Ormidale Memorial

Below we bring you, bit by bit, a memorial that Ormidale wrote in 1798 laying out his grievances against his brother (“the late Otter”) in an attempt to have his will overturned. We have done our best to decipher Ormidale’s scrawl but please feel free to offer corrections of any word you think we have misread. We are quite sure that there will be a few.

Excerpt 28

Here Otter is sending mutual friends to Ormidale as peacemakers, but with a list of demands that Ormidale finds unacceptable. It would be interesting to see what these were but, as far as we can tell, the list has not survived.

this also is

Also referred to in the Memorial as said 1795 years

3 In harvest nixt thereafter Mr John Campbell Smithy Green

Came to Otter from thence came to the Memorialist house in great

Concern he believing Otters Storys but to his Joy Otter wanted above

All things to be in friendship with his brother and pressed

the Memorialist to go along with him to Otter House which he

could not go by reason being harvest time besides he doubted

Much Otters veracity Next Day said Mr Campbell came back

with Mr Campbell Ardmarnock in company and still Assert

=ted that Otter wanted to be in friendship with his Said Brother

at sametime presented a long paper and a Double of it

rather shorter which as he Mr Campbell said settled all Differe

=ces but it was found said paper was only a Compleat

Upon the Imposition which is also related in the said Memoriall

Memorialist Wrote in 1795

Excerpt 29

The brothers remained estranged for a number of years, until Otter again asked a friend to act as mediator.

That in much of 1787 the Memorialist sent a Reprisation

Which Of his Grievances to Otter under cover of a letter but had

Return was no satisfactory return but to go to law as far as the Memorial

Wrote by [?] was pleased which is also Inserted in Memoriall 1795 Years

Date But Matters rested here upon both sides without any Communication

5 till about two years thereafter when Mr Allen McDugall

Is not sub of Hayfield wrote a letter from Otter Expressing his Anxiety

=scribed by for a reconciliation with Otter and proposed a Generall

Any person Reference the Memoriallist made a reply that he had

No objection to a particular Submission Viz that each should

first inform the Other of the different points to be Settled

Which letter is still Extant with a copy of the reply as

said

Excerpt 30

Again, we have the sort of family history information that you wouldn’t ordinarily expect to find in the standard sources. Ormidale was involved in an accident that left him seriously injured. In many cases, this could explain later financial difficulties, or even strange behaviour that might have been caused by ongoing pain.

We weren’t sure at first about the word “nodes”, down towards the end of the extract, then realised that Ormidale must have meant “notes”.