[1600/11/20]¹

²Act in favour of Sir Hugh Herries regarding an infeftment to be made to him of the lands of Cousland and 20 chalders of victual out of Scone

Our sovereign lord, with advice of the estates of his highness's realm convened in this present parliament, calling to remembrance the good, true and thankful service done to his majesty this long time bygone by his familiar and domestic servant Sir Hugh Herries, gentleman of his majesty's chamber, not only within this realm but also in foreign countries where he has been employed by his highness, meriting good remembrance, and specially considering the worthiness of the late notable service done to his majesty by the said Sir Hugh upon 5 August last at Perth within the great lodging of the late John [Ruthven], sometime earl of Gowrie, in the resisting of the unnatural, ungodly and abominable treason and conspiracy attempted by the said late earl and the late Master Alexander Ruthven, his brother, against his majesty's most noble person, he being for the time secretly and treasonably convoyed by the said late Master Alexander Ruthven to the turret of the said lodging of set purpose and intention there to have murdered and bereft his majesty of his life; and being then destitute of all his servants and standing courageously in the meantime upon the defence of his own life, the said Sir Hugh came to his majesty's rescue and relief and exposed his own life to the most evident peril and danger of death, to the great effusion of his blood, shed by the said traitors and their accomplices, in the defence of his majesty's person and by the providence of God assisted his highness most valiantly and courageously in the preserving of his highness's person out of their bloody hands. And seeing it has pleased God to honour the said Sir Hugh with this dignity by his prowess, manhood and virtue to be one of the chief instruments of the preservation and delivery of his majesty's most royal person, to his great praise and commendation, and thereby his majesty's nobles and whole estates of his highness's realm have reported so rare and singular a benefit of the safety and continuance of their natural prince and sovereign to reign over them in justice and equity to the great glory of God, tranquillity of this realm and universal comfort and solace of the whole people, which being great, evident and reasonable causes of the realm and being duly and sufficiently verified and proven before the lords of articles and whole estates of this present parliament, therefore, his majesty, moved of his princely honour and conscience to be mindful of the said most worthy and acceptable service and to gratify the said Sir Hugh with some honourable reward thereof, to encourage him to persevere in his sincere affection towards his majesty's service and to steer and provoke all others of his good subjects by his good and laudable example to be followers of his virtue and courage in their dutiful obedience and service to his majesty's and his successors' careful preservation and defence of their lives and honours according to their bound duties, with consent and authority of this present parliament, ordains an infeftment to be made under his great seal in due form giving, granting and conveying to the said Sir Hugh, his heirs and assignees heritably all and whole the town, lands and barony of Cousland, with the tower, fortalice, manor place, houses, buildings, yards, orchards, dovecots, mills, multures, tenants, tenancies, service of free tenants thereof, advocation and donation of the chaplainries thereof and all their pertinents, lying within the sheriffdom of Edinburgh, which lands and others respectively foresaid pertained heritably of before to the said late John, sometime earl of Gowrie, at the least the said late earl had right to succeed thereto as apparent [...]³ to the late James [Ruthven], earl of Gowrie, his brother, or the late William [Ruthven], earl of Gowrie, his father, [...]⁴ was heritably infeft and seised in the same. And now the said lands, baronies [...]⁵ respectively foresaid pertains to our said sovereign lord, fallen and become in his highness's hands and at his highness's gift and disposition by reason of escheat through the process and doom of forfeiture orderly led and deduced against the said late John, sometime earl of Gowrie, and the said late Master Alexander Ruthven, his brother, for certain crimes of treason and lese-majesty committed by them of the which they were convicted in this present parliament, as in the process and doom of forfeiture led and deduced thereupon at more length is contained, or by virtue of whatsoever other right, cause or occasion that the same lands and others respectively foresaid may fall and become in his highness's hands; and for the said Sir Hugh and his foresaids better security, giving and conveying to them the escheat of all and whatsoever reversions, bonds, contracts, obligations or promises for making of revisions made and granted by whatsoever person or persons to the said late John, sometime earl of Gowrie, or any of his predecessors for redemption of the lands above-specified with their pertinents, with all other rights, titles, contracts, bonds and obligations made and conceived in favour of the said late John, sometime earl of Gowrie, or any of his predecessors or in favour of the said late Master Alexander Ruthven, his brother, whereby the property and possession of the said lands with their pertinents might have returned and pertained to them or either of them, or whereby they or either of them might have acclaimed or recovered any right, title, property or possession of the same lands with their pertinents now pertaining likewise to our said sovereign lord and at his highness's gift and disposition by reason of escheat through the process and doom of forfeiture foresaid orderly led and deduced against