[1587/7/78]¹

Legislation: private act

Act in favour of the noblemen being with the king's majesty at Stirling

²Our sovereign lord and three estates of this present parliament, remembering the great and wonderful calamities which have been within this realm continually since his majesty's coronation, and what travail and care has been taken and sustained by our said sovereign lord and three estates aforesaid for extinguishing and abolishing of the said troubles and whole memory thereof, to the effect that the whole subjects of this realm and specially the nobility who, by his majesty's great travail, are fully reconciled, may stand in perpetual friendship and amity; and to the effect that no occasion be administered to break or dissolve the said friendship, our sovereign lord, with express advice and consent of the said three estates of this present parliament, statutes, declares and ordains that none of his lieges nor subjects shall be called nor accused, criminally nor civilly, for taking of houses, free persons intromitting with their goods and gear, keeping of the said free persons after their taking, or for any other thing following or depending thereupon when the same was done at commandment of our said sovereign lord, whose commandment our said sovereign lord and three estates declare and ordain to be a sufficient warrant to the said persons for their taking and apprehending of free persons, their houses and places and intromission with their goods and gear and disposing thereupon, and that during the whole time of the late troubles which have continued since his majesty's coronation; discharging by this act the lords of his highness's council and session and all other judges and ministers of his laws within this realm to grant any occasion, action or process to whatsoever person or persons within this realm for spoiling of or intromission with their goods, jewels, evidences, gold, silver, garments, furnishing or plenishing or other goods or gear whatsoever intromitted with by any of our sovereign lord's lieges at his highness's commandment, or for taking of their houses and persons and keeping thereof, for the which no action, civil nor criminal, shall be granted as said is, providing always that this act be in no way hurtful nor prejudicial to sentences and decreets already obtained and executions thereof, nor any profits that may be acclaimed by virtue of the said decreets, nor to such actions as his majesty has taken upon himself to judge in by advice of his estates. And because the persons whose goods and gear was intromitted with in manner aforesaid are by this present act excluded from their action, criminal and civil, as said is, so that they will never be heard to pursue for that in judgement, and nevertheless other persons whose goods were in their hands, either in keeping or by their office of tutory or curatorship, and others to whom they were obliged otherwise for rendering of them, may trouble and move action to the said persons which were troubled and out of whose hands the said goods were intromitted by them, which are now discharged thereof, it is most reasonable that as they from whom the said goods were taken are debarred from their pursuit thereof, so should they be relieved and freed of all action that may be moved against them by any other persons for the goods which were taken from them in the troublous times and by our said sovereign lord's commandment in manner aforesaid; therefore, it is also statute and ordained that no person or persons of whatsoever quality they be shall have action to trouble or pursue the persons who are excluded from the said action by the former part of this statute in manner aforesaid for any goods, gear, sums of money, corns, cattle or other goods intromitted with and taken from them by our sovereign lord's commandment by the said other persons having his highness's commandment thereto during the time of the said troubles, but they shall be free and quit thereof in all time coming at all hands having or that may pretend entry thereto by whatsoever manner of way.