Remember me with Stockings

In 1702, the (very) young Barbara Fea of Stronsay bore a daughter to Patrick Traill, the eldest son and heir of the Traills of Elsness. The Traills were powerful merchant lairds and Patrick's father John hated Barbara Fea's family for reasons I'll get into later.

Here's a letter from December 1701, when Patrick Traill must have just discovered Barbara's pregnancy. He was about to flee Orkney for Edinburgh, hoping that the problem (including Barbara) might just disappear.

He writes to David, his younger brother. On the reverse, in his own, hasty hand, he writes a note that, we assume, David was to convey to Barbara, buying him time to escape. As the letter is quite long, I'll put that in another post.

An abridged version of this letter is on Page 7 of Hugh Marwick's Merchant Lairds of Long Ago and the omissions are, I'm sad to say, somewhat telling.

Unfortunately, my photo of the letter clipped a little off, so I'll get a clearer one the next time I'm in Kirkwall (whenever this awful weather permits).

I highly recommend the Dictionaries of the Scots Language in making sense of this, but I'll include a summary afterwards. Let me know if you prefer to read the original text or if you prefer a modern rendering of the spellings.

Patrick's Letter to David

Kirkwall Decer 20th of 1701

Loving David

I do not doubt but the last did scairce plais you be reasone of my heast
when I wrot it but I houp you will Consider my Conditione how I am trysted &
how I will be if they get a Certantie of my Awaygoing so David I houp you
will tender my business as your own & God will reward you perhaps
you may be doing for your Selfe but for that I shall submit to providence
I do scarce remember qt I wrot with odsness but I believe the great
Secerat is now at Light So I houp you will Still Confort the wouman
although the peopoll Should Seay Ever so much to the Contrearie I houp
dearest that you will above all Seek God & do not walk in my foot
Steaps for if you do I Ashure you will repent for Gods Cause if the
woman be brought to bead disyre the Child & take Caire of it as your
oune and in So doing God will reward you I Canot Expreass my selfe
with pen & inke as I wold but the Lord knows the Secerat of my heart
for God’s Cause make them believe that I am still Coming home to them
& be good to Thom: Ch: & Magnus my Lads boath if Ever you tender Love
for me mynd them & Let not Tho: Go away as to the reast I Leave to
your oun Manadgement I houp you will Interseid with my Father & Mo[ther]
for a pardone & God will blise the in all the Indewours if thow do
& if not I Leave it to they selfe for qt I did I swear I was obleidg—
–ed to do or otherways I haid bein affronted. I disyre you may sett doun
in my Chairge of accompt for the warant stipend 8 M 16 ß for
my expenses in toun in calling the miner & so it be Exactit for Odsness
will hiave the same of you gott ane miner you may Asign the Act in
His favours with Consent of the presbitarie which they will not refuse that
is to say if you will not get it manadged but I thinke it fil that you
keep it & bige the house & then Lett it be Comprysed I have given in
the double of our Reasons & ane leter to the presbyt alreadie so I send
this to Ly by you to show your diligence in the mater with ane Comitie
from the Illand. I have no more to Add but wishes that the Lord
may blisse the in the out Going & in Coming & all thou take in hand. So
I Leave the God of heavens to be the God & gyd I royt with my Love to
John Rousa of dulshes & his kynd wyfe & will Duff & his wyfe & [dunged?]
to Odsnes & Beaquoy & all the reast in Generall [CROSSED OUT]
[Crossed out] & the rest of the servants the lord bliss you all david Remember
me with stockings if you Can & with sum hear I rest
Your loving and dear brother
Patrick Traill

The note up the side is crumpled, so I'm going to need some help from an archivist to unfold it without causing it damage, but here's what I can see:

The remind be me Sc to get sum corbis pens to me per first pray David be kynd to her for she will suffer much mor than I houp will be A mein to pardon hir Sins. I houp you will not feall to see her &have my servints presentit I Expect it will be by Crismes Before you send in our fathers letter you may tell Eregur that this is fynd in ten pound & the nixt will be [FOLDED]

Explained for a Modern Reader

Patrick writes to David, apologising for the upset his last, hasty, letter caused. (I'm hoping I can find that one, since they were foolish enough to not destroy evidence.) He says that his situation trysts him, or involves binding obligations, so hopes nobody learns of his escape.

He passes his business interests to David, hoping God rewards him, even if David gains from this anyway. He says he can't remember quite what he wrote to (Robert Scollay of) Odness (in Stronsay), but he believes "the great secret" is now uncovered. (Barbara's pregnancy. She was 11 or 12 at this point and he ten years older.)

He hopes David will still comfort "the woman" (he doesn't use her name) despite the gossip and he warns him:

Above all, seek God and do not walk in my footsteps, for if you do, I assure you will repent for God's cause if the woman be brought to bed desires the child.

He asks David to take care of the child as his own kin and that God will reward him for this. Patrick can't express with pen and ink as he would, but says The Lord knows the secret of his heart. He begs, for God's cause, that David makes them (I presume the Fea family) believe he is still coming home to them. He David to be good to his "Lads" (workers, I assume?) and says he'd like him to at least keep Thomas on, but it's David's call.

He says he hopes David will intercede with their parents, but in any case he swears that what he did, he was obliged to do or he would otherwise have been affronted - bringing disgrace upon his family.

Marwick omits this next part, where Patrick says he has a warrant stipend owed to a minister (abbreviated as "miner") here. This takes a little to unpack, but local landowners had to pay a tithe to the Kirk, and he's worried that the Presbytery might not pass over the 8 Marks and 16 Shillings he's paid, and recommends it be used to expand (bige) the Manse, ready for valuation. He adds that if David can't take this on, he'll pass the responsibility directly to the kirk, having already sent them a letter as proof (diligence) if needed for an island committee.

Marwick resumes as Patrick pours praise and love upon David and sends his love to John Rousa of Dishes and his kind wife, Will Duff and his wife (perhaps of a house called Dunged?) and Odsness, and Beaquoy and the rest in generall. (Dishes, Odsness and Beaquoy being houses on Stronsay). The next sentence is crossed out, but looks like he's sending love to someone he then chose not to, continuing to the servants.

He ends with "Remeber me with Stockings if you can" before signing off.

The sidenote seems to a request for crow-feather quills to be sent by first post that then returns to his pleas that David be kind to "her", knowing she will suffer far more than he will, begging David to see her and with his servants present, saying he expects to hear from David before Christmas.

The final part about Eregur and a ten pound fine is obscured by the fold I'll try to uncover.

The Omission

Marwick misses out the part about the warrant stipend. This might be that it's hard to understand - I only grasped it because there's recently been a Call for a new minister here. But I worry it's been missed because it strongly suggests that Patrick was the landowner in his own right, rather than his father, which is the point on which the entire conflict hinges.

As his wife, Barbara would have had the right to live in and gain an income from his property. This letter, without that paragraph, looks like he's just trying to set his affairs in order and minimise the shame he brings to his family, but with that in, it rather looks like he's trying to defraud her of everything that is hers by right.

That's a big accusation, so it's one I'll keep looking into to see if I can make sure.

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