[1605/6/110]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
Our sovereign lord, with advice and consent of the estates of the parliament of Scotland presently convened, considering the manifold good, true and thankful services done to his majesty by his highness's right trusty and familiar councillor, Master John Bothwell of Aldhammer, one of the lords and senators of his majesty's college of justice, as well in his daily and continual attending in the secret council and session for the administration of justice to all his majesty's lieges, as in diverse and sundry other great, weighty and honourable services committed to his charge by his highness concerning the commonwealth of this realm of Scotland, wherein he has ever discharged himself most faithfully to his majesty's great honour and contentment and to the singular commodity and well of the realm of Scotland and lieges thereof; and his majesty, being always of mind and intention to remunerate his said faithful services as occasion shall offer with some token of his highness's favour, his majesty, having now by special instructions proposed to the said estates of parliament the said great and faithful services done to his highness and for the commonwealth of the realm of Scotland, in particular by his said right trusty and familiar councillor, and the said estates, having thereupon taken full trial and verification, they have found, tried, censured and judged, likewise they presently find, censure and judge the same to be, and to have been, great, evident and reasonable causes for the well of his majesty and of the said realm of Scotland; as also his highness and estates foresaid find, decree and declare that his majesty, with their advice and consent, may for the said causes which they have known and tried to be for the appropriate well of his majesty and realm as said is, give, alienate and convey any part of the lands annexed to his highness's crown to his said right trusty and familiar councillor, his heirs and assignees heritable, to be held in such manner and in such form as his majesty best pleases, and to that effect that annexation of the lands to the crown that are to be alienated and conveyed shall be simply dissolved from the crown so that they may be alienated and conveyed to his said highness's right trusty and familiar councillor and his heirs heritably. And the said estates, being ripely and gravely advised what his majesty may alienate and convey with least detriment to his highness's crown and yearly rent, the said estates, all in one voice, have found and declared and, by the tenor hereof, find and declare that the temporality, property and superiority with the feu ferms and duties of all and sundry such lands, baronies, commons, pittance silver, annualrents and others, with the feu ferms and duties thereof, which pertained of old to the abbacy of Holyroodhouse as a part of the temporality thereof and were annexed to the crown by virtue of the general act of annexation of the whole kirk lands of the realm of Scotland to the crown in the parliament held at Edinburgh in the month of July 1587, now being in his majesty's hands by virtue of the said annexation, likewise the spirituality of the said abbacy containing the abbey place and monastery with the houses, buildings, yards and others lying within the precinct thereof, together with the teind sheaves and other teinds, fruits, rents, emoluments and duties, both parsonage and vicarage, of the parish kirks and parishes of Whitekirk, Liberton, Tranent, Crawford Lindsay, St Cuthberts and Holyroodhouse, which come under the general exception from the said annexation and pertained to John, commendator of the said abbacy of Holyroodhouse and convent thereof, as a part of the spirituality of the same, being now presently in his majesty's hands by demission and resignation made thereof by the said commendator and convent of the said abbey, their lawful procurators and letters patent, as the said demission bears, may, with least detriment to his majesty or hurt to the rent and revenue of the crown, for the appropriate causes above-written, be alienated and conveyed by his majesty to his said right trusty and familiar councillor and his heirs heritably in most ample form; and, therefore, the said estates of parliament find it necessary and expedient that our said sovereign lord, by his highness's infeftment to be made by the advice of his majesty's ordinary officers, shall erect, unite, create and incorporate all and sundry the lands, baronies, annualrents, precinct, commons, pittance silver and others pertaining to the said abbacy of Holyroodhouse as a part of the temporality thereof by their names in special wherever they lie within this realm of Scotland, and which were annexed to the crown by virtue of the foresaid general act of annexation, together with all and sundry the teind sheaves and other teinds, fruits, rents, emoluments and duties whatsoever, both parsonage and vicarage, of the foresaid kirks and parishes of Whitekirk, Liberton, Tranent, Crawford Lindsay, St Cuthberts and Holyroodhouse in a whole and free barony and estate of a lordship of his highness's parliament; and that the same, with all privileges and commodities pertaining thereto, together with the honour, dignity and estate of a lord of his majesty's parliament, with badge and arms, for the causes foresaid, shall be alienated and conveyed to his said highness's right trusty and familiar councillor, his heirs and successors heritably, to be held of his majesty and his successors in free barony and lordship with the honour and dignity of a lord of parliament forever. And to that effect his majesty and estates foresaid of parliament dissolve, annul and infringe the said general annexation of the kirk lands of this realm of Scotland to the crown in so far as it may be extended to any part of the temporality of the said abbacy of Holyroodhouse that may be comprehended under any part of the said annexation only, and ordain the infeftment to be made hereupon to be extended in most ample form, bearing an union and incorporation of all the particulars in a barony and lordship with a special remit and discharge of the thirds of the said abbacy of Holyroodhouse, as well money as victual, together with all monks' portions, first year's fruits and fifth penny of the said abbacy and benefice thereof, because his majesty will be relieved and discharged of the sustentation of the ministers at the foresaid kirks, and also to bear and contain provision that the said lordship pay all taxations, with the temporal lords for the said temporality accounting the same to fifty pound land of old extent, and to have their relief of the heritable feuars, tenants and other tacksmen of the said lands and teinds after the rate and quantity of their lands and teinds so often as the said taxations shall occur, and with express power to them to reduce and retreat whatsoever infeftments, tacks, assedations, rights and titles of any part of the said lands, kirks and teinds for whatsoever cause competent of the law with all other clauses and provisions which shall be needful to them for possessing of the said lordship and barony; and to the effect foresaid, his majesty and estates of parliament have suppressed and extinguished the memory of the said abbacy of Holyroodhouse so that there shall be no successor provided thereto, nor no further mention made of the same in any time hereafter. And to the said alienation and disposition, now as if it were already made and then as now, his majesty and the said estates of parliament have interposed and interpose their consent and authority as that deed, which is now, and shall be in all times hereafter, esteemed and judged for the well of our said sovereign lord and for an appropriate profit and commodity to his crown and realm of Scotland, paying for that yearly the said Master John Bothwell, his heirs and successors to our said sovereign lord, his heirs and successors the sum of £200 money of Scotland at the feast of Whitsunday [May/June] in name of blench ferm, and also paying yearly to the ministers serving the cures at the kirks foresaid the particular stipends underwritten modified and appointed to them for serving the cures of the said kirks by the commissioners appointed for that effect, namely: to the minister serving the cure at the said kirk of Whitekirk, three chalders of victual, that is 10 bolls of wheat and 28 bolls of oats, with the charity, with the sum of 100 merks money, with vicarage, manse and glebe; to the minister serving the cure at the said kirk of Liberton, six chalders of victual, namely: one chalder of wheat, one chalder of barley, four chalders of oats, with vicarage, manse and glebe; to the minister serving the cure at the said kirk of Tranent, 200 merks money and three chalders of victual, namely: 12 bolls of wheat, 12 bolls of barley and 24 bolls of oats, with vicarage, manse and glebe; to the minister serving the cure at the said kirk of Crawford Lindsay, 400 merks money, with the glebe; to the minister serving the cure at the said kirk of St Cuthberts, seven chalders of victual, namely: one chalder of wheat, three chalders of barley and three chalders sufficient infield oats, with the vicarage, manse and glebe; and to the minister serving the cure at the said kirk of Holyroodhouse, 200 merks money and three chalders of victual, namely: one chalder of wheat, one chalder of barley, and one chalder of oats, with the charity.