[1600/11/19]¹

²Act in favour of Sir John Ramsay regarding an infeftment to be made to him of the lands of East Barns

Our sovereign lord, with advice of the estates of this present parliament, calling to remembrance the most excellent and singular service done to his majesty and to this whole realm upon 5 August last by Sir John Ramsay of East Barns, knight, at Perth, within the lodging of the late John [Ruthven], sometime earl of Gowrie, in assisting, defending and revenging of his majesty against the said sometime earl and the late Master Alexander Ruthven, his brother, who, having most definitely and falsely upon pretence of great service to be done by the said Master Alexander to his majesty, lured his highness to come from Falkland to the said burgh of Perth to the said sometime earl's lodging; and there the said late Master Alexander having most secretly and treasonably convoyed his highness to the turret of the said lodging upon set purpose to have cruelly and vilely murdered his majesty by assistance of an armed man enclosed therein by the said sometime earl and Master Alexander, and prepared with armour and weapons necessary for that wicked purpose, and the said late Master Alexander, with most vile language and horrible cruelty, having then treasonably put violent hands in his grace's most sacred person, offering himself to the utmost of his rage and malice to have bereft his majesty of his life and only prevented by that courageous resistance which his majesty, destitute of all manner of armour, weapons or other help, could possibly make, at last, by the merciful providence and saviour of God, his highness, coming to the window of the said turret by force and despite of the said late Master Alexander, and by his cry making warning to his grace's faithful servants and subjects, being of accident upon the street opposite the said window, of the foresaid most horrible enterprise and treasonable violence used against his most royal person and life, the said Sir John Ramsay, albeit at that time further removed from the place of his highness's danger than the most part of his highness's remaining faithful servants yet led by the spirit of God and vehement affection to spend his life in safety of his most gracious prince and master, came with so wonderful diligence to his majesty's relief that entering before all others within the said chamber where his highness was so treasonably and cruelly assailed and pursued and finding his majesty without armour or weapons in that exceptional distress and strife against that desperate traitor provided for that purpose, the said Sir John made such help to his majesty that after certain wounds given with his dagger to the said Master Alexander expelled him out of the said chamber, foreseeing the danger that might ensue by the said late earl's prosecuting of the said treasonable enterprise. For better resistance thereof, the said Sir John called Sir Thomas Erskine of Gogar and Sir Hugh Herries to his highness's defence, who scarcely could with such diligence come to the said Sir John as the foresaid sometime earl, accompanied with a great number of desperate traitors speedily following and fiercely invading them in the said chamber for slaughter of his majesty, and his said faithful servants ready to die in his defence, and having by the advantage of armour and number of his accomplices reduced them to very great extremity, at length the said Sir John Ramsay, with marvellous valour and divine success, assailed so courageously the said traitors that having struck the said earl through the heart and wounded sundry of his treasonable accomplices expelled them with assistance of the said Sir Thomas and Sir Hugh out of the said chamber, whereby their whole devilish enterprises were disappointed by the great providence of God and courageous resistance of the king's majesty, with the faithful concurrence of the said Sir John and remainder of his grace's faithful servants his highness was miraculously preserved and the whole estates, body and members of this commonwealth thereby delivered from extreme danger of confusion, wrack and utter subversion. Which being manifest and known to this whole realm and clearly and evidently verified, tried and proven to the whole estates convened in this present parliament and found by them the most singular and happy service that could fall in a subject's hand to do to his prince and to have tended to the highest blessing and well that could have been wished of God to this realm, our said sovereign lord and estates foresaid, willing to gratify and reward the said Sir John Ramsay and his heirs, find, decree and declare that the said service done by him in manner above-mentioned is great, weighty and acceptable service to his majesty and to this whole realm, and that the lands after-specified, conveyed to the said Sir John for the same, are conveyed for great, evident and reasonable causes of the realm. For the which causes, albeit his highness's annexed property may not be conveyed by his majesty, his predecessors or successors, yet, in the first act of annexation of lands to the crown made by King James II of most noble and worthy memory, it is excepted, considered and provided that the annexed lands to the crown may be conveyed by the kings of Scotland by advice, deliverance and decreet of the whole parliament for great, evident and weighty causes of the realm; and so the singular service above-mentioned being found and declared by his majesty and whole estates of this parliament to be a great, evident and reasonable cause of the realm for the which his majesty may convey the lands underwritten, therefore our sovereign lord, with advice of the whole estates of this present parliament, ordains a charter to be made under the great seal in due form in favour of the said Sir John Ramsay, his heirs and assignees containing the narrative above-specified and making mention that it is found and declared by act of this present parliament that the said Sir John Ramsay's service above-mentioned is found, decreed and declared a great, evident and reasonable cause, tending to the well of his majesty and of this whole realm, for granting and conveying to the said Sir John and that the³ foresaid estates may convey to the said Sir John the lands underwritten, giving, granting and conveying to the said Sir John Ramsay, his heirs and assignees heritably the lands of East Barns, occupied presently by John Bryson there, paying yearly 52 bolls and 2 pecks, half wheat, half barley; John Gullane there, paying yearly 52 bolls and 2 pecks, half wheat and half barley; William Maslett there, paying yearly 52 bolls, 2 pecks; George Smith there, paying yearly 26 bolls, 1 peck; John Purves there, paying yearly 26 bolls, 1 peck of wheat and barley; [...] Purves there, paying 26 bolls, 1 peck of wheat and barley; George Maslett there, paying yearly 26 bolls, 1 peck; and William Wolf there, paying yearly 26 bolls, 1 peck of wheat and barley; the lands of Newtonlees, occupied by Master John Acheson, paying yearly 72 bolls, 3 pecks of wheat and barley; the lands of Rig and Fluiris, occupied by William Kelly, treasurer of Dunbar, paying yearly 33 bolls, 1 [...],⁴ William Nisbet, portioner of Newton, paying yearly 20 [...]⁵ extending to 26 chalders of victual of the[...]⁶ tenants, tenancies, service of free tenants parti[...],⁷ lying in the parish and lordship of Dunbar wi[...]⁸[...]dom of Edinburgh, to be held of our sovereign lord and his grace's successors in free blench for payment of a red rose yearly upon 5 August in name of blench ferm, if it be asked only, with power to reduce all and whatsoever infeftments, rights and title made to whatsoever persons of the foresaid lands or any part thereof for any cause, ground or occasion competent of the law, and to set the same in feu ferm or otherwise convey thereupon at his pleasure in all time coming. And to the effect the foresaid infeftment of the lands above-written may be effectual and stand perpetually valid to the said Sir John Ramsay, his heirs and assignees, our sovereign lord, with advice of the said estates, dissolves the said lands particularly above-rehearsed, union and annexation thereof from the patrimony of the crown in all time coming as if the same had never been annexed to the effect above-mentioned; and likewise his majesty, with advice of the said estates, for the good, true and thankful service foresaid, by the tenor hereof, grants and conveys to the said Sir John Ramsay the whole ferms and duties of all and sundry the towns and lands particularly above-rehearsed of the crop and year of God 1600 years instant, with power to him to uplift, receive and intromit with the same from the tenants, occupiers and possessors thereof to his own behalf and utility and upon his receipt to grant acquittances, which shall be sufficient to the receivers as if his majesty and his comptroller had received the same and gave discharges thereupon.