[1662/5/11]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
Forasmuch as the king's majesty, understanding that diverse persons in the west had in the year 1650 invaded the lands belonging to [James Douglas], earl of Queensberry and [William Douglas], lord Drumlanrig, his son, and by force of arms entered their houses, seized upon their goods and cattle, destroyed their corns, possessed themselves of every thing they could be master of, and set fire to the gates of the house of Drumlanrig, and that notwithstanding after trial, the losses sustained thereby amounted to a vast sum; yet the said earl and his son, out of their love to peace and to shun trouble, were content at the desire of some of the persons who injured them to accept £2,000 sterling in satisfaction of all they could crave for the said loss and damage; therefore, his majesty, with advice of his estates in parliament, by an act of 29 March 1661 gave commission to Hugh [Montgomery], earl of Eglinton, James [Johnston], earl of Annandale, William [Cochrane], lord Cochrane, James Crichton, sheriff of Nithsdale, Robert Ferguson of Craigdarroch, Gilbert Richard of Barskimming, James Johnston of Corehead, Richard Murray of Broughton, Major Thomas Carruthers, [John Irvine], provost of Dumfries, and William Cunningham [of Brownhill], provost of Ayr, or any four of them, to call the persons mentioned in the said commission before them, to take trial of their guiltiness and accession to the said complaint and, according thereto and their estates and fortunes, to proportion and impose the foresaid sum of £2,000 sterling, provided that no part of it be laid on any person whose estate does not exceed £1,000 Scots, as is at more length contained in the said commission. And forasmuch as by the trial yet taken it appears that diverse persons guilty were omitted and left out of the said commission, their names and guiltiness not being so well-known at the time of the granting of the commission, and that the commissioners, in order thereto, had not imposed the whole sum of £2,000 sterling upon the persons named in the commission, but proportioned so as all who are guilty might bear their proportional part of the burden; therefore, the king's majesty, with advice and consent of his estates of parliament, does hereby prorogate and renew the commission above-mentioned, giving hereby power to the commissioners therein named to proceed in the execution of the said commission, conforming to the tenor thereof, against the persons therein contained, as also against the persons following, namely, [...] Hamilton of Grange, George Porterfield in Glasgow, Mr John Spreull, there, Thomas Campbell, there, Humphrey Colquhoun, there, John Aird of Milton, Robert Brown, clerk of Irvine,† James Blair, bailie of Irvine, Theophilus Rankine in Ayr, [...] Cathcart of Drumjoan, [...] Campbell of Achruthglen, [...] Dunbar of Knockshinnoch, [...] Gordon of Earlston and [...] Arnott of Barncaple; and according to their several accessions to the complaint aforesaid, and according to their fortunes and estates, to proportion and lay on the said sum of £2,000 sterling, or so much thereof as shall be instructed by the Lord Drumlanrig before the said commissioners not to have been satisfied by virtue of the former commission, with all diligence and to make report of their diligence thereupon to the estates of parliament and, in case of their not sitting, to the lords of his majesty's privy council, that their approbation being had thereto, execution may pass thereupon as is expressed in the first commission above-written.