60 TRONGRAY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
cellaneous collection—accounts of the Sunday offering, proclama- 
tions of marriage, baptisms, deaths, and cases of discipline—a 
veritable skeleton of parish history, if one could but clothe it 
with flesh and breathe life into these dead bones. During the 
year 1715 there are two cases of discipline which are somewhat 
interesting. On the last day of February in that year the laird 
of Drumclyer was buried, and his funeral evidently was “a 
grand success,’’ judging by the Session Records. It produced 
three cases of drunkenness. John Stot, Joseph Welsh, and 
Deborah Welsh all were cited to answer to the charge of drunken- 
ness at Drumclyer’s burial. All denied the charge, but in the 
case of John Stot there was too strong evidence against him ; he 
wes seen to stagger to and fro, fall at the Brigghouses, walk in 
the red land, William Bremner supporting him, and he had not 
even taken the ordinary precaution of saying he was not well. 
On April 18 he was rebuked for drunkenness. Deborah Welsh, 
a sister-in-law of the late laird of Drumclyer, boldly denied that 
she was drunk, and on the minister warning her to be more 
circumspect said “she was not sensible of it.’ Several witnesses 
testified to her being all right in the morning, but she was in 
bed sick in the afternoon. Her sickness was ascribed to a tass 
of brandy. The evidence against her was not conclusive, so 
“the Session considering the hail affair dismissed her with an 
admonition to be more cautious and watchful ’’—that is good 
Scots for “not guilty, but don’t do it again.’’ Joseph Welsh, 
her brother, had fortified himself with a witness to prove that 
he had said he was sick before the out-going of the corpse. 
Another witness was summoned, but Joseph challenged her on the 
ground that she was a liar and had slandered him. Unfortu- 
nately we do not know how Joseph Welsh got off. Both in his 
case and in that of John Stot drunkenness was not the only cause 
of offence. Both had absented themselves from sermon, and 
Welsh was accused also of despising ordinances and unduly de- 
laying the baptism of his child. By January 13, 1716, he had 
made his peace with the session, for on that day his daughter 
Mary was baptised. She did not long survive being made a 
Christian ; two days later is the following entry :—“ January 15, 
1716—Mary Welsh, a child, departed this life, aged one year 
and some months.’’ 
