Occupation "solututus" ? on Marriage Licence

[robinj]

Thanks to FamilySearch.org I have found the image of a marriage licence bond
for William Jarvis and Dinah Gooch, dated 3 Jan 1731 and issued by the
Archdeaconry of Norfolk Court. The problem is that it is partly in Latin
and I can't recognise the word used for the occupation of William Jarvis.
It looks to me like "solututum" which I would take to be the accusative case
of "solututus", but I can't find any such word in my Latin dictionary, and
Google has not proved to be particularly friendly in this case. The word
could alternatively be "solututam" (accusative of "solututa"), but again I
can find no record of such a word. I have put images of the marriage
licence bond on Flickr at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76792259@N02/

if anyone would like to have a look and see what they think. Has anyone,
please, come across the use of this particular occupation description in
ecclesiastical/legal Latin, and can tell me what it means? The co-guarantor
on the bond, William Ryseing, is described as "agricolam", and I do remember
from my school Latin that that means "farmer".

Many thanks to anyone who can help to sort out this puzzle.

[Peter Goodey]

1. For others' information, Robin's thread on s.g.b can be seen at
http://
groups.google.com/group/soc.genealogy.britain/browse_thread/thread/f476888582efff2f#

2. FWIW my money is on a form of solutus = single man

[arthurk]

My best guess would be that it's an error for "solutum" (nominative = solutus).

This book says this means "unmarried", but since etymologically it would be connected with words like "dissolve", I wonder if the implication is something like "divorced". Other dictionaries suggest something on the lines of "dissolute" ....

Arthur

[Kerrywood]

I agree with Peter and Arthur that it probably means unmarried.

Denis Stuart (Latin for Local & Family Historians, p. 49) quotes from a similar marriage bond, which has the words solutum (for the groom) and solutam (for the bride) in the equivalent position in the sentence, both meaning 'single' (he says).

Perhaps 'solututum' can be put down to the less-than-perfect Latin of the clerk, or a simple writing error? Have you looked at any other bonds in this same group, to see if this particular spelling recurs?

[Coromandel]

I agree with Peter and Arthur that it probably means unmarried.

Me too, especially as William is described as 'Singleman' in the English part of the bond.

[robinj]

Very many thanks to Arthur, Coromandel, Kerrywood and Peter for your collective wisdom. There seems to be a general consensus that the "solututum" is a clerical error for "solutum" (accusative of "solutus" = "single man") and I am now almost 100% convinced that this is what it means. Many thanks again to you all!

[robinj]

I should have said in my earlier post that I have looked at a few other Marriage Licence Bonds from the Archdeaconry of Norfolk Court dated around 1731. The earlier ones are in Latin and the later ones in English. The changeover seems to occur round about 1731. In the English ones there are several occurrences of one or other of the bondsmen being described as "Singleman". In the Latin ones I found one or two examples of the use of "solutum", but none of "solututum".

[Findem]

Hi,

I read somewhere that a good many people in the Clergy were not as proficient in Latin as they should be or thought they were, it was a comment on the various ways that a first name would be spelt in Latin by the Clergy. So I guess if they had trouble with everyday first names it would also be the case with words like singleman or singlewoman. In the Essex PRs I've seen common names like William spelt several different ways in Latin, in the same PR, you would think if someone wasn't sure of the correct Latin spelling of a name they would look at how someone else spelt it previously, wouldn't take much searching to find another William!

Regards

[robinj]

Hello Findem,

Yes, I am becoming more and more certain that this is an example of someone making up their Latin as they go along. It is what my old Latin teacher used to describe as "dog Latin".

Best wishes

[Findem]

Hi,

I first heard the term "dog latin" in my first year of an apprenticeship, a guy had on his work bench a wooden plaque inscribed "Nil B*******m Carborundum", which he said was dog latin for Don't let the B******* grind you down, that was some sixty years ago and it's stayed with me. Thanks for reminding me of that, it's so comforting to know my brain still works!

Regards.