[1661/1/341]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
Our sovereign lord, considering that the wealth, safety and strength of this his kingdom are very much concerned in the increase of shipping and encouragement of trade and navigation, both which are much decayed if not wholly ruined by the late unhappy wars, and the sad effects that have followed thereupon, and perceiving the present low condition of trade and the small number of ships and seamen within this kingdom, has thought expedient, out of his princely zeal for the public good, with advice and consent of his estates of parliament now presently convened, to statute and ordain and, by this act, statutes and ordains that from and after the [...] day of [...] and thenceforward no goods nor commodities whatsoever that are of foreign growth, product or manufactory which are to be brought into Scotland, or any of the isles thereto belonging, shall be shipped or brought from any other place or places, country or countries, but only from those places where the said commodities do grow, are produced or made, or from the ports where the said goods and commodities commonly are or usually have been first shipped for transportation, and from no other place or country, and in no other ships or vessels, but such as do truly and only belong to his said kingdom; and whereof the master and three fourth parts of the mariners are natives and inhabitants within the same, or at least in such ships and vessels as do truly and only belong to, and are of the build of these kingdoms or countries where the said commodities do grow, are made or produced, and whereof the master and three fourth parts of the mariners are natives and inhabitants within the same. All which is to be verified and attested under the seal of the city or place from whence they come, and oath of the parties to whom the said ships or vessels do belong, under the pain of confiscation of all such goods as shall be imported from any other place or country or in any other ship or vessel contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, as also of the ship in which they shall happen to be imported, with all her guns, furniture, tackle, ammunition and rigging, the one half to his majesty and the other half to the use of those who shall discover the contraveners of this present act, and pursue for the same before the lords of his majesty's exchequer. And further, it is statute and ordained by his majesty, with advice and consent foresaid, that all goods or commodities whatsoever produced or shipped as is above-expressed which from and after the said day and thenceforward shall be imported into this kingdom or any islands thereto belonging, in any ships or vessels that shall not truly and only belong to the natives and inhabitants thereof (except in English or Irish vessels, providing always that Scots vessels enjoy the like benefit of trade within the kingdoms and dominions of England and Ireland and not otherwise) shall be liable to double custom and pay accordingly, whether the said goods pertain to natives or aliens. And further, it is statute and ordained that from and after the said day and thenceforward all goods and commodities whatsoever belonging to aliens, exported or imported in whatsoever ships or vessels, whether foreign or Scottish, shall be liable to double custom and pay accordingly. And it is further statute and ordained that from and after the said day and thenceforward, all goods or commodities whatsoever exported in any other ships or vessels than such as do truly and only belong to the natives and inhabitants of this kingdom shall be liable to double custom and pay accordingly, whether the said goods appertain to natives or aliens. And it is further enacted and ordained by his majesty, with advice and consent foresaid, that at and after the said day and thenceforward all ships and vessels belonging to this kingdom shall be navigated only by Scotsmen dwelling in Scotland, at least the master and three fourth parts of the seamen being such, under the pain of being esteemed as foreign vessels and paying double custom for all the goods and commodities imported or exported within the same. And for preventing of all fraud which may be used in the buying of foreign ships, it is statute and ordained by his majesty, with consent foresaid, that from and after the said day no ship whatsoever shall be deemed or pass as a ship belonging to Scotland, or enjoy the benefit of such a ship or vessel until such time that he or they, claiming the same to be theirs, shall make appear to the chief officer or officers of the customhouse at Leith, he or they residing in any place between Berwick and Stirling on the south side of Forth, and to the chief officer or officers at Burntisland, he or they residing in any place between Stirling and Fifeness upon the north side of Forth, and in case of their abode in more remote places, to the officer or officers of the port next to the place of his or their abode, that he or they are not strangers, and shall have taken an oath before such officer or officers who are hereby authorised to administer the same, that such ship or vessel was in good faith and without fraud bought by him or them for a valuable consideration, expressing the sum, time, place and persons from whom it was bought, and who are his partners (if any he have), all which partners shall be liable to take the said oath before the chief officer or officers of the customs respectively, as said is, and that no foreigner directly nor indirectly has any part, interest or share therein and that upon such oaths he or they shall receive a certificate, under the hand or seal of the said chief officer or officers of the port next the abode of the persons so making oath, whereby such a ship may for the future pass and be deemed as a ship belonging to the said port and enjoy the privileges of such a ship or vessel, and the said officer or officers shall keep a register of all such certificates as he or they shall so give, and return a duplicate thereof to the chief officers of the customs at Leith, for such as shall be granted in all the other ports of this kingdom, together with the names of the person or persons from whom such ships were bought, and the sum of money which was paid for the same, as also the names of all such persons as are partners if any such be. And it is further enacted by his majesty, with consent foresaid, that if any officer of the customs shall from and after the said day allow to any foreign ship or vessel the privileges due to a Scots ship until such certificate is by them produced, or such proof and oath taken before them, or such as they shall appoint to receive the same and to examine whether the master and three fourth parts of the mariners at least are natives and inhabitants within this kingdom, that for the first offence such officer or officers shall be put out of their offices or places. And it is further statute and ordained that no merchants belonging to this kingdom shall employ any alien or person not born within this nation or naturalized or made a free denizen thereof, from and after the said day, as factor in any place beyond seas for the use and account of the merchants of this kingdom, under pain of a pecuniary mulct, to be paid by him or them that shall employ him, which sum shall be imposed at the discretion of the council of trade, the one half thereof to his majesty and his successors and the other half to him or them that shall inform and pursue for the same. It is always hereby provided that this act, nor any clause contained therein, extend not to or be meant to restrain or prohibit the importation of any of the commodities of Asia, Africa or America, as also of the commodities of Muscovy and Italy, from such ports and places and in such ships and vessels as may be got most conveniently until such time as the merchants of this kingdom have actual trade to these respective places, and that the same is prohibited by act of parliament, privy council or council of trade. It is hereby declared that it shall be lawful to import any sort of corn in time of dearth from any place or places in any ship or vessel whatsoever, without being liable to confiscation, double custom or any other penalty contained in this present act, the dearth and necessity of import being always examined and declared by a public act of the privy council or council of trade.