[1587/7/23]¹

Dissolution of the union of lands annexed for setting of the same in feu ferm

²Forasmuch as for great and weighty considerations tending to the good of the crown and of the whole realm there are diverse lands and lordships of old and of late annexed to remain with our sovereign lord and his successors, which may not be conveyed nor transferred in fee or liferent to whatsoever person or persons without the advice of the three estates of parliament and for profitable and seen causes for the good of the whole realm; and nevertheless it has been thought expedient in the days of our sovereign lord's most noble predecessors that his said annexed and proper lands should be set in feu ferm for increase of policy thereupon and augmentation of the rental, and to the effect that the said lands might be set in feu ferm in manner aforesaid, our said sovereign lord's predecessors and three estates of parliament have been in use to dissolve the said annexations; and therefore our said sovereign lord and three estates of parliament, finding it now expedient and profitable for his highness that diverse of the said annexed lands within sundry sheriffdoms and lordships be set in feu ferm for augmentation of his yearly rental and for increase of policy as said is, therefore they have dissolved and dissolve the said union and annexation to the effect above-specified only, and will that the same be extended to the lands underwritten, whether they be annexed to the crown, to the principality of this realm or to the king's second son, providing always that albeit the lands of the earldom of Ross and lordship of Ardmeanach, which are appointed to remain with our said sovereign lord's second son, be set in feu ferm by virtue of this dissolution, the same shall in no way be transferred, conveyed, nor put away from our said sovereign lord's second son, but the same lands and profits thereof, albeit they be hereafter set in feu ferm, shall remain in property with him after the form of the act made by King James III, our sovereign lord's most noble predecessor, and also providing that this present dissolution shall stand during the days of our said sovereign lord that now is only, so that what lands his highness in his time sets in feu ferm to whatsoever person or persons for augmentation of his rental as said is, the same shall abide with the said persons, their heirs and successors in feu and heritage forever, and after our said sovereign lord's decease, the annexation of the remaining lands not set in feu in his highness's time shall return to the own nature. These are the names of the lands to the which this present dissolution is and shall be extended: they are to say, the lands of the earldom of Ross and lordship of Ardmeanach; the lands of the earldom of Orkney, with the isles pertaining thereto; the lands annexed to the crown lying within the sheriffdom of Edinburgh and constabulary of Haddington; the friars' lands of Aberdeen which were before conveyed to George [Keith], earl Marischal; the lands and lordship of Menteith conveyed to James [Stewart], lord Doune; the lands and lordship of Galloway above and beneath Cree; the earldom of March and the lordship of Ettrick Forest.