Dunlop Letters: Letter 4

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Dunlop Letters: Letter 4 - Take The Test

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Background Information
In September 1684 William Dunlop was in London. His brother had died on a trading voyage to the West Indies and in this letter to his father, William tells of his attempts to find out what had happened to his brother and to his possessions. In the three years after his writing and ciphering lessons in Dordrecht his handwriting has deteriorated further.

In the days before standard punctuation, note how William Dunlop breaks up sentences by beginning new sentences with Sir or so sir.

Some legal terminology perhaps requires an explanation:

Legal term	Definition
Letter Will	written will
Cationer	cautioner (a guarantor, a person standing surety for debts or the carrying out of a legal agreement)
Letter of Acturny	letter of attorney

Image reproduced with permission of Glasgow City Council, Mitchell Library.

Take The Test
The document has been divided into 4 sections. Read the section shown in the image and transcribe the word you think is missing from the text below by typing in the appropriate blank space. The text be red as you type and will turn black when you have transcribed the word correctly.

If you would prefer to complete the tutorial on paper go to Print The Test.

Lines 1-8 of a letter written by William Dunlop in 1681, Mitchell Library reference DC14

Transcription of lines 1-8

Lines 9-17 of a letter written by William Dunlop in 1681, Mitchell Library reference DC14

Lines 18-26 of a letter written by William Dunlop in 1681, Mitchell Library reference DC14

Transcription of lines 16-22

Lines 27-32 of a letter written by William Dunlop in 1681, Mitchell Library reference DC14

Transcription of lines 23-29

Read the full transcription