[1605/6/91]¹

²Act in favour of [Francis Hay], earl of Erroll regarding blanks

Our sovereign lord, remembering that his right trusty cousin and councillor Francis, earl of Erroll, lord Hay, great constable of his majesty's realm of Scotland, is lately descended of his highness's blood, and that his late right trusty cousin and councillor Andrew [Hay], earl of Erroll who last deceased, father to the said Francis, after his age of 60 years, did complete marriage with Mistress Agnes Sinclair, daughter to the late George [Sinclair], earl of Caithness, upon reasonable conditions mentioned in the contract of that marriage and little to the decay of his estate, but the said earl and the said Mistress Agnes, continuing a certain space together, she took occasion by his infirmity and weak judgement, he being then not so solid as was necessary for the well of his estate, to invent and devise many fraudulent means in the hurt and prejudice of the heirs and successors of the first marriage in their succession to the said earldom of Erroll, office of constabulary and lands and living of the same, specially by a great number of invented and coloured bonds and obligations, charters, precepts and instruments of sasine of a great part of the foresaid earldom and lands thereof, to herself and the succession procreated of the said second marriage, tending to the perpetual wrack and destruction of the said ancient and noble house of Erroll, which many ages of before had continued a noble family and whole living; and the secrets of the said pernicious inventions partly coming to light and revealed to his highness, being within the realm of Scotland at sundry times in the year of God 1583, his majesty's affection towards the said earldom moved his highness to be more careful in his duty in the conservation and maintenance of the honourable estate thereof; at the which time his highness entered in trial what had been invented and done to the hurt and prejudice of the estate of the said earldom, and after long inquisition and trial a great part of the said fraudulent inventions were disclosed and many of the controversies that might arise between his highness's right trusty cousin and councillor Francis, now earl of Erroll, and the said late Andrew, his father, Dame Agnes Sinclair, his spouse, and their bairns of the said second marriage were appeased and pacified, as at more length is contained in a decreet arbitral given and pronounced by our said sovereign lord upon [...] December 1583, and in a declaration made thereafter, upon 25 March 1584, of certain obscure clauses contained in the same decreet, whereby our said sovereign lord, the said Francis, earl of Erroll and friends of his house thought them void of any other fraudulent invention to be devised by the said Dame Agnes at any time thereafter, and that all questions and controversies that might follow were totally buried by the said decreet arbitral and declaration, by the which there was a perfect rule set down what should abide with the heirs and successors of the said earl, and what should be given for support of all the bairns both of the first and second marriage, and what should remain with the said Dame Agnes for her lifetime; but she preserving more and more in her malice and encouraging herself, by the detriment of her said husband's wit and judgement in his age, moved him to subscribe with his hand a great number of blanks, some in parchment and some in paper, which the said Dame Agnes has in her hands, at the least has filled the same, or some number thereof, as she has thought good for her own commodity and of her bairns procreated of the said second marriage, or others of her special friends and kinsmen for their well and commodity directly, or as immediate persons who might transmit in her foresaid bairns or others; and being lately pursued at the instance of the said Francis, earl of Erroll before the lords of council and session within this realm for production and exhibition of 18 blanks, some in paper and some in parchment, subscribed by the said late Andrew, earl of Erroll, which were delivered in her hands, and she had the same, at the least had fraudulently put the said blanks away, and the said Dame Agnes, her whole defences and reasons proposed in that matter being rejected, the summons was admitted to the said Francis, earl of Erroll, his probation. And because the matter grew with so great a consequence, and that the said Dame Agnes, in presence of the said lords, made many and terrible contestations by her oath that she never had nor saw any blanks subscribed by the said late earl, her spouse, the lords were moved to declare that the said summons should be proven against her by a sufficient number of witnesses that should be not only all of exceptional standing, but every witness that should testify in that matter should be valued in land and gear 1,000 merks money of Scotland; upon the which pursuit the said