Margaret Glasgow, Croftmalloch: inventory and confirmation
NRS Edinburgh Commissary Court CC8/8/8, images 355-356, supplied as two-page PDF
Reviewed: 2026-09-10
LLM-assisted working reading. Brackets/ellipses mark uncertainty or omissions; not a diplomatic edition.

IMAGE / PASSAGE 355, Margaret entry only
1. [Margin] Margaret glasgw
2. octavo novembris
3. 1580
4. The testament dative & Inventar of the guidis geir soumes
5. of money & dettis pertening to vmqle Margaret glasgw
6. sumtyme spous to Johne estoun in croftmelloch[?] the
7. tyme of hir deceis quha deceissit ab intestato in the
8. moneth of december the zeir of god jm vc lxxviij[?] zeiris
9. faithfullie maid & gevin vp be cuthbert kaddell[?] in
10. croftmelloch[?] hir sone executour dative surrogate in hir
11. [illegible] place of the executouris [illegible] be decreit of the
12. commissaris of Edr as the samin decreit of the dait the
13. [illegible] day of october the zeir of god jm vc lxxx zeiris
14. at lenth proportis
15. In the first the said vmqle Margaret glasgw had the guidis geir
16. soumes of money & dettis of the availl & prices following
17. pertening to hir the tyme of hir deceis foirsaid Viz first be [illegible]
18. of the price of [illegible] Item tua [ky?] price of ane
19. [amount illegible] price of the [illegible] Item ij zeir auld[?] [continues]

IMAGE / PASSAGE 356
1. the pece [amount illegible] Item viij gimmer & dinmont[?] price of
2. pece [amount illegible] Item viij [wedderis?] viij hoggis price of the pece [amount illegible]
3. [amount illegible] Item in the barne & barnzaird sex bollis aittis price of the
4. boll [amount illegible] Summa [amount illegible] Item in vtensilis & domicilis
5. wt the abulzementis of hir bodie estimat [amount illegible]
6. Summa of the Inventar xlvij li xiiij s viij d[?]
7. Followis the dettis awand to the deid
8. Item thair wes awand to the said vmqle Margaret glasgw be James
9. estoun in wester quhitburne[?] viij li Item be michaell mertyn l s
10. Summa of the dettis awand to the deid x li x s[?]
11. Summa of the Inventar wt the dettis lviij li iiij s viij d[?]
12. Followis the dettis awand be the deid
13. Item thair wes awand be the said vmqle Margaret glasgw to roland
14. dundas for the zeiris teind of the zeir of god jm vc lxxviij zeiris
15. [amount illegible] the [illegible] mair nor the rest [illegible]
16. Summa of the dettis awand be the deid xx s
17. Restis of free geir the dettis deducit lvij li iiij s viij d[?]
18. To be dividit in tua the deidis pairt xxviij li xij s iiij d[?]
19. Quhairof the quot is [amount illegible]
20. [Margin] Quotta [illegible]
21. We [name illegible] Jhonsoun [illegible] & alexr [name illegible] advocat
22. commissaris of Edr speciallie constitut for confirmatioun of testamentis [illegible]
23. [illegible] dettis [illegible] & lauchfull [illegible]
24. [illegible] of the [illegible] & intromettouris wt the guidis & geir
25. of the said vmqle Margaret glasgw [illegible]
26. [illegible] to intromet [illegible]
27. & efter diligent [illegible] advertist the [illegible]
28. & [illegible] sufficientlie [illegible] hir [illegible]
29. [illegible] [confirmation formula unresolved]
30. [illegible] the [illegible] cautioun of [name illegible]
31. in [place illegible] to the said cuthbert [illegible]
32. & decernis the said cuthbert keddell sone to the said vmqle Margaret
33. [illegible] intromet [illegible] in the said [illegible]
34. his richtis [illegible] & confirmis
35. be thir [illegible] [illegible] in the said testament
36. [illegible] & confirmis the said cuthbert keddell in executour dative to the
37. said vmqle Margaret glasgw his mother with power to him to intromet
38. wt the haill guidis & geir [illegible] & [illegible] the samin
39. [illegible] and maid [illegible] satisfie and pay the [illegible]
40. [illegible] testament [illegible]
41. [illegible] lauchfull [illegible] quhilk [illegible]
42. [illegible] of the said cuthbert [illegible]
43. [illegible] [remaining execution formula unresolved]
44. [illegible] as our act maid thairupoun [illegible]

MODERN INTERPRETATION
Margaret Glasgow, sometime wife of John Easton, died intestate in December, apparently 1578. Her estate was administered later; 8 November 1580 is the marginal confirmation date, not her death date.
Cuthbert Kaddell/Keddell of the same provisionally read residence is expressly called her son in the opening. The confirmation again calls him son of the deceased Margaret and calls Margaret his mother. These kinship phrases independently establish their mother-son relationship; executor appointment alone is not the basis.
The inventory records livestock, six bolls of oats, household furnishings and clothing. Debts receivable include James Easton and Michael Mertyn. A debt to Roland Dundas concerns a year's teind. Those financial connections do not establish kinship.
The totals are consistent with the earlier reading of goods at 47 pounds 14 shillings 8 pence; receivables 10 pounds 10 shillings; gross estate 58 pounds 4 shillings 8 pence; debts payable 20 shillings; net estate 57 pounds 4 shillings 8 pence; and one half as the deceased's portion. Individual numeral forms remain marked provisional in the working lines rather than silently supplied from the arithmetic.

EVIDENCE
Image 355, opening lines 6-10: 'sumtyme spous to Johne estoun' and 'hir sone' identify different relationships. The son's surname is not Easton in the supplied reading; John Easton's paternity is not stated.
Image 356, confirmation lines 32 and 36-37: 'sone to the said vmqle Margaret' and 'his mother' independently confirm the maternity stated in the opening.
Image 355: the upper estate and its confirmation end before the new Margaret heading and lower opening. Names from that preceding estate must not be attributed to Margaret's household or executors.
Image 356, lines 12-18: the deduction and division support an estate-account reading, not an additional family distribution identifying another child.
The complete two-image span specified by the digital header is supplied and has been visually examined. Coverage is full, but substantial confirmation formula and some figures remain unresolved.

CHANGES
Freshly confirms the material mother-son conclusion and the prohibition on changing Cuthbert's surname to Easton without independent evidence.
Confirms the preceding-estate boundary on image 355 and the distinction between death and confirmation dates.
The older aggregate account reading is compatible with the supplied images, but several numeral shapes remain provisional in this new literal working reading.
A focused reread improves two associate names from bracketed readings to Michael Mertyn and Roland Dundas; neither is assigned a family relationship.
The appointment decree day is left unresolved here; the older tentative [16?] October reading is not independently confirmed.
Separates line-oriented manuscript wording from modern interpretation and from the older formatted ledger table. No older narrative has been presented as if it were a fresh literal transcription.

UNRESOLVED
The index confirms Croftmalloch. The manuscript's individual strokes remain provisionally rendered Croftmelloch[?], without weakening the confirmed indexed place wording.
Confirm the death-year and inventory numeral forms, livestock quantities, and the October appointment day.
The cautioner's name and substantial portions of the confirmation formula need another palaeographic pass.
The record does not identify Cuthbert's father.