Wedderburn book; a history of the Wedderburns in ... - waughfamily.ca

THE WEDDEllBUR>f HOOK.
Alexander Wedderburn, the first of these cleiku— " the old clerk," as he
is sometimes called in after year8—was born about 1530,
Wedderbum admitted a notary in la.j4-5.">, and on 5 Oct. I.'j.jG was elected
*° ^^^ clerkship of Dundee. His iormai "{;ift" of the otKce,
i^S-^iIsS'^'^^'
still extant among the Dundee cliarterg, is dated G Feb. 15.57,
and is remarkable as beintf a ^ift to him for life. He must have soon
gained the confidence of his fellow citizens, as in 15(i3 they elected him,
with two others, to attend the parliament in Edinburgh, anent various matters,
including especially the liberty of the burghs. He held the office of clerk
for just over a quarter of a century, resigning it 20 Sept. lo82 to his eldest
son. Several of his official books remain on the shelves of the Dundee
charter room, thus fulfilling so far the prnphecy contained in bome lines
written by him on tlie title-pages of two of them, to the elfect "that
This book shall last heir in Dundee
Quhill that the emmet drink all y* sec.
And quhill the snaill with apocdic furd
Sail peranibill throw all tlie cird.
He lived on the north side of Argylegait, near S. Slatthew's close, wliich
thus came to be called "the auld clerk's close," and he aUo acquired a charge
on the lands of Wester Gourdie, which became later the property of his
eldest son, and have ever since remained in the family. He married in 15C0
Janet Myln, daughter and coheiress of James Myln of J)undL-e, and by her had
issue sis sons and two daughters. His wife died in l,Jb-J, he himself three
years later, both of them leaving wills, which are registered in the commissariot
of Edinburgh. I make no doubt that they were buried together in
the Howff of Dundee, under a tomb bearing, probably, the quaint inscription
(post, vol. ii., p. 1G4), which is recorded in the Conqit Iluik of their second son.
i shall deal later with their eldest son, who succeeded his father in the
clerkship, and was the first proprietor of his name of tiie estate of Kingennie,
CO. Fortar. Their second son, David, was born in l.'iti^-fi;?, and has left a
record of himself in the curious MS. Cmnpt Ihuk, to wliich I
David have just referred, and which has been recently ( l>i'JS; published
We^dderburn
^^ ^^^^ Scottish History Society. From this bonk we are able
l^^JesI"''^' to gather many particulars in regard both to his lauiily and his
career, and also to the commerce and customs of the time.
The latter have been dealt with in the abovenamed edition of the MS., and
I have given in the second volume of this work both a geneial account of
the contents of the Com-pt Bulk, and exhaustive extracts fiom it ..i all that bears
on the history of the family. David was evidently a prosperous merchant in
Dundee, but his interests were not confined to his business. lh« .MS. shows
him to have had a taste in literature, astrology, and in the decoration oJ
his house. Thus we have a list of books lent by h.m Irom lus library, a
list of "eviU" and " blissit dayis" of the year, and the inscriptions to be
"ingravin in the lyntis aboue the pilleris of my galry lu h.s hotiie .n the
Marketgait. All sort of commercial transactions are ciretully n .te.l. and the
book also contains a list of his "evidents" or charter*, the tula deeds to
various properties in the burgh, which he owned or .n which he had an
interest. With commerce he combined some knowledge of I- -.1 atfairs, and.
having inherited some of his father's protocol iKXjks, he. in iMM. got himeeU
admitted a notary. The book also contains an elal^jralo t.-^MMer of hiov,rxfd\\^rComil
/«lfc,"and"which I take to U a copy o. »^:ne pages of it
now destroyed. It is headed " Ane remembrance to tne c.erk wy broyr otT