Letters respecting the Watt family

LETTER I.
THE GRANDFATHER
OF
JAMES WATT.
To the Editor of the Greenock Advertiser.
Sir — Having made a collection of a few facts
regarding the ancestors of James Watt, may I re-
quest the insertion, in your paper, of the following
respecting his grandfather: —
Thomas Watt, grandfather to the celebrated
James Watt, was born during the civil wars between
Charles the First and the Parliament. The father of
Thomas, who farmed a piece of land, belonging to
himself, in the county of Aberdeen, having engaged,
as most men of the time were obliged to do, on one
side or other, in the wars, was killed in one of
Montrose's battles. It is not stated on which side
he fought, but the probability is, that he espoused
the cause of the covenanters. My reason for sup-
posing this shall be afterwards given. From the
age assigned to Thomas Watt, at the time of his
death, and there are two records extant of that
event, he must have been born between the years
1639 and 1642 — a period of great trouble in Scot-
land, particularly in the county and city of Aber-
deen, when, according to John Spalding, in his
" History of the Troubles and Memorable Trans-