Kirk Dyke Act 1597 - Latin - Help!!

R

Rustyred

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Hi everyone,

I was hoping someone out there could help me translate this Kirk Dyke Act which appears to be half English and half Latin.................??

"Oure Souerane Lord and estaitis in parliament Statutis decernis and ordanis That all parochineris of eurie paroche kirk within the realme Build and repair the kirkyard dyikis of thair awin paroche kirk with stane and mortour to the heiche of twa ellis. And to mak sufficient stillis and enteres in the saidis dyikis to pas to the kirk and kirkyard thairof And ordanis the lordis of the sessioun to direct and gif lettres and chargis thairvpoune in forme as efferis"

Any help anyone can give would be very much appreciated.

All the best.
 
No its written in Scots-English - what you need is a Burns expert.

Here is my poor effort FWIW -

“Our Sovereign Lord and estates in parliament Statutes discerns and ordains That all parishioners of every parish church within the realm build and repair the churchyard dykes of their own parish church with stone and mortar to the height of two Scottish ells [74 inches]. And to make sufficient stiles and entries in the said dykes to pass to the church and churchyard thereof And ordains the lords of the session to direct and give letters and charges thereupon in form as appropriate."
 
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Looks more like the 'Language' of Ulster Scots than Latin.
Read it out loud...
parochineris = Parishioners
paroche = Parish
kirk = Church
stane and mortour = Stone and mortar

...Perhaps
 
Thankyou - I knew there would be somewhere out there who would come up with the right answer.

I was stuck on the 'parochineris' bit, but quite rightly when you say it slowly, it does come out as parishioners. I had looked up paroch(e) in the Latin Dictionary and it referred to travelling officials and I couldn't understand why they should pay to have a wall built! But of course, now there are a few people with brains on it, it all makes sense.

Thank you so much...

All the best
 
I think however it you would require a Scottish solicitor to tell you how it would relate to waste pipe through a graveyard.
 
jhegarty said:
I think however it you would require a Scottish solicitor to tell you how it would relate to waste pipe through a graveyard.
Click to expand...

Do you not mean:

Ah hink howe'er it ye woods require a scots man o' the lae tae teel ye hoo it woods fare tae pipe o' the kak ben a groond o' the deed?

:)
 
Rustyred said:
... I had looked up paroch(e) in the Latin Dictionary and it referred to travelling officials ...
Click to expand...
Subject to being killed by classical scholars, this prompted a bit of searching and I think there may be two Latin words, one classical Latin and the other dog or Church Latin.

parochus (n,m) : a man who supplied food and shelter to travelling officials (tax collectors, census takers, etc)

parochia (n,f) : diocese or area ruled over by a church official - this seems to be the precursor to the related of the Romance-language words and English, Gaelic, etc.
 
Hi,

Thanks very much for the research - parochia seems the translation I am looking for. It makes more sense doesn't it. And thanks for the information on 'ellis' - through your help, it would seem there are still 'ellis rods' hung on walls from days gone by when the ellis was used as a statutory measurement. You learn something every day.

Thank you again to everyone for all their help - what a brilliant website!!

All the best
 
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