lords of council and session, after examination of many witnesses of the quality contained in the said declaration, and after the sight of many writs and evidents produced by the said Francis, earl of Erroll for probation of his said summons, have pronounced and given their decreet upon [...] March 1606 in favour of the said Francis, earl of Erroll, against the said Dame Agnes, decreeing her to exhibit and produce before the said lords 7 of the said 18 blanks, of the which 7 there are four in paper and three in parchment, and after the exhibition thereof, to deliver the same to the said Francis, earl of Erroll and his successors in the said earldom, to be cancelled and destroyed or otherwise used by them at their pleasure. Yet, notwithstanding of all the premises and decreet before specified, the doubts and questions of the damage and interest that may fall to the said Francis, earl of Erroll and his successors in the said earldom are not taken away, but the same remain to import the extreme peril and danger for the said wrack and ruin of the said house and earldom of Erroll through the multitude of the said blanks and the generalities of the subjects and matters with which the same may be filled, and through the infinite persons in whose favour the same may be filled, none of them having any determination, designation or inscription for the which they were destined, except there be some other remedy competent by the law whereby it may certainly be known what is become of all the said blanks, whether they be filled or yet standing blank, and if they be filled to know with what matter or subject. And there being sundry remedies for that purpose, our sovereign lord, with advice of his three estates of parliament, has thought this remedy after-mentioned to be very proper for a beginning to the effect foresaid, and therefore has ordained and directed and, by the tenor of this ratification, ordains and directs the lords of his majesty's council and session within the said realm of Scotland, supreme judges in all causes and actions civil, to give and grant letters at the instance of the said Francis, earl of Erroll, his heirs and successors of the said earldom, and at the instance of [Sir Thomas Hamilton of Monkland], his highness advocate now present, or that shall be for the time, so often and in what manner and libel the said Francis, earl of Erroll and his successors and our said sovereign lord's advocate for his majesty's interest shall require against whatsoever person and persons, general or special, as they shall please, to compear before the said lords at the days and places to be appointed in the said summons, with continuation of days, charging them in general or by their names as the summons shall bear, to exhibit and produce whatsoever contracts, bonds and obligations, indentures and appointments, infeftments, charters, precepts, instruments of sasine, confirmations and ratifications thereof, procuratories and instruments of resignation made as well in favour of whatsoever other person for new infeftment, as made by the said late Andrew, earl of Erroll in his superiors' hands to remain perpetually, reversions, assignations to reversions, bonds and obligations for making and delivering of reversions, renunciations and granting of redemptions, discharges and renunciations of reversions, tacks, assedations and rentals, and all other writs and securities of whatsoever form or quality made and subscribed by the said late Andrew, earl of Erroll at any time from his birth to his decease, concerning the lands, lordship and barony of Slains, annexes, connexes, parts, pendicles and pertinents of the same, and the said office of great constabulary within the realm of Scotland, and also of the lands, lordship and barony of Erroll, with annexes, connexes, parts, pendicles, and pertinents or any part of the same, and of the lordship and barony of Logie Almond, regality thereof, or any part of the same, either in property or tenancy, with advocation, donation and right of patronage of whatsoever kirks, chaplainries and altarages pertaining to the said earldom, and also to produce and exhibit whatsoever tacks, assedations and assignations to tacks and assedations of whatsoever teinds, parsonages and vicarages which pertained to the said late Andrew, earl of Erroll, and also to exhibit and produce whatsoever bonds and obligations allegedly made by the said late earl to whatsoever persons, subscribed with his hand, obliging him for sums of money or doing and perfecting of any other deed whereupon action might be founded against his heirs and successors in the law, to be seen and considered by the said lords, and to hear and see the same civilly disproved according to the law; and that the persons to be specially called to the effect foresaid, being within the realm of Scotland, shall be summoned personally or at their dwelling places, and that such others as shall be specially