Crystal Ball?

[emanday]

I've downloaded a 1890 Eyemouth DC for a "potential" rellie, Isabella Landels, and was a little disturbed by the comment with the RCE notation (put there possibly because her husband couldn't give her mother's name at all, but will have to wait for the RCE's to find out ).

The whole thing reads

"Result of Precognition
See Reg of Cor Entries
Vol I p 94
18th January 1890"

Thought OK, maybe I'm getting the meaning for precognition wrong, but checked and from Wiki...

"In parapsychology, precognition (from the Latin præ-, “prior to,” + cognitio, “a getting to know”) is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a person perceives information about future places or events before they happen (as distinct from merely predicting them based on deductive reasoning and current knowledge)."

Wonder who had the crystal ball

Can anyone enlighten me?

[pinkshoes]

Hiya - I think precognition is a legal term to do with taking a statement - not sure if it's the act of doing this, or the actual statement itself (vague recollection from working for a solicitor years ago).

Maybe that'll do till the experts arrive

Sorry to blow the crystal ball to bits - I like that explanation better

Best wishes
Pinkshoes

[emanday]

Thanks Pinkshoes,

Sorry to blow the crystal ball to bits - I like that explanation better

I just got this picture in my mind of the registrar and assorted folk sitting round a table either holding hands asking "is there anyone there?" or him sitting with a wee wumman in a headscarf gazing into a crystal ball

[DavidWW]

Hiya - I think precognition is a legal term to do with taking a statement - not sure if it's the act of doing this, or the actual statement itself (vague recollection from working for a solicitor years ago).

Maybe that'll do till the experts arrive

Sorry to blow the crystal ball to bits - I like that explanation better

Best wishes
Pinkshoes

Jist that.

Nae crystal ball involved

David

[emanday]

Thanks David.

I'm almost disappointed

So, what's with these legal eagles who take a perfectly good word, with an accepted meaning, and use it to their own ends?

I mean you couldn't get two more different meanings if you tried!

One is the foreseeing of what might be to come
The other is a statement of facts

[Russell]

Hi Mary

In my nursing days I occasionally was asked to attend Police Precognitions to identify clothing and other significant effects worn by, or carried by a casualty and go over possible questions which might be asked in court about my memory of a particular casualty, keeping in mind that the incident and admission might have taken place up to a year previously.
This was a form of crystal ball gazing trying to look into possible lines of questioning a prosecutor or defence lawyer might take. So not too far removed from the original intent and meaning is it

Russell

[AnneM]

Indeed a precognition is usually a statement you take to ascertain what a witness will say in court, if you're lucky. Pre meaning before cognition meaning knowing. As the general rule goes "never ask a question to which you don't know the answer!"

I've just spent some of today arranging to precognose a couple of my witnesses for a forthcoming case.

I think in the deaths case it just extends the meaning to mean statement.

Anne

[emanday]

Russell and Anne,

Very informative, and I understand the "never ask a question you don't know the answer to" rule...

BUT...

A'hm still awfy disapointed

[DavidWW]

It's always been a perfectly good word in terms of Scottish legal vocabularly.

Like "compear", "panel", and that's not a door panel, or a group of people

Never mind any registrar using a crystal ball would have received his jotters pretty quickly!

David

[emanday]

Never mind any registrar using a crystal ball would have received his jotters pretty quickly!David

Spoilsports