[1599/7/6]¹

Act regarding the register of sasines, reversions etc.

Our sovereign lord and his estates presently convened, considering the great hurt his majesty's subjects sustains and the innumerable falsities daily invented by forging of diverse private writs, the same being kept obscure until the means of the trial of the falsity of them be taken away, especially instruments of sasines, reversions, bonds for giving of reversions, assignations to reversions, intimations of the same and discharges of reversions, which writs being secretly kept up, if they be true, to the prejudice of parties, or maliciously obscured if they be false, until process of time, death of parties, witnesses and writers takes away all adminicles of improbation, no public records being established wherein all parties may find resolution of the estate of any lands with which they mean to contract. For remedy whereof, it is statute and ordained that in all time coming all instruments of sasines, reversions, bonds for giving of reversions, discharges of reversions, assignations to reversions and intimations of the same which shall not be registered within the books of council and session within the space underwritten (and likewise excepting sasines of burgh lands held in free burgage given upon resignation made in the bailies' hands, according to the act of parliament) be inserted and registered in the registers presently appointed to that effect within 40 days next after the making and perfecting of the same; otherwise to be null and to make no faith in judgement nor outwith, and the said nullity to be received by way of exception. And the said registers, for the greater ease of the lieges, to be established in the particular places following, that is to say: one in the town of Kirkwall in Orkney for the whole inhabitants and lands lying within the sheriffdom of Orkney and Shetland; one in the burgh of Inverness for the sheriffdoms of Inverness and Cromarty; one in the burgh of Elgin for the sheriffdoms of Elgin, Forres and Nairn; one in the burgh of Aberdeen for the sheriffdoms of Aberdeen, Banff and Kincardine; one in the burgh of Dundee for the sheriffdom of Forfar; one in the burgh of Perth for the sheriffdom of Perth and stewartry of Strathearn, excepting the stewartry of Menteith; one in the burgh of Stirling for the sheriffdoms of Stirling and Clackmannan and stewartry of Menteith; one in the burgh of Cupar in Fife for the sheriffdoms of Fife and Kinross-shire; one in the burgh of Edinburgh for the sheriffdom of Edinburgh principal and constabulary of Haddington; one in the burgh of Linlithgow for the sheriffdom of Linlithgow and Bathgate; one in the burgh of Lauder for the sheriffdoms of Berwick, Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles and bailiary of Lauderdale; one in the town of Hamilton for the sheriffdom of Lanark, excepting the burgh and barony of Glasgow; one in the city of Glasgow for the barony of Glasgow and sheriffdom of Renfrew; one in the burgh of Dumbarton for the sheriffdom of Dunbarton, Bute, Argyll, Arran and Tarbert; one in the burgh of Ayr for the sheriffdom of Ayr and bailiaries of Kyle, Carrick and Cunninghame; one in the burgh of Wigtown for the sheriffdom of Wigtown; one in the burgh of Dumfries for the sheriffdom of Dumfries and stewartries of Kirkcudbright and Annandale; or any other place or places more convenient as the keeper of the said registers shall think expedient, due intimation being made to the lieges of the same; and the said evidents to be registered in the particular books appointed for each sheriffdom as said is. And to the effect the said office may presently and in all time coming be the more faithfully administered, statutes and ordains the same to be annexed and incorporated with the office of secretary, and the foresaid registers to be called the registers of secretary in all time coming; and that the secretary, present and to come, have the said office as a proper part and pertinent of the said secretary, making and constituting particular deputes, one or more, in every one of the places foresaid of good fame, literature and qualification, for whom he shall be answerable; and who shall be resident within the said town and burgh, ready at all times to receive from the parties their evidents and to register the same within the space of 24 hours next after the receipt thereof, and deliver to the presenter of the same their evidents marked by him with the day, month and year of the registration and in what leaf of the book the same is registered; and shall take only for his pains the sum of 13s 4d as for the price of each leaf of his register written on both the sides, and according thereto shall take proportionally for registering of every one of the said evidents. Which depute to be appointed as said is for keeping of each register foresaid shall twice each year at the feast of Whitsunday [May/June] and Martinmas [11 November] make a roll of all evidents presented and marked by him the half year preceding, and shall affix the same on some public place of the town where he remains, that the same may come to all parties' knowledge. And the said registers to be filled by the said deputes, to be marked by the secretary (or his deputes to be appointed by him to that effect) with a note of the particular number of the leaves that the same shall contain; and the said registers, after the filling of the same, to be reported to the said secretary, to remain with him and be patent to all our sovereign lord's lieges that shall have business with the same. The extract of the which register shall have as great faith and strength as if the original were shown, except the parties having interest to oppose against the said writs offer to improve the same by way of action or exception; in the which case, the party, purchaser of the said evidents, and others having interest to defend the same, shall be held to produce the principals and originals notwithstanding they be registered as said is; and that none of the said evidents be of force, strength or effect to any intention but to be null and of no value unless the same be registered as said is. And his majesty and estates foresaid have ordained this act to be published between now and 20 September next to come at the market crosses of the head burghs of this realm and other places needful, and to have effect and begin on 11 November next to come in this instant year of God 1599. And that this act be ratified in the next parliament and authorised and allowed by the lords of council and session.