called and shall be out of the realm shall be summoned at their dwelling places where they made their residence before their departing, and at the market crosses of the head burghs of the shires where they dwelt, and at the market crosses of Edinburgh, pier and shore of Leith. And if any others that are generally to be summoned because it cannot be certain to the said Francis, earl of Erroll and our said sovereign lord's advocate for what effects the said blanks or any of them are or may be filled, the general summons shall be executed upon 60 days' warning at all the head burghs of the shires within the realm of Scotland, and at all the head burghs of all the regalities, stewartries and bailiaries within the same, upon the which summons the said persons generally to be summoned, or that shall be absent out of the realm, albeit they be absent but remaining in spirit, shall be answerable to the jurisdiction of the said lords of council and session by reason of the business concerning which it is conducted in such sort as upon the second summons; the said persons who shall be generally summoned and specially shall be held to exhibit and produce all and whatsoever contracts, bonds and obligations foresaid, indentures and appointments, infeftments, charters, precepts, instruments of sasine, confirmations and ratifications thereof, procuratories and instruments of resignation, made as well in favour of whatsoever other person for new infeftment as made by the said late Andrew, earl of Erroll in his superior's hands to remain perpetually, reversions, assignations to reversions, bonds, obligations for making and delivering of reversions, renunciations and granting of redemptions, discharges and renunciations of reversions, tacks, assedations and rentals and all other writs, evidents and securities whatsoever, of whatsoever form, tenor and quality made and subscribed by the said late Andrew, earl of Erroll at any time from his birth to his death, concerning the said lands, lordship and barony of Slains, annexes, connexes, parts, pendicles and pertinents of the same, and the said office of great constabulary within the said realm of Scotland, and also all and whole the said lands, lordship and barony of Erroll, with annexes, connexes, parts, pendicles and pertinents thereof, or any part of the same, and of the lordship and barony of Logie Almond, regality thereof, or any part of the same, either in property or tenancy, with advocation, donation and right of patronage of the kirks, chaplainries and altarages pertaining to the said earldom; and likewise to exhibit and produce whatsoever tacks, assedations or assignations of tacks of whatsoever teinds, parsonages or vicarages which pertained to the said late Andrew, earl of Erroll, made by him to whatsoever persons, and also whatsoever bonds or obligations allegedly made by the said late Andrew, earl of Erroll to whatsoever persons, subscribed with his hand, binding and obliging him for sums of money or doing or perfecting of any other deed whereupon action may be founded against his heirs or successors in law, according to the form and order foresaid, to be seen and considered by the said lords, and to hear and see the whole writs and evidents in form and quality as they are before specified or of whatsoever other form, tenor or quality subscribed by the said late Andrew, earl of Erroll generally or specially, to be improved according to the law, with certification to the foresaid persons, generally and specially, that if they fail in production thereof as said is, the same shall be decreed and declared to make no faith in judgement nor outwith in any time thereafter. And further that the said persons in general and special shall never be heard to move action, cause or question by virtue thereof against the said Francis, earl of Erroll, his heirs and successors, or by virtue of any of the said writs, evidents, infeftments and others whatsoever of the quality and form above-expressed or whatsoever other tenor or quality the same be of, subscribed by the said late Andrew, earl of Erroll, directly or indirectly to the prejudice of the said Francis, earl of Erroll, his heirs and successors, concerning the said lands, lordships, baronies, offices, advocation and donation of benefices, property and tenancy thereof, or for any sums of money or fulfilling of any deed contained in any bond, contract or obligation foresaid, or for any teinds, rooms and possessions pertaining to the said earl, which order of process our sovereign lord, with advice of his three estates, has found and declared and, by the tenor of this ratification, finds and declares to be in the self just and lawful to all constructions for the effect foresaid, affirming the same by the authority of this present parliament that no person shall be hereafter heard to impugn the same, but in this case and when any also occurs, the same shall stand for a law and statute immutable.