[1579/10/68]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
Forasmuch as [Mary], our sovereign lord's dearest mother, with advice of her secret council, after her perfect age of 25 years, gave and granted to the provost, bailies, council and community of the burgh of Edinburgh, for the sustenance of the ministry and hospitals within the same, all lands, annualrents, obits† and alms money, mails, rents, revenues and duties whatsoever pertaining of before to whatsoever benefice, altarage or chaplainry within the said burgh and freedom thereof, or owing out of the said burgh or tenements thereof to whatsoever other benefice or chaplainry, as the said gift in itself at more length bears; and albeit there be certain chaplainries founded in certain places lying without the said burgh, to the which the said provost, bailies and council are undoubted patrons, the service of the which chaplainries has altogether ceased and ceases through the abrogation of the papistical superstition within this realm, so that the fruits, rents and duties of the said chaplainries of good reason ought now to be applied to some better use. Wherefore our sovereign lord, with advice and consent of the three estates of this present parliament, grants and gives full liberty and freedom to the said provost, bailies, council and community and their successors to receive and uplift the profits and duties of the aforesaid benefices, altarages and chaplainries, to the which they and their predecessors were patrons with full rights, to be bestowed to the sustenance of the said ministry and hospital and to call, follow and pursue for the said fruits and profits of all years and terms past since the same became vacant and in time coming for ever, with such privilege for recovering thereof as any ecclesiastical person has for recovering of the fruits and rents of their benefices, providing always that they be accountable yearly to the exchequer; and if there be any benefices of cure, that they convey the same to qualified persons. And moreover, because there are diverse persons, godly and zealously moved, pitying the miserable estate of the poor and delighting in that good work of erection of a hospital within the said burgh, minded to supply the said hospital with their alms and support of annualrents, lands and tenements lying within the said burgh to be annexed thereto for the maintenance of the poor, weak, aged and sick persons to be sustained therein, therefore our said sovereign lord, with advice of his said three estates, gives and grants licence to all persons who may be moved to support the said hospital in lands, tenements or annualrents lying within the said burgh so to do, and that this act of parliament shall be to the effect aforesaid sufficient in all respects to all gifts and donations made or to be made of lands or annualrents lying within the said burgh to the said hospital, and shall be of as great strength as if particular confirmations were given upon every one of the said donations as mortified to the said hospital, in manner aforesaid, because the same can in no way hurt our said sovereign lord's profit who has no yearly profit out of the said burgh except his burgh mails and service of burgh.