Having images of all the 1855 Deaths in Kirkcowan certainly helps with understanding the little marks [+ or x]. They are indeed as Bruce suggested, marks indicating where the Informant was to sign their name. Of the 16 Deaths in Kirkcowan that year, 13 had those little marks in the Informant / Witness column on the left. Signatures are specifically on the lines noted with the marks. Also, of those 16 Deaths, all but 3 were able to sign their own name, most showing the relation to the deceased [son, neighbor, husband, niece, etc]. If the Informant was unable to sign their name, instructions were to have that person make their Mark.....2 crossed lines which we say looks like an x or a + for lack of a better way to describeit. After all, a tilted x is a + though all of Kirkcowan's 3 Marks looked like a large +. The narrow 'column' they are viewed in is actually not a column at all, its bleed through from the other side of the page. This column on the other side is where the deceased's age was written [see page 1 of the set of 2 pages] and its very very narrow. Check page 2 and you can see a difference in the darkness of the line compared to known column divider lines on the same side of the page. There are also many bleed-through words from the other side which is the first page of Death #16 in the TOP entry, this DOUGLAS being the 2nd entry on the page, there are no ink marks to show through or you'd have seen the age of the person showing through [backwards]. So far, no other parishes I've delved into have had those little marks show up on the left side of the Informant/Witness column, however there being 901 parishes in Scotland back then, there are a huge amount of parishes I've not viewed. Crossed lines normally show up INSIDE the column when the Informant 'signed' like this...... His Mark or Her Mark The Informant made the crossed lines in the space provided. There was no little x or + to show where to make the Mark, only this blank space. That 'signature' [the 2 crossed lines] had to be Witnessed itself by 2 other Witnesses who signed their names in the same column [these people had to be able to sign their name, no Xs allowed as a Witness]. One could be the Registrar or anyone in that office of legal age who was available to watch the Informant make those crossed lines. There are occasions where one or two Witnesses must have come in with the Informant, both signed their names probably knowing the Informant was illiterate and it had to be done this way. Thanks for noting this, its different from any other Registrations I've viewed. The misleading 'column' from the other side also invited thinking it could have meaning though it carries no significance other than showing the Informant where to sign and put their relationship to the deceased. MegG in OK ===========================================