[1585/12/74]¹

An act annulling the infeftments made to Gilbert Lauder of Balbardie and his son of the lands and living of Haltoun

²Forasmuch as concerning the supplication given in by Alexander Lauder, son and apparent heir of Sir William Lauder of Haltoun, knight, making mention that where it is not unknown that the said Alexander's predecessors of ancient memory succeeding to others by long process of time, through their worthy service to our sovereign lord's most noble progenitors, acquired and conquest the lordship, living and barony of Haltoun containing the particular lands underwritten, to wit, all and whole the lands, mains and barony of Haltoun, with the castle, tower and fortalice thereof; the lands of north crofts of Ratho, Westhall, Platt, Northtoun, Over Gogar, with the mill thereof, kirk mill and mill lands of the same; the lands of Brownfield, with tenants, tenantries and service of free tenants and their pertinents, all lying within the bounds and sheriffdom of Edinburgh, within the sheriffdom and barony of Renfrew by annexation; all and whole the lands and barony of Cruigly, with the manor place and fortalice thereof; the lands of Over and Nether Kydstoun, Meldounhill, lying within the sheriffdom of Peebles; all and whole the lands of Whitelee, Whitslade, with the tower, fortalice, corn mill and waulk mill of the same; the lands of Newbiggin and Wells, Whitelaw and Burngrange, the mill of Lauder, lying within the bailiary of Lauderdale and sheriffdom of Berwick, which being virtuously conquest in our said sovereign lord's predecessors' service as said is, long before the said Sir William succeeded thereto, that ancient house this long time bygone has kept the estate and degree of an honourable baron ever continuously in obedience and fidelity to our said sovereign lord's predecessors, without any suspicion; nevertheless, Gilbert Lauder of Balbardie, by long custom, perfectly understanding the simplicity of the said Sir William, by certain malignant and crafty practises abusing the said Alexander's father's ignorance to his own greedy appetite and dishonest commodity, within the space of seven years past allured and enticed the said Sir William to transfer to William Lauder, eldest son to the said Gilbert, his heirs and assignees heritable, all and whole the lands and baronies aforesaid, by simulated and coloured vendition, seeing he neither had money to pay nor paid any money for that; and the said Gilbert, foreseeing that the said infeftment could be on no force without our said sovereign lord's confirmation, he laboured earnestly for the same, and the matter appearing strange that the said Sir William should transfer to the said William the whole lands he had in the world, he, having the said Alexander and James Lauder, brothers-german, sons procreated of his own body by lawful marriage of their mother, who is descended of an honourable house, and they never having offended their said father in word nor deed, the confirmation of the said pretended infeftment was, for the reasons aforesaid, stayed by our said sovereign lord as a thing tending to the reproach of his majesty's conscience and honour; but the said Gilbert shortly thereafter, insisting to bring his crafty devise to an end by concealing of the truth and a false suggestion by such as are acquainted with our said sovereign lord, made his majesty to understand the said infeftment to be no way hurtful to the said Alexander, but expressly to have been devised for his good and preservation of his majesty's heritage to himself, in respect that the said Sir William to whom he behoved to succeed had obliged himself as surety for great sums of money, for the which he affirmed that the whole lands might be apprised from the said Alexander in case he were heir to his said father, or at the least, that he should be relieved of that debt by that infeftment; and to justify his narration and to persuade our said sovereign lord and his highness's treasurer for the time that he could not be hurt by the said infeftment, the said Gilbert showed a reversion made by the said William to the said Sir William and his assignees, bearing that the said whole lands and baronies should be redeemable upon 40s only, which was the only cause which moved our said sovereign lord's treasurer to condescend to the said confirmation, since as also that the said Sir William, father to the said Alexander, has renounced his liferent to the said William Lauder, whereupon he has taken purpose to set down upon the whole lands, rooms and heritages and to exclude the said Alexander and his posterity perpetually therefrom, the like whereof has not been seen within this realm in no age past; the said Sir William, by his simple and craft of the said Gilbert, being so misused and having lawful issue of his own body who never offended him as said is, and that the said Alexander's father's death whatsoever of itself could not have debarred him of his heritage if our said sovereign lord's deed and confirmation had not been interposed, and also the said confirmation being always granted in our said sovereign's minority and by proponing of a false cause, whereas if the truth had been declared, his highness had never granted the same, and being also so far against his majesty's conscience and honour, the said alienation and confirmation following thereupon are revocable for discharge of his highness's said conscience, for seeing it is most true that charters of tailzie made in the prince's minority, by the which the female heirs are debarred to give place to the male heirs, are, by the laws of this realm, decreed to be against the prince's conscience and to be revocable; there is a greater burden of honour and conscience in this case where all the righteous heirs which the law of God and man has appointed to succeed are debarred from their native heritage, that a stranger may be preferred and specially by such deceitful and crafty means as are used in this case; desiring therefore the king's majesty and his highness's three estates deeply to weigh and consider what singular fraud has been used against the said Alexander in our said sovereign lord's less age, to the hurt of his honour and conscience and to the said Alexander's utter wrack, and thereupon, to regard the pernicious example that may follow upon the preparative so wicked and that the said ancient house, by that kind of dealing, be not transferred in unjust possessors. Which supplication being seen and at length considered first by the king's grace, lords of articles and thereafter by his highness and three estates in this present parliament, who presently decree and declare the aforesaid pretended alienations, venditions, charters, infeftments, precepts and instruments of sasine whatsoever made by the said Sir William Lauder of Haltoun, knight, to the said William Lauder, son to the said Gilbert, his heirs and assignees heritably, of the lands, baronies and others particularly above-specified, with our said sovereign lord's confirmation granted thereupon of whatsoever date, to have been from the beginning and to be in all time coming of no value, force nor effect with all that has followed or may follow thereupon, the reasons and causes aforesaid, without prejudice always of others' confirmations granted by our said sovereign lord of other infeftments to other persons where his highness's conscience and honour is not hurt; and ordain letters to be directed.