The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, K.M. Brown et al eds (St Andrews, 2007-2024), date accessed: 28 March 2024
[1584/5/79]1
Concerning lands, lordships, heritages, tacks and possessions of lands and teinds coming in our sovereign lord's hands by forfeiture, and whereof the evidence and rights of the persons forfeited are maliciously abstracted in defraud of his highness
Forasmuch as by the common law and laws of this realm, the lands and heritages of all persons convicted of treason held immediately of our sovereign lord are judged to pertain to his highness and to return as property to his crown, and also his highness has right and power to whatsoever other lands and heritages pertaining to the persons convicted of lese-majesty, which are immediately held of any of his subjects by presentation of any heritable tenant to the overlord, and in like manner has right and title to all tacks and possessions of teinds and lands possessed by the said persons before their conviction; and as the crimes of treason grow within this realm, so the fraudulent inventions, to the hurt and prejudice of our said sovereign lord's escheat, daily more and more increases by abstracting of the evidents, infeftments and sasines of the lands and heritages, tacks and other rights appertaining to the persons who are convicted and forfeited for lese-majesty, tending thereby to draw our sovereign lord and his successors and the persons to whom the said lands and heritages aforesaid are and shall be hereafter conveyed in question of their heritable rights and titles of their rooms and possessions, not having in their hands the evidents of the said persons convicted or to be convicted as said is. For remedy whereof, it is statute and ordained by our said sovereign lord and his three estates of this present parliament that all lands, lordships, baronies, annualrents, mills, multures, fishings, tenants, tenantries and service of free tenants and other heritages whatsoever which have been or hereafter shall be peaceably used and possessed by whatsoever persons forfeited or that hereafter shall be forfeited for crimes of treason and lese-majesty committed, or that hereafter shall be committed, against his highness and his successors, or by them to whom our sovereign lord and his successors should succeed by reason of the forfeiture of their nearest heirs as their heritage by labouring the same with their own goods, setting the same to tenants and uplifting of the mails thereof as their heritage, and so reputed, held and esteemed heritable possessor thereof by the space of five years immediately preceding the process and sentence of forfeiture led, or to be led, against them by the space of five years immediately preceding the decease of the persons to whom our said sovereign lord should or may succeed as heir, through forfeiture led, or to be led, against their nearest heirs, that all and sundry the said lands, lordships, baronies, annualrents, tenants, tenantries and service of free tenants, mills, multures, fishings and other heritages whatsoever has appertained and shall appertain to our said sovereign lord and his successors, have come and shall come in their hands as escheat, to be conveyed and used by them as their property in all time coming, so that hereafter no question shall be moved to his highness and his successors nor yet to the persons who have already obtained, or hereafter shall obtain, heritable right of the said lands, lordships, annualrents and others above-specified by their disposition, notwithstanding that they be not able to show nor produce in judgement the heritable right and title thereof or contracts, renunciations and other securities made thereupon to the persons forfeited or to be forfeited as said is, or their predecessors. And to the effect that the said five years' possession of the said persons as heritable possessors may be sufficiently verified and proven, our said sovereign lord and his successors shall, at all times needful and convenient, at the instance of his advocate, or whatsoever others his lieges having interest, direct commissions under the testimonial of the great seal in due and competent form, making such persons as his highness, by the advice of the lords of his secret council, shall find most suitable and expedient his sheriffs in that part, to take cognition by a condign2assize of the sheriffdom where the lands lie, or others least suspect who best know the verity what lands, lordships and other heritages were used and possessed by the said persons convicted or to be convicted of treason and were possessed by them in manner aforesaid as heritable possessors thereof, so commonly held, reputed and esteemed by the space of the said five years immediately preceding the processes and sentences of forfeiture led and to be led against them, which are, or shall happen to be hereafter, convicted of treason as said is, and what lands were possessed by the persons to whom our said sovereign lord and his successors may or should succeed as heirs through forfeitures led or to be led against them for treason as said is, and to call all parties having or presenting interest; which persons of assize all give their final determination thereupon before the judge, who shall interpose his decreet and authority thereto, and thereafter shall retour the same to his highness's chancellor under the seals of the said assize, where the same shall remain for the perpetual memory, and shall in all times thereafter make as full faith in judgement as outwith and be of as great strength, force and effect to our sovereign lord and his successors and others having right by their disposition for possession of the said lands, lordships, heritages and annualrents as if the heritable infeftments, charters and sasines thereof made to the said persons forfeited or to be forfeited as said is, or their predecessors, were shown and produced in judgement. And as concerning tacks and possessions of lands and teinds used and possessed by the said persons forfeited or the persons to whom our said sovereign lord and his successors should or may succeed as heirs through forfeitures led or to be led against their nearest heirs, it is statute and ordained that letters be directed by deliverance of the lords of his highness's secret council at the instance of his highness's comptroller, or such as have obtained or shall happen to obtain by our sovereign lord's gift the right of the said tacks and possessions, charging the possessors of the said lands and teinds to enter the said comptroller or donator thereto, to be peaceably possessed and held by them until they be lawfully called and orderly put from there by the law within ten days next after the charge, under the pain of rebellion and putting of them to the horn; and if they fail therein, the said ten days being past, to denounce them rebels and escheat all their moveable goods to his highness's use, and that they shall not be altered, raised in mail or duty or removed from the said tacks or possessions of lands or teinds for the said space of five years, that in the meantime they may have time and commodity to search and seek out the tacks, rights, titles and provisions of them whom of their right and security proceeds and whose place they succeed into by forfeiture and escheat as said is, whereby to maintain and defend their right or possession of the lands or teinds acquired as said is, and that always the fruits of the said lands, rooms and possessions for the said space of five years shall appertain and remain with our said sovereign lord and his donator for ever, because his majesty and his donators may be greatly defrauded, as also vassals and subvassals to feuars hurt, through the absenting and abstracting of the evidence and rights of persons forfeited, some pretending to claim annualrents and feu duties of lands fallen in forfeiture of many years preceding, which probably are taken away by posterior rights of discharges concealed or abstracted by the said persons forfeited. Therefore, it is statute and ordained by our said sovereign lord and his three estates that no person presented by our sovereign lord to feu lands forfeited nor any vassal of any feuar forfeited shall be compelled to produce the acquittances of feu mails or annualrents of the forfeited lands of any years preceding the forfeiture of his immediate superior, nor yet of any years since the same lands came in his highness's hands by reason of forfeiture, notwithstanding any clause irritant contained in the infeftments or titles of the forfeited persons which were obscure to the persons presented by his highness and subvassals aforesaid, they always paying the said annualrents or feu duties for the time to come how soon it shall be verified that the lands were so obliged by the infeftments of the said persons forfeited abstracted as said is.
- NAS, PA2/13, ff.13v-14v.
- Manuscript has 'condict'.