[1585/12/23]¹

Addition to the act concerning thieves and sorners of clans

²Forasmuch as in the parliament held at Edinburgh on 24 October 158[1],³ there was an addition made to the acts made against notorious thieves and sorners of clans, wherein it is statute and ordained that it shall be lawful to all our sovereign lord's obedient and good subjects that shall receive any harm or damage through stealth and masterful reiving of their goods to be committed after the date of the said act by any of the notorious thieves, broken men or sorners of clans of thieves in time coming, to apprehend, stay and arrest the bodies and goods of the persons offending against them, or any others being of the same clan, their servants, defenders or partakers, wherever they shall find them in any parts of this realm, until the principals and others of the said clan cause the said harms and damage be redressed to the satisfaction of the sustainers thereof, or at least find sufficient surety to that effect to the contentment of the person that has sustained the hurt, in case it shall be found by order and trial, according to justice, that the offender and deed doer was in any way reset, supplied and maintained amongst the said clan after the offence committed, which act has not taken execution in many parts of the realm by reason of the parties sustaining the hurt apprehending the persons or goods of the persons offending them, or others being of the same clan, their servants, defenders or partakers, nor has not found the concurrence of the ordinary magistrates or other persons being of power to that effect, or others being of the same clan, their servants, defenders or partakers have not had sufficient force of their own to stay and arrest the bodies or goods of the persons which had offended them; for remedy and supply whereof in time coming, it is statute and ordained by our said sovereign lord, by advice of his said three estates in parliament, that in case any of his highness's good subjects that received any harm or damage through stealth or masterful reiving of their goods by any of the notorious thieves, broken men or sorners of the said clans of thieves in time coming, shall happen not to be of power of themselves to stay and arrest the bodies and goods of the persons that have offended against them or others of the same clan, their servants, dependants and partakers, being apprehended by them, that then the complainer shall desire the sheriff, stewart, bailie or their deputes, or provost and bailies within burgh, or any other person being of power that happens to be present for the time, to concur and assist to the same complainer in making of the same stay and arrest, according to the said act of parliament, as they will answer to his highness upon their obedience and under the pain to [be]⁴ reputed and esteemed partakers with the said thieves in evil deeds, wherein if they fail, his highness, with advice of his said estates, declares that the said complainer, being his highness's obedient subject, shall have likewise action, criminally or civilly, against the said sheriffs, stewarts and bailies, provost and bailies within burgh, or other persons of power happening to be present for the time and failing, readily to concur and assist as said is, as against the principal thief or robber; and further declares, statutes and ordains that it shall be lawful to his highness's true and obedient subjects having their goods stolen and reived by the said notorious thieves, broken men or sorners of clans, to apprehend, take and intromit with the goods and persons of the offenders or any others of the same clan, their servants, defenders or partakers with whom the thieves and true men's goods stolen or reived by them were reset, and to retain the same as their own proper goods until the offenders or others of the said clan come to account and reckoning and make sufficient surety for redress of the true men's hurt, according to the said act of parliament, and absolves them from all danger of plunder or violent profits, but only to be answerable for the principal goods when they shall have reckoning, account and due redress of their own goods with their costs and hurts.