That may be, but every document signed by my Anthony was an " X ", Virginia 1734, including his Will. On the other hand his wife, knew how to write & spell...she signed her Will Jane Golsan....in grade school handwriting, but she could write her name. JanC ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Boyd" <daveboyd@bellsouth.net> To: <CLANBOYD-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 1:20 PM Subject: [Boyd] The use of the X in the signatures of Scots and Scots - Irish Immigrants > Jan et al, > Whenever you see your ancestor's signed name and an X beside or above > the signature. It does not mean that your ancestor was necessarily > illiterate or didn't know how to write. The Scots and the Scots - Irish > men often signed legal documents and drew a St. Andrews Cross, X, and > then kissed it. > This was done to show that their word was their bond. > > Yours Aye, > David D. Boyd > from GA. > > > ==== CLANBOYD Mailing List ==== > RING OF BOYDS http://k.webring.com/wrman?ring=clanboydwebring&addsite > > http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=boyd-trees > > >