Brian I think you have answered your first question - I was just about to respond but read the thread first! &c = et cetera, and appears quite often in 18th C records Chris At 15:15 28/05/2005 +0100, Brian Randell wrote: >Hi: > >Attempting a reply to my own question, I belatedly wonder whether "& P" >should be transcribed as "&c"? > >Comments anyone? > >Cheers > >Brian Randell > > > > >>Hi: >> >>I am just finishing transcribing the records of a civil court proceedings >>set up to adjudicate a 1727 dispute over the tithes due on herring >>fishing in Clovelly in North Devon. (I plan to make the results available >>in GENUKI - though i have yet to deal with the one page of Latin! :-) >> >>The records include a set of interrogatories, of which the following is a >>sample: >> >>"Item Doe you know the Rectory & parish of Clovelly in the County of >>Devon if yea how long have you known the same Doth the said parish stand >>upon or towards the Sea Coasts who by name been the successive Rectors of >>the said parish ever since your remembrance to this present time and what >>is the chief Imployment of most of the parishioners of the said parish >>Declare & P" >> >>In the above I have given the last characters as "& P" - I am sure of the >>"&" but not the "P" - the character/abbreviation thoughit looks much like >>a capital "P" is not identical to the form of capital "P" found elsewhere >>in the text. >> >>Could anyone suggest the meaning of "Declare & P", which is how most >>though not all the interrogatories end? >> >>Cheers >> >>Brian Randell >> >> >>-- >>School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, >>NE1 7RU, UK >>EMAIL = Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 >>FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/ > > >-- >School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, >NE1 7RU, UK >EMAIL = Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 >FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/ > Chris Broomfield broomfield@one-name.org

Hi Chris & Peter: Thanks for your responses - I'm going with the idea that the mysterious characters are an abbreviation for "&c". For your info the transcription is now installed in GENUKI at: http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/Clovelly/FishingTithes.html Cheers Brian -- School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/