[1592/4/134]¹

Act in favour of William [Melville], commendator of Tongland, regarding the temporality of Kilwinning

²Regarding the supplication given in to the king's grace and lords of articles by Master William Melville, one of the senators of the college of justice, making mention that where his highness, respecting the good, true and thankful service done by him to his majesty, and the rank and place to which it has pleased his highness to promote him, gave, granted and conveyed to the said Master William the abbacy of Kilwinning, then vacant in his majesty's hands by the decease of the last possessor, the yearly rent whereof consisting most in the kirks and teinds pertaining thereto; the said Master William was entreated by his highness to consent to the dissolution thereof in favour of the ministry serving for the time at the said kirks and thereby to denude him of the whole commodity and rent of the said benefice, saving only £260, or thereby, conveyed in pension to others, which is the temporal rent and duty of that abbacy, with which, and with his highness's promise procured at the time by the said ministry to let that temporality be erected to him in the next parliament, the said Master William was content, hoping in the meantime that his highness and estates should have made the same valid and effectual to him according to his majesty's late disposition and grant thereof under his highness's great seal. Likewise, in this present convention of the estates, the said Master William most humbly beseeches his majesty that, respecting the place and service to which it has pleased his majesty to appoint him, together with his voluntary consent to the said dissolution of the said kirks at his majesty's request and promise foresaid, for confirmation of his said infeftment of the temporality thereof in this next parliament, that it may please his highness, with consent foresaid, to let his said heritable infeftment of the said temporality with all clauses, privileges and conditions contained therein after the form and tenor thereof, of the date at Dalkeith, 17 May 1592 foresaid, be presently confirmed and ratified and his highness's said promise interposed thereto be made effectual, seeing he is unable otherwise to sustain the rank of his said place in the session or otherwise to serve his majesty in any public place whereinto it may please his grace to appoint him, as at more length is contained in the said supplication. Which supplication being first heard, seen and considered by his majesty and lords of articles, and thereafter by the whole estates in parliament, and they therewith being ripely advised, our said sovereign lord, with advice of the whole estates of this present parliament, confirms, ratifies and approves the said heritable infeftment of the said temporality of Kilwinning made to the said Master William Melville with all clauses, privileges and conditions contained therein after the form and tenor thereof, to be held, enjoyed and possessed by him during all the days of his lifetime, and the whole tenants and vassals of the said temporality to enter by him and take their holdings of him as their superior of the same lands and others pertaining to the temporality of the said abbacy of Kilwinning during his lifetime; and decrees and declares the whole entry and grassum silver, mails, ferms, kanes, service customs and all other duties of the whole temporality of Kilwinning to pertain to the said Master William Melville, to be possessed by him during his lifetime as freely and in the same manner as our said sovereign lord might have done by virtue of the act of annexation of kirklands to his highness's crown, or any commendator of the said abbey might have done before the act of annexation; and dispenses with whatsoever act of parliament, law or other constitution that may in any way make any derogation to this present ratification; and discharges his highness's advocate, comptroller and collector of all troubling or molesting of the said Master William in the peaceable possessing and enjoying of the said lands and duties thereof in any time coming.