A Quick Note About the Reference System I Use for Certificates:-
For example:-
The death of Magdalene Seath in 1855 in the parish of Auchtermuchty is denoted as
D1855/406(2)/17
This indicates
Certificate letters are B, M, D, C, R, O
These stand for Birth, Marriage, Death, Census, Register of Corrected Entries and Old Parish Registers.
This is a system I have found extremely useful as each individual and type of record has a unique identifying number.
A Word on Scottish Naming Tradition.
Scottish families until relatively recently followed a naming tradition which was broken only with very good reason. The consequences could be that the family would have a fall-out and would cause friction.
The tradition was as follows:-
1st Son - Named after the fathers father
2nd Son - Named after the mothers father
3rd Son - Named after the father
1st Dau - Named after the mothers mother
2nd Dau - Named after the fathers mother
3rd Dau - Named after the mother.
After that Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and friends were adopted and could appear in any order.