With regard to mortcloths: a mortcloth was used before people could afford coffins, and the body was merely wrapped in a winding sheet. The Mortcloth lent dignity to the occasion. Mortcloths were owned by the Church, or a Guild, and there were usually 2: - one of very good quality and design, with a high rental cost (often 10/-), and the other much cheaper and of an inferior cloth (around 1/3d) (These sums are merely what I have come across in my research). There was also sometimes a small one for children. There was a prestigious element in the use of the mortcloth - the dearer the mortcloth hired, the better the funeral. The cloths were rented out time after time, and cleaned, repaired and replaced from the rental fund, when necessary. The name in the mortcloth dues register, would normally have been that of the deceased, although I have seen entries such as: "Charles Elliot's wife", or "Charles Elliot's child". When coffins became the norm, the mortcloth became something of a status symbol, and was often draped over the coffin (as in modern-day state funerals, for example). An excellent book on the subject of death in Scotland is Anne Gordon's "Death is for the Living". Hope this is of some use to you. Janet Bishop Elgin, Moray