognise from modern usage by my Ulster-Scots colleagues, e.g. “haill” to mean “whole”.

I’ll attach the 6th and 7th pages here.

[Gilby]

And finally, pages 8 and 9.

[GR2]

Page 6 contains the rest of the inventory and confirmation by the commissary of Sir James and Dougald Stewart  as executors creditors so they can recover the money owed to them by Ninian Stewart.

Page 7 is an inventory made and given up by Mr John Stewart, minister at Rothesay, and Donald McGilchrist, merchant burgess of Glasgow, as lawful executors creditors to Ninian Stewart. Ninian had borrowed money from John Glass, late provost of Rothesay, who had then assigned the bond to John Stewart, who was now creditor. Donald McGilchrist is owed money by a bond which he received directly from Ninian Stewart. The last part of the page contains the confirmation by the commissary of John Stewart and Donald McGilchrist as executors creditors so they can recover the money owed to them. The final part is the beginning of the inventory.

Page 8 is the rest of the inventory (mostly household furnishings) and the debts owed to Ninian (the small teinds owed to him by parishioners).

Page 9 is the testament of Donald McGilcherrann.

Unfortunately there is no indication at all of any relationship between Ninian Stewart and any of the people mentioned in any of the several documents.

Jaj is just a way of writing M = 1,000

The letter that looks like a y is another way of writing th. It is pronounced th, so folk should pronounce "ye olde inn" as "the old inn". As well as ye = the, you will find yt = yat = that, yr = yair = thair = their, yame = thame = them etc.

There are quite a few abbreviations used (although not as many as in a document written in Latin). It is usual to draw a line over part of a word that is abbreviated to indicate the fact. @ is the usual way of abbreviating annual in annual rent (@rent) = interest on money lent.