the said late John, sometime earl of Gowrie, and the said late Master Alexander, his brother, as said is, with full power to the said Sir Hugh and his foresaids to call and pursue the possessors of the said reversions, contracts, bonds, obligations, rights and securities for delivery of the same to them, and to use all necessary execution thereupon for fulfilling of the same to them and to redeem and outquit the lands above-specified, with their pertinents, by virtue of the said revisions according to the tenor of the same and to use and exercise all other things necessary for recovering and obtaining of the right and possession of the said lands, with their pertinents, in the same way and as freely in all respects as the said sometime earl or any of his predecessors or the said late Master Alexander or any of them might have done themselves by virtue of the same revisions, rights and evidents; and also renouncing and transferring for his majesty and his successors all right, title, interest and claim of right, both property and possession, which his highness or his successors may claim, have or pretend in and to the same lands, with their pertinents, by reason of ward, relief, non-entries, recognition, forfeiture, bastardry, purpresture, disclamation or for whatsoever other cause or occasion present, bygone or to come to the said Sir Hugh, his heirs and assignees heritably for now and ever, with a supplement of all the defaults and with an agreement not to appeal, and likewise giving, granting and conveying to the said Sir Hugh and his foresaids the gift of escheat of all and sundry tacks, assedations made and granted to the said late John, sometime earl of Gowrie, or any of his predecessors to whom he has succeeded or may succeed as heir or in any way conceived in his favour of all and sundry the teind sheaves and other teinds, fruits, rents and emoluments, as well parsonage as vicarage, of all and sundry the said town, lands and barony of Cousland with their parts, pendicles and pertinents now fallen and become likewise in his majesty's hands by reason of escheat through the process and doom of forfeiture foresaid, orderly led and deduced against the said sometime earl as said is or through whatsoever other cause or occasion whereby the escheat of the said teinds and right thereof has pertained or may pertain to his majesty in any way, with power to the said Sir Hugh and his foresaids to collect, gather, lead, teind, intromit with, set, use and convey upon all and sundry the said teinds yearly in time coming during all the years contained in the said rights and tacks to run and, if need be, to call and pursue for that as appropriate. Likewise our said sovereign lord, with advice foresaid, for the causes above-specified, faithfully promises in the first word and binds and obliges his highness and his successors to perfect and deliver to the said Sir Hugh and his foresaids new sufficient letters of tacks and assedations of all and sundry the said teind sheaves and other teinds, fruits, rents and emoluments, as well parsonage as vicarage, of all and whole the said town, lands and barony of Cousland, with parts, pendicles and pertinents now fallen and pertaining likewise in his majesty's hands by reason of escheat through [...]⁶ for such spaces as they shall devise, for yearly payment of the duty thereof presently paid for that, and at the expiry of the said tacks and so often after the same expires to renew the same as often for the duty foresaid, to the effect the said Sir Hugh and his foresaids may peaceably possess and enjoy the same teinds with the lands foresaid perpetually in all time coming, without any revocation, question or contradiction whatsoever and to that effect to make and perfect such right and security to them thereupon as can, or may be, devised, which teinds are esteemed by his majesty, with consent foresaid, to extend yearly to 10 chalders of victual. And for the said Sir Hugh's better security of the lands, teinds and others respectively above-specified, conveyed in manner foresaid and in special clause of warrandice thereof, giving, granting and conveying to him, his heirs and assignees above-mentioned all and sundry the lands and others respectively after-specified and feu ferms thereof, being a part of his highness's property and lordship of [...], lying within [...]; that is to say: all and whole the lands of Largo, with the pertinents and feu ferms thereof, extending yearly to 5 chalders of oats, 3 chalders, 8 bolls of barley and 1 chalder, 10 bolls of wheat; all and whole the lands of Ardeth, with the pertinents and feu ferms thereof, extending yearly to 4 chalders, 4 bolls of barley and 3 chalders, 4 bolls of wheat; and all and whole the lands of Rathillet, with their pertinents and feu ferms thereof, extending yearly to 2 chalders, 4 bolls of barley and 2 bolls of wheat; and that in special warrandice of the said town, lands and barony of Cousland, with the teind sheaves thereof above-specified principally conveyed as said is, so that if it shall happen the said Sir Hugh or his foresaids to be molested, deprived or troubled in the peaceable possessing and enjoying thereof or in the intromitting and taking up of the mails, ferms, profits and duties of the same or any part thereof or the same to be evicted from them by restitution of the said late John, sometime earl of Gowrie, or reduction of the said forfeiture or for whatsoever other cause or occasion in any time coming, or if it shall happen his majesty or his successors to fail in perfecting of the tack and assedation of the said teind sheaves and in the renewing of the said tacks perpetually after expiring of the former tacks, each one after others respectively and successively, to the said Sir Hugh, his heirs and assignees, and that the said Sir Hugh and his foresaids be debarred from the right and possession