[1612/10/21]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
Our sovereign lord, estates and whole body of this present parliament, after mature deliberation and advisement, trial and cognition carefully and diligently taken by them, perfectly understanding that the contract and appointment passed between our said sovereign, with advice of the lords commissioners of his majesty's rents and lords of his highness's privy council of the kingdom of Scotland on the one part, and Sir John Arnott of Birswick, knight, with express consent and assent and advice of William and James Arnott, his lawful sons, on the other part, regarding the alienation and disposition made by the said Sir John and his sons foresaid to our said sovereign of sundry lands, isles and others specified in the same contract lying within the bounds of Orkney and Shetland, is made for the augmentation of the patrimony of his highness's crown of the kingdom of Scotland and so for the evident commodity, manifest utility and welfare of the realm of Scotland, lieges and subjects thereof, therefore our said sovereign, with advice and consent of his majesty's estates for them and their successors, ratifies, approves and perpetually confirms the foresaid contract and appointment in all and sundry points, heads, articles, clauses, circumstances and conditions thereof, and whole alienations, dispositions, bonds, obligations and assignations therein expressed, with the promise made by his highness in the word of a prince by the said contract to cause the said Sir John Arnott, his heirs, executors or assignees be thankfully paid out of the readiest and best payment of his highness's customs of the kingdom of Scotland of the sum of £300,000 usual money of the realm of Scotland at the terms and in manner therein specified, as the same contract of the date at Theobalds in England, and at Edinburgh respectively, 21 September and 9 October 1612, registered in the books of session and council 13 October the year of God foresaid, in the self at more length purports, together with all and whatsoever warrandice granted or to be granted by our said sovereign in favour of the said Sir John Arnott or his foresaids for thankful and ready payment to be made to the said Sir John or his foresaids of the sums of money or any part thereof promised to them by the said contract of whatsoever dates, tenor or contents the foresaid warrandice be, declaring hereby that the customs officials, farmers and tacksmen of his majesty's customs within this kingdom present and being for the time are, and shall be, obliged in payment to the said Sir John and his foresaids of the whole sums, quantities and proportions mentioned in the said contract at the several times therein prescribed; and the said Sir John and his foresaids, their acquittance to be given to the said custom officials shall be as sufficient to them according to amount as if a discharge had been given to them by the receivers of his majesty's rents and to be allowed and deducted to them in their accounts; and will and declare also this present ratification to be of as great strength, force and effect as if the foresaid contract and warrandice, whole tenor and contents thereof were word by word at length inserted herein; concerning which, our said sovereign and estates dispense by this ratification, and ordain the said Sir John to be thankfully paid of the sums promised to him by the said contract at the terms and in manner therein contained.
[1612/10/22]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
Our sovereign lord, estates and whole body of this present parliament, perfectly understanding that the augmentation of the patrimony and revenues of the crown of this realm not only serves for the promoting and maintenance of his highness's honour and royal estate, but also relieves greatly his majesty's subjects of great charges and diverse burdens, and to this effect our said sovereign, after long and mature deliberation taken thereupon by advice of the lords commissioners of his majesty's rents and lords of his highness's privy council of the kingdom of Scotland, has contracted with his trusty councillor Sir John Arnott of Birswick, knight, William and James Arnott, his lawful sons, for all right, title and interest that they or any of them has or may pretend to any lands, annualrents, isles, skerries, holms, mills, multures, fishings and others whatsoever lying within the earldom of Orkney and lordship of Shetland, or within the bounds of Orkney and Shetland or any part thereof, to the intent that the same may be annexed and appropriated to the patrimony of the crown of his highness's kingdom of Scotland, and has promised in the word of a prince to cause thankfully be paid and delivered out of the readiest of his majesty's customs of his said kingdom to the said Sir John Arnott, his heirs, executors or assignees the sum of £300,000 usual money of the foresaid kingdom at the terms and in manner specified in the contract made thereupon; therefore our said sovereign lord, following the commendable examples of his highness's most noble progenitors, with advice and consent of his majesty's estates and whole body of this present parliament, unites, annexes and incorporates to his highness's crown of the kingdom of Scotland, therewith to remain perpetually and inseparable in all times coming, the lands, isles, skerries, holms, mills, multures, fishings, annualrents and others whatsoever, as well specially as generally after-mentioned: that is to say, all and sundry the lands and isles of Birsay, Sandwick, Hoy, Waywik, South Ronaldsay, Shapinsay, Deerness, Sanday, Stronsay, Egilsay, Rousay and North Ronaldsay, with the manor places, houses, buildings, yards and all their pertinents lying within the sheriffdom of Orkney, which lands and isles pertained heritably of before to the said Sir John Arnott, held by him immediately of our said sovereign and were resigned by the said Sir John, with consent of the said William and James Arnott, his sons, personally in the hands of his highness's commissioners appointed for receiving of resignations within the realm of Scotland, to remain perpetually, and that in