[1587/7/55]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
†Our sovereign lord, with express advice and consent of the estates of parliament, understanding that diverse earls, lords, barons, gentlemen, freeholders, tenants and possessors of lands, rooms, teinds, teind sheaves and other duties, as well spiritual as temporal, have been charged by virtue of our sovereign lord's letters, directed by his highness's secret council, lords of session and exchequer respectively, to make payment to sundry persons in whose favour the said lands were granted of their mails, ferms, kanes, customs, teinds, teind sheaves and other duties of their said lands, rooms and possessions, and that the same were made by them in good faith for eschewing of the danger and process of horning to have been executed against them by virtue of the said letters granted in favour of sundry persons and proceeding upon factories, gifts, provisions and certain other securities purchased from our sovereign lord in whose favour the said letters were directed; and our said sovereign lord and three estates aforesaid, not being of mind and intention that the said earls, lords, barons, gentlemen, tenants and possessors who have made payment in good faith of their mails, ferms, teinds, teind sheaves and other duties to the said persons in whose favour the said letters were granted and directed should in any way be interested or prejudiced for their obedience to his highness's charges, therefore our said sovereign lord, with advice of the three estates in parliament, by the tenor hereof, statutes, declares and ordains that all and whatsoever persons who have already made payment of their said mails, ferms, teinds, teind sheaves and other duties for their said lands, rooms, steadings and possessions, for obedience of the said charges and letters executed and directed contrary to them, which letters and charges therein contained proceeded upon factories, gifts, pensions and other titles granted by our said sovereign lord, and who have reported discharges of the payment made by them from the said persons in whose favour the said letters were directed, or others in their names, shall be safe, freed and free in all time coming by the payment made by them in good faith already as said is, and the person or persons having or pretending right to the mails, ferms, teinds, teind sheaves and other duties shall have no action for repetition or recovering thereof from the said persons who have made payment of the same as said is before the date of this act, providing always that the aforesaid persons and each one of them claiming the benefit of this present act shall be held not only to produce their particular discharges and acquittances above-written before the judge ordinary, but also to compear personally before the same judge to give their oaths of verity upon the truth of their said discharges whenever it shall happen them or any of them to be called and convened by any party having interest to that effect before the said judge ordinary; and ordains letters to be directed to the effect aforesaid, if need be, in the appropriate form.