[1609/4/47]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
Our sovereign lord and estates of this present parliament, understanding that his majesty, upon 25 July 1594, made and constituted his highness's right trusty cousin and councillor Archibald, earl of Argyll, lord Campbell and Lorne etc., his highness's lieutenant and justice in that part within the bounds of the sheriffdoms of Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Forres, Nairn, Inverness, Cromarty and Tarbert, to the effect contained in the commission granted to the said Earl of Argyll thereupon, as the same of the date foresaid, registered in the books of secret council upon the day foresaid, at more length bears, and that according to the said commission and shortly after the granting thereof the said Archibald, earl of Argyll, accompanied with a great number of his friends, vassals, men, tenants, servants, dependents and others, our sovereign lord's lieges, passed to the bounds above-specified therein contained, where they remained a certain long space thereafter for execution of the said commission. And his highness, not willing that the said Archibald, earl of Argyll, his friends, vassals, men, tenants, servants or any other persons being in their company the time foresaid shall incur any crime, peril, danger, damage or inconvenience through the execution of his highness's commission above-written in their bodies, lands, possessions, goods or gear in time coming, therefore his majesty and his said estates of this present parliament decree, declare, statute and ordain that all and sundry slaughters, mutilations, bloodshed, fire-raising, demolishing and destruction of houses, buildings, plantings and policies, robberies, oppressions, depredations, spuilzies, ejections, intrusions, wrongful intromissions, contraventions and all other crimes, offences, wrongs, facts, deeds, actions and enterprises whatsoever, as well criminal as civil, committed or assisted by the said Earl of Argyll, his friends, vassals, men, tenants, servants, dependents, party, partakers or by any other person or persons whatsoever of their company directly or indirectly against whatsoever person or persons, their lands, houses, rents, policies, goods or gear within the bounds contained in the said commission or in the repairing and returning to and from the said bounds from the date foresaid of the same commission to 2 January next thereafter in the year of God above-written, together with all decreets following thereupon and all action, as well criminal as civil, moved and intended or that may in any way be moved or pursued hereafter against the said earl or his foresaids, their heirs, executors or successors directly or indirectly for the causes above-mentioned or any of them committed or assisted by them within the space above-specified, with all that has followed, shall or may follow thereupon, to be now by the authority of this present parliament and to be in all time coming extinguished, expired, remitted, discharged, abolished, buried, taken away and put in perpetual oblivion simply and for ever; likewise his majesty and estates foresaid by the tenor hereof extinguish, remit, discharge, abolish, bury, take away and put the same in perpetual oblivion simply for now and ever in all time coming, and declare that no action, process nor execution shall be intended, moved, used nor pursued criminally nor civilly by any manner of way in the premises, directly nor indirectly, against the said Earl of Argyll, his friends, vassals, men, tenants, servants, dependents, assisters, party and partakers or others being in their company, nor their heirs, successors nor executors in any time hereafter, discharging the lords of his highness's council and session, secret council, sheriffs, his majesty's advocates and all other judges and ministers of his highness's laws within this realm, masters and officers of arms of all calling, accusing, arresting, summoning, pursuing, troubling or in any way molesting of the said Earl of Argyll or his foresaids or any others of their company for the premises, or concerning the same or any thing that has followed or that may follow thereupon, and of their offices in that part simply and for ever.