Letters: narrating the case between Dundee and Montrose held before a committee of parliament continued at Edinburgh and Stirling (abstract)

James, etc., to all good men, etc., greeting. From the mature deliberation of the three estates chosen thereto in the parliament held at Edinburgh and begun on 6 March 1458, having the power of parliament for the determination of the litigations, controversies and debates long pending between the burgesses of Dundee and Montrose, concerning their freedoms and bounds for buying and selling, and especially concerning the liberty of possession of the indictment of forestallers and the correction of them in all the sheriffdom of Forfar. In the said parliament both parties compeared and with their consent the debate was continued before prelates, nobles and good men chosen thereto by [...] and the king's councillors, with the full power of parliament. And after various continuations it was continued peremptorily at Stirling, and then various prelates, nobles and good men chosen thereto with the power of parliament, seeing various letters and evidences of many king's of Scots, especially Robert I known vulgarly as 'the Bruce', offered on behalf of Dundee, and other reasons, along with a certain decreet given in the public parliament of our progenitor [James I] by persons of the three estates chosen thereto, all of which seen, read and understood, it was determined before the king by the same chosen people with the power of parliament in this way: that the liberties of buying and selling contained in the charters of Dundee and Montrose ought to remain with the burgesses peacefully in perpetuity, and the the liberties of the indictment of all forestallers in all the sheriffdom of Forfar pertains to the burgh and burgesses of Dundee, and the power of correction of forestallers pertains to the great chamberlain and his deputes who shall be for the time in the king's chamberlain ayres, and should remain peacefully that way according to the act and decreet of the councillors [consulum]† having the power of parliament written below. The king confirms the same, and ratifies the liberty of the indictment of forestallers for the burgh of Dundee, forbidding any to act to the contrary, under pain of full forfeiture. Which letter, to remain in perpetuity with the burgesses of Dundee, was ordered to have the great seal appended. Witnesses: Thomas [Spens], bishop of Galloway, keeper of the privy seal, Andrew [Stewart], lord Avondale, Patrick [Graham], lord Graham, Robert [Fleming], lord Fleming, Master James Stewart, dean of Moray, Ninian Spot, canon of Dunkeld, comptroller, Nicholas Otterburn, clerk of the rolls of the register, Robert Nairn, burgess of Stirling, and Thomas Laing. At Edinburgh 12 October 1458, 22nd year of the reign.

  1. NAS, Register of the Great Seal, C2/5/29, ff.17r-18r. This royal letter of October 1458 was not made in parliament, but contains a detailed account of the proceedings of this unusual parliamentary committee which met outside the usual session of parliament, and which was chosen, at least in part, by the king's council, not the three estates. Back
  2. 'Consulum' appears to mean 'councillors' (gen. pl.), although this is an unusual term to use, since councillors are invariably 'consiliarius' in this period. A translation of 'consuls' or 'magistrates' might be preferable, but the reference to 'consulum nostrorum subscriptorum' appears unambiguously to refer to the king's councillors on the witness list at the end of the letter. In other words, parliamentary power had been delegated to the king's council, who had chosen the committee that was to decide the Dundee/Montrose case. Back