To Helen re Castle Sween .. you say ' Other information I have gleaned suggests that Swin (or Sween) was a ruin much before John's 1771 birthdate.' Perhaps you are suggesting that if this was a ruin at this time, the info is wrong. However, the term may refer to the locality as well as the actual building, so that if the castle was a ruin, there may still have been residents living in cottages in the area. There usually were a number of shepherd's cottages and workers' cottages around the large houses or castles on the estates. Anne Maye