of the said teind sheaves in any way in time coming, that then and in that case it shall be permissible to them as often to have full and free regress, ingress and access in and to all and sundry the lands respectively above-mentioned, with their pertinents and feu ferms thereof above-specified, given in warrandice in manner above-written, to be possessed and enjoyed by them until they may peaceably and freely possess and enjoy the said lands, teinds and others respectively above-mentioned principally conveyed as said is. And to the effect the said infeftment of warrandice of the lands above-specified and feu ferms thereof may be good, valid and effectual in the self to the said Sir Hugh, his heirs and assignees in all time coming, his majesty, of his own proper motive and certain knowledge, with consent and authority of this present parliament, in respect of the said great, evident and reasonable causes moving his majesty to the granting hereof allowed and proven by his highness's estates as said is, has dissolved and by this act dissolves all and sundry the said lands respectively and feu ferms thereof from all annexation of the same to the crown made by his majesty or any of his predecessors, to the effect the same may be conveyed in free blench ferm in manner underwritten to the said Sir Hugh, his heirs and assignees in special security and warrandice of the said town, lands and barony of Cousland, with the teinds thereof and their pertinents principally conveyed as said is; and also that the same infeftment shall contain an union and erection of the said town, lands and barony of Cousland, with the tower, fortalice, manor place, houses, buildings, yards, orchards, dovecots, mills, multures, tenants, tenancies, service of free tenants thereof, advocation and donation of the chaplainry thereof and all their pertinents in a whole and free barony, to be called in all time coming the barony of Cousland, and that a sasine to be taken at the principal mansion thereof shall be sufficient to the said Sir Hugh, his heirs and assignees for the said whole lands and barony. And also has united the lands respectively above-specified and feu ferms thereof given in warrandice in manner foresaid in a free tenancy and ordains a sasine to be taken thereof upon the ground of any part of the lands respectively foresaid to be sufficient sasine for the whole, notwithstanding the same lies apart and are of diverse baronies. The said lands and barony of Cousland principally conveyed to be held by the said Sir Hugh and his foresaids of our sovereign lord and his successors in free blench, free barony, fee and heritage for ever, and the said lands of Largo, Ardeth and Rathillet, with their pertinents and feu ferms thereof above-specified, to be held likewise in fee and heritage, and that the said infeftment contain all privileges and liberties pertaining to a free barony in most ample form, for yearly payment for the said barony and tenancy of a silver penny at the feast of Whitsunday [May/June] in name of blench ferm, if it be asked only, and that the said infeftment be completed in due form with extension of all clauses needful, ordaining his highness's great seal and the seals of the lords of his parliament to be appended thereto. Which infeftment, with the sasine to follow thereupon, his majesty, with advice and consent foresaid, now as if the same were made and granted and then as now, ratifies and approves in all heads, clauses, articles, provisions and conditions thereof, and finds and declares that the changing of the old holding of the said town, lands and barony of Cousland, with their pertinents above-specified, principally conveyed as said is from ward to blench, together with the disposition of the other lands respectively above-mentioned and feu ferms thereof in warrandice of the same, to be held in like manner by him in free blench ferm as said is, is well and lawfully done by his majesty with the mature advice and deliberation of the estates of parliament for the said great, evident and reasonable causes to the realm and that the same is and shall be in all time coming good, valid and effectual rights to the said Sir Hugh, his heirs and assignees above-written for possessing and enjoying of the lands and others above-specified principal and warrandice in free blench, notwithstanding that the same town, lands and barony of Cousland principally conveyed as said is were held by service of ward and relief of before, and notwithstanding the said lands and others given in warrandice thereof were his highness's annexed property, and notwithstanding of whatsoever acts of annexation thereof to the crown made by his highness or any of his predecessors or any clause or condition thereof or of whatsoever other acts, laws or constitutions made or to be made in the contrary, forbidding the changing of ward holding in blench and all kind of dispositions of the king's property otherwise than in feu ferm, and with augmentation of the rental or disposition in feu of the feu ferms; with the which acts and every one of them and all others which may any way prejudice or derogate the said infeftment held therein contained both of the principal and warrandice or any other clauses, liberties, privileges, provisions and conditions specified therein, his majesty and estates foresaid expressly dispense and make full derogation to the same in so far as may be extended in any way to the said lands and others respectively above-rehearsed, both principal and warrandice, to the effect the said Sir Hugh, his heirs and assignees may peaceably hold, enjoy and possess all and whole the said town, lands and barony of Cousland and others respectively above-specified, principal and warrandice, after the form and tenor of his said infeftment to be made to him thereupon, without any revocation, contradiction or recalling whatsoever.