[1594/4/35]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
Our sovereign lord and estates of this present parliament, understanding that sundry of his highness's lieges are heritably infeft in diverse lands and annualrents within this realm; likewise their predecessors and ancestors from whom their right thereof proceeds have been heritably infeft in the same lands and annualrents, and by virtue of their several infeftments and liferents therein reserved, they and their predecessors and ancestors (from whom their right thereof proceeds) have held the foresaid lands and annualrents by the space of 40 years together, notwithstanding whereof the said infeftments made and granted to them and their predecessors and ancestors are sundry times drawn in question for lack and want of procuratories of resignation, instruments of resignation, precepts of clare constat or other precepts of sasine which are not extant to be produced and used in respect that the same are lost, partly by iniquity of time, partly by perishing of protocols and scrolls of notaries, partly for not delivering of the same by the persons, sellers and conveyers thereof, partly because the evidents of comprised lands used to be abstracted and withheld upon malice of parties, and partly as evidents not thought necessary to have been kept after such long time, by reason that the charters makes mention of the procuratories and instruments of resignations, and instruments of sasine makes mention of the precepts of sasine whereupon the same proceeds. For remedy whereof, our said sovereign lord, with advice of the said estates and whole body of this present parliament, finds, decrees and declares that none of his highness's lieges may be compelled after the space of 40 years to produce procuratories or instruments of resignation, precepts of clare constat or other precepts of sasine of lands or annualrents whereof the present heritable possessors and their predecessors and authors and other persons by virtue of liferents reserved in the said infeftments are and were in possession by the space of 40 years together, and that the wanting and lack thereof, nor none of them, shall be no cause of reduction of the infeftments granted to the proprietors or their predecessors or ancestors of the lands or annualrents whereof the charter or charters (making mention of the resignation or resignations to have been made, and the instrument of sasine making mention of the precepts of sasines by virtue whereof the sasines were given) are extant; and wills, statutes and ordains that this act shall be extended to all procuratories and instruments of resignation, precepts of clare constat or other precepts of sasines, the wanting and lack whereof and none of them shall be no cause of reduction nor other quarrel whatsoever after the space of 40 years where infeftments have taken effect by possession by the said space of 40 years in manner above-rehearsed, and where the charters and instruments of sasine are extant as said is.