Legislation: undated act from Advocates 2 MS

Item it is statut apone the matir of the kingis liegis that war warnit and chargit to pass with him in the northe cuntre againis his rebellouris and bade at hame withoutyn the kingis leff, or turnyt again be the way withoutyn leff, or tuk payment and helde it to thar awne oyse and mad na service tharfor, the justice sal mak a ditta within thar justris and punis thaim that ar falty as the cause requiris; the barounis makand request to the king for thar leffis that beis convickit.

  1. Adv. 2, f.123v. The only known source for this act is the Advocates 2 MS, where it follows acts 1430/27-8, and precedes the acts of 1432. As with most of the acts in Adv. 2, it is undated. Thomas Thomson silently placed the act among those of October 1431, but there is no evidence within the MSS itself to support his dating of the act, or his ordering of it within the context of the other acts of the parliament. The act could have been made at any point in 1430-1 according to the historical context of the period. If the act dated to October 1431 it would have followed the royal defeats at Inverlochy and Strathnaver in September, but a date in 1430 is just as likely following military campaigns in the north in 1429 (Tanner, Parliament, 43-53). The act's position in Adv. 2 might suggest that it was one of the March 1430 statutes, but this inference cannot be taken to be a fact without additional evidence. Back