The entry in the Kettins register ends abruptly, with the name and gender of the child left blank, and no indication that he/she was baptized. Could this have been a stillbirth? Or the sudden death of a live child within a couple of days? That seems unlikely. Would register entries be prepared in advance, before the health of the child and the date of the baptism were fixed? How much time would that save?
However, something like this does seem to have been the practice on this Kettins register page. 5 other entries are similarly incomplete, with the child's name left blank: June 2nd, June 22nd, Sept 8th of 1744, plus March 9th & May 5th of 1745. And the handwriting of some of the other (completed) entries appears to indicate that the child's name has been added later, perhaps even by a different person. Was an erratic, ill, lazy, distracted or forgetful clerk to blame?
Who might the June 15th 1745 child of Alexander Bruce and Isoble Saunders have been, had he/she lived? This appears to have been the couple's first child. They had at least 1 later recorded female child (Elizabeth b 8/8/1755), 2 baptized male children (James b 3/5/1752 d 23/9/1753: Peter b 2/9/1759) plus a son George who has no recorded birth, but whose death - at age 23 years - is recorded on 11/3/1780 (i.e. born c. 1756-7).
I mention this because if the 1745 child was a son, there's a good chance he would have been called Alexander, after his father (and if not, it would be quite unusual for one of the later sons NOT to have been given that name.
Which leads me to a final clue:~ An entry in the Kettins Burials Register for 1800 [294/ 050/ 257]:
"1800 p31 [Date:] April 8 [No.] 6 [Defuncts Name:] Alexander Bruce in Balgove [Age:] 56 [Disease:] Decay."
That gives him an approximate year of birth of 1744. Just about spot on for the nameless 15/6/1745 child. I'm not aware of any other Alexander Bruce in Balgove, Kettins who would fit.
