[1593/4/48]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
Forasmuch as immediately after the marriage contracted and solemnised between the king and queen's majesties, our sovereign lord and lady, his highness, for the singular love and affection borne toward her, gave, granted and confirmed to her in form of morning gift† all and whole the lordship of Dunfermline, with all baronies, lands, principal mansion houses, yards, pastures, mills, multures, mill-lands, teinds, as well as great as small, woods, copses, coals, coal-works, fishings and all other pertinents thereof whatsoever, as well as not named as named, as well as under the earth as above, lying on the north part of the water of Forth; which lands, baronies, with all above-specified, his highness of before had united, annexed and incorporated in a whole and free lordship for payment of one silver penny at the feast of Whitsunday [May/June] in name of blench ferm, likewise at more length is contained in the said gift dated at Oslo in Norway, 24 November the year of God 1589; and thereafter his majesty was infeft and got possession and sasine of the said lordship upon the [...] day of May the year of God 1590, which gift, infeftment and whole contract of marriage is ratified, approved and promised to be accomplished by his highness and his estates, as his confirmation under his great seal and under the seals and subscriptions of his said estates dated and delivered to the ambassadors of Denmark upon 17 May the year of God foresaid, as also in the parliament held at Edinburgh upon 5 June the year of God 1592, our sovereign lord, with advice and consent of his estates in parliament, ratified and approved the said contract of marriage, morning gift and also the charter, precept and instrument of sasine given by his highness to the queen, his dearest spouse, according to the said contract of the palace of Linlithgow, with the lordship and lands of the same, yards, pastures, lochs, fishings, mills, multures, coals, coal-works, rents, ferms, victuals, customs, with advocation and donation of benefices, tenants, tenancies, service of free tenants, annexed and connexed lands, parts, pendicles and pertinents thereof whatsoever lying within the sheriffdom of Linlithgow; and also the earldom of Fife, with the palace and castle of Falkland, lordship, lands, woods, copses, pastures, rents, ferms, duties, customs, mills, multures, with advocation and donation of benefices, tenants, tenancies and service of free tenants, annexed and connexed lands, parts, pendicles and pertinents whatsoever, as well as not named as named, lying within the sheriffdom of Fife, and whole contents thereof according to the said charter of the date at Holyroodhouse, 11 May 1590; and further decreeing and declaring that the said contract of marriage, whole clauses and contents thereof, the said morning gift, the said lordship of Dunfermline renewed as said is above-specified, the charters, precepts and instruments of sasine of the said earldom, lordship and others above-specified, to have been made and done to the honour, benefit and profit of his majesty and his highness's crown and to the benefit and commodity of the whole realm, and therefore decreeing and ordaining the same to stand effectual and to be inviolably and faithfully observed, kept and fulfilled in all points in all time coming; and that the said decreet and sentence of parliament should be extracted under the great seal and seals of the whole nobility, barons, clergy and commissioners of burghs, lords of articles of the said parliament if need be, through which his highness and his estates, representing the whole body of this realm, are obliged to the accomplishing and fulfilling of the said contract, morning gift, infeftments and titles made to our said sovereign lady in manner before-specified. Nevertheless, because through occasion of sundry unprofitable dispositions made of sundry parts of the fruits and rents of the said lordship of Dunfermline, partly before and partly after the said morning gift, the full rents of the said lordship accordingly as it is valued could not be received and timeously brought in to her majesty's proper use, our said sovereign lord has been diverse times moved by his dearest brother, cousin and ally the king of Denmark, and his ambassadors in his name sent to this realm, that the said morning gift might be made good to the queen's highness, and she entered in real possession thereof to her own proper use. Thereupon treaty being had between his majesty and certain of his council in his name and the ambassadors of his said dearest brother, cousin and ally the king of Denmark, resolution is taken that her majesty and her chamberlain in her name shall have full and real possession of the said lordship of Dunfermline and so many of the rents and fruits thereof as are presently free and inviolated, and shall have also compensation out of the rents and property of the crown by infeftment of special lands and possessions as will extend in certain and free rent, all charges deducted, to the sum of £6,000 money of this realm yearly, to be collected and intromitted with by her highness's own chamberlain in her name and to her benefit and proper use until such parts of the rents of Dunfermline as are now possessed by some in liferents may accrue by their death, and the pretended titles now standing upon the rents and fruits of the said lordship of Dunfermline may be annulled and taken away by order of law and justice, and the same rents recovered and made peaceable to be intromitted with by her highness and her chamberlain to her proper use and benefit, which, God willing, is to be performed within the space of one year and a half, which will be more acceptable to her majesty; and always as any part of the rent of Dunfermline now violated shall be recovered, and her highness in peaceable possession thereof, as much of the said compensation out of the property shall be relieved and return to be received and intromitted with by his highness's comptroller to his majesty's own use. Moreover, our said sovereign lord, considering that the whole lordship of Dunfermline, as well as lands and teinds, third as two parts, is conferred to our said sovereign lady, his dearest spouse, in her morning gift as said is, and that it is already found by his majesty by an act made with advice of the lords and others of his highness's privy council, session and exchequer, authorised, allowed and approved since then by his estates in parliament that the thirds of benefices and surplus thereof, being destined for support of the public affairs and sustentation of the ministry, might be conveyed, given or employed in no other way but to the said use and effect for which they were appointed at the beginning; and likewise that no pensions, tacks or liferents of the said surplus might or may be conveyed in time coming for any longer space than the space of one year, and that after the making of the yearly assignations of the ministers' stipends and sufficient provision for sustaining of his majesty's house yearly, decreeing and declaring all and whatsoever pensions, liferents and tacks purchased or to be purchased whereby the thirds, surplus thereof or the first and best rentals thereof have been diminished or altered since the first assumption of the