name and to the utility and use of our said sovereign and to remain with his majesty's immediate superior of the same and his highness's successors of the kingdom of Scotland perpetually in all times coming, together with all and whatsoever other lands, isles, skerries, holms, castles, towers, fortalices, mills, multures, fishings, as well in fresh as salt waters, annualrents, reversions, the whole lands called udal lands, roth,† anying,† samyn,† tolls, anchorages, customs, wattill,† foircoip,† landsettertoun,† austercope,† levies, land mails, wrack, waith, waif,† wair and other rights and duties whatsoever pertaining to the said earldom of Orkney and lordship of Shetland, annexes, connexes, outsets, outbreaks, commonties, parts, pendicles and pertinents thereof whatsoever, as well not named as named, wherever they lie, with tenants, tenancies and service of free tenants, with the advocation, donation and right of patronage of all benefices, chaplainries and stallars† founded and lying within the bounds of Orkney and Shetland, kirks, teinds, rents, fruits and emoluments whatsoever pertaining thereto lying within the same bounds of Orkney and Shetland, together also with the offices of sheriffship, justiciary and foudery of Orkney and Shetland, and of the constabulary and keeping of the castle of Kirkwall, with all fees, privileges and pertinents thereof whatsoever, and the right, privilege and jurisdiction of free regality and justiciary of all and sundry the foresaid lands, earldom, lordship and others above-specified, with free chapel and chancellery, and also all and sundry mines and minerals of metal, gold, silver, copper, brass, tin, lead and other minerals within the whole bounds of the said earldom and lordship, together also with all and sundry other privileges, immunities and liberties whatsoever contained and expressed in the infeftment made and given to Patrick [Stewart], earl of Orkney of the said earldom and lordship and which pertained to him by whatsoever manner of way, right or title, both property, superiority and tenancy, and that at what time and as soon as the right of the same or any part thereof be conquest and acquired by our said sovereign or his successors from a reverend father in God James [Law], bishop of Orkney, the said Sir John Arnott, William and James Arnott, his sons, or any other person or persons by comprising resignation to remain perpetually, or by any other manner of way, whereby the right thereof may lawfully fall to our said sovereign or his successor kings of Scotland, and no otherwise, which lands, annualrents, isles, reversions, offices, kirks, teinds and others generally before rehearsed and contained in the clause immediately above-written, now as if the rights thereof were already established lawfully in his highness's person, and then as now and no otherwise, our sovereign lord and estates unite, annex and incorporate to his highness's crown of the kingdom of Scotland, therewith to remain perpetually and inseparably in all times coming, which lands, isles, skerries, annualrents, offices, reversions, kirks, teinds and others whatsoever, as well generally as specially above-mentioned, annexed, above-rehearsed, nor any part thereof, may neither be given in any time hereafter nor alienated from the right and property of the said crown in freehold, fee or otherwise to any person or persons of whatsoever estate or degree, without the advice, decreet and deliverance of the whole parliament, and that for great, reasonable, profitable and known causes for the evident and manifest welfare of the realm, first carefully tried and advisedly considered by the whole estates; and albeit it shall happen our said sovereign lord or any his majesty's successor kings of Scotland to alienate or convey the said lands, isles, skerries, holms, mills, multures, fishings, annualrents, offices, reversions, kirks, teinds and others whatsoever with their pertinents or any part thereof, or any annualrents out of the same, generally or specially comprehended in this present act and annexed to the crown as said is, the same alienations or dispositions shall be null and of no value, in such sort that it shall be permissible to our said sovereign and his successors kings of Scotland for the time to take back and receive at their own freewill and pleasure to their own use, without any process of law, the said lands or others to be alienated or conveyed contrary to the tenor of this present act, and the takers and receivers of the said alienations or dispositions shall refund and pay all profits taken up by them of the said lands and others generally and specially above-expressed to the king for the time, with all other restrictions and provisions contained in whatsoever acts of parliament made by his majesty and his most noble progenitors, kings of Scotland, in their annexations of lands and others to the crown, which whole former acts of annexation and all and sundry articles, provisions, conditions, circumstances and restrictions therein contained are held as repeated and specially expressed and comprehended in this present act. Moreover, our said sovereign, with advice of the estates foresaid, at what time the right of the said offices of sheriffship, justiciary, foudery and right, privilege and jurisdiction of free regality and justiciary above-written falls lawfully in manner above-written to our said sovereign or his successor kings of Scotland and no otherwise, now as then and then as now, suppresses, extinguishes and abolishes the foresaid regalities and offices, and unites, annexes and incorporates the same to his highness's royalty, therewith to remain inseparable in all times coming; and erects a stewartry to be called in all time coming the stewartry of [...], ordaining the tenants, possessors and inhabitants of the foresaid lands and others generally or specially comprehended in this present act and other persons who were answerable of before to the sheriffship and foudery above-written to be answerable to his highness's stewart of [...], with all freedoms, privileges and liberties competent to any stewartry of his highness's property within the said realm of Scotland.