said thirds granted either by our sovereign lord's dearest mother or by his highness's self to whatsoever person or persons upon wrong report or inopportune suit without cognition preceding of the sustentation of the ministry and sufficient provision for sustaining of his majesty's house, to have been from the beginning and to be in all time coming of no value, force nor effect notwithstanding whatsoever ramifications or confirmations following thereupon. And likewise the general collector by himself, his chamberlains and under-receivers in his name are ordained to ask, crave, receive, intromit and uptake all and whole the thirds of benefices within this realm unassigned to the ministry where the first and best rentals of the same are altered or diminished since the first assumption of the said thirds of the crop and year of God 1587, and likewise yearly in time coming according to the rentals made account of in the year 1584 and last thereof; and if the said thirds be diminished or hurt in any way by the said last rentals and assumptions of the said thirds made in the year of God 1561, the said collector to have recourse to the first assumption for so much of said thirds as the same are diminished by the last assumption, and to charge for the same without respect of any pension, tack, liferent or discharge of the said thirds and surplus, or any part thereof altered or diminished in the rentals since the first assumption of the thirds as said is. So now our sovereign lord, by advice of his estates in this present parliament, ordains and gives full right and power by the tenor hereof to the queen, his dearest spouse, our sovereign lady, by herself, or her chamberlain in her own name, and to her proper use and benefit, to ask, crave, receive, intromit and uptake the whole third of the said abbey and lordship of Dunfermline, sustaining the ministers serving at the proper kirks thereof in state as they were assigned at the time of the making of the said morning gift, or further at her good pleasure and that the Whitsunday [14 May] term last bypast, Martinmas [11 November] next to come and of the crop and year of God 1593, and likewise yearly in time coming during her lifetime, according to the first assumption of the third of Dunfermline and account made thereof in the crop and year of God 1561. And likewise ordains that the lords of council and session shall in no way grant any suspension or relaxation from the horn to any person or persons charged or denounced for payment of the said third of Dunfermline, altered or diminished from the first and best rental as said is, until the sums and victuals charged for be first paid to her majesty and her chamberlain in her name, notwithstanding whatsoever pension, tack, liferent or discharge purchased or to be purchased of the same third where the first and best rental is altered or diminished as said is of this instant crop and year of God 1593 and yearly in time coming during her lifetime as said is, but that the said lords shall repute and esteem the same as null in itself, and the said nullity to be received as well as by way of exception as action, without prejudice nevertheless of whatsoever heritable infeftments granted by our sovereign lord, whereby the condition of the said thirds are altered or diminished. In addition, our sovereign lord, with advice of his estates of parliament, in respect of said morning gift so faithfully and solemnly promised to be made up and made good, decrees and declares all gifts and provisions made of the titles of the kirks of the said abbey and lordship since the date of the said morning gift to whatsoever persons to be likewise null from the beginning and to be in all times coming of no value, force nor effect, and the said nullity to be received by whatsoever judge as well as by way of exception as action notwithstanding any dispensation or act of parliament made or to be made in the contrary. Moreover, our said sovereign lord, with advice of his said estates of parliament, considering that the queen, his dearest spouse, is infeft and seised in the said lordship of Dunfermline granted to her in morning gift as said is during her lifetime with tenants, tenancies, service of free tenants, advocation, donation and right of patronage of kirks, benefices and chaplainries pertaining thereto, and that her majesty is likewise infeft in liferent in the said earldom of Fife and lordship of Linlithgow, and in addition and beside the same in the third part of the property of the realm of Scotland and all profits, rents and emoluments of the same property pertaining to his highness or property of the realm, all ratified and approved by his highness and his estates of before in parliament; and to the effect that the same may be the better preserved from unprofitable dispositions in time coming, and his highness, his estates and realm the better relieved, her highness, with his majesty's special advice and consent, has nominated certain persons of his highness's privy council, session and exchequer: they are to say Alexander [Seton], lord Urquhart, president of the college of justice, Walter [Stewart], commendator of Blantyre, keeper of the privy seal, Master John Lindsay of Balcarres, Master James Elphinstone of Invernochty,† Master Thomas Hamilton of Drumcairnie, Alexander Hay of Easter Kennet, clerk register, and Master Peter Young of Seaton, almoner to his majesty, to be also of her highness's council in things tending to her honour and commodities, collection and spending of her living, and in the administration of the affairs concerning the same living, namely in hearing of the accounts thereof and touching the passing of the presentation of kirks and benefices, prebendaries, chaplainries and alterages or masters and members of hospitals whereof her highness has gift and right of patronage; and in receiving and entering of free tenants upon retours or by clare constat, or upon resignations, or in granting of confirmations, or setting of tacks of lands, teinds or other possessions, or making of whatsoever dispositions; which councillors have made faith to give her highness their true advice and counsel in these premises. Likewise her highness, with advice of our said sovereign lord, her husband, for his interest, is well contented and has promised in the word of a princess to follow the good advice of her highness's councillors in the premises, and that she shall not deteriorate her said morning gift or others of her liferent lands and living by her deed and occasion, and that no writ, evident or precept that shall be presented relating thereto shall be passed their majesties' hands until the same be first seen, read and deliberately considered by her said council and subscribed by them (at the least four of them convened together, the said lord president always being one), testifying the matter to be lawful and for her highness's honour and commodity; without which her majesty's seal shall not be appended nor affixed thereto, nor the same writ, evident or precept shall be of no value, force nor effect to the purchaser. To the which all and sundry premises our sovereign lord, with advice of his estates in this present parliament, interposes his consent and authority, ratifying, allowing and approving the same for ever. It is thus subscribed, James Rex, Anne Regina.