[1641/8/376]¹

Ratification in favour of the burgh of Aberdeen

Our sovereign lord and estates of this present parliament ratify and approve and, for his highness and his successors, perpetually confirm the charter made and granted by his highness, with advice and consent of his majesty's treasurers, principal and depute, and other lords of his highness's exchequer of this realm for the time, under the great seal of the date 9 September 1638, whereby our said sovereign lord has ratified and approved and, for his highness and his successors, perpetually has confirmed a charter made and granted by his highness's late dearest father King James VI, king of Great Britain, France and Ireland of eternal memory, with consent of his majesty's treasurers, principal and depute, and other lords of his highness's secret council, his highness's commissioners for the time, under the great seal of the date at Falkirk, 17 July 1617, whereby his highness's said late dearest father, with consent foresaid, not only ratified, confirmed and approved all and sundry charters, infeftments, precepts of sasine, instruments, confirmations, acts, sentences, decreets, donations, exemptions, rights, titles, securities, letters, writs, evidents, grants, liberties, commodities, immunities and privileges therein mentioned made, granted and confirmed by his highness's said late dearest father and his most noble predecessors, kings and queens of Scotland, or by their governors, regents or lords of session for the time, to and in favour of the burgh of Aberdeen, provost, bailies, aldermen, dean of guild, treasurers, councillors, burgesses and community thereof, and to the kirks, ministers and hospitals of the said burgh and their successors, of whatsoever form or forms, content or contents, date or dates the same respectively be of, and specially, without prejudice of the said generality, the particular charters, infeftments, confirmations, decreets, donations, exemptions, acts, writs, evidents and others specially and particularly mentioned in the said charter, but also of new gave, granted, erected and conveyed to the said provost, bailies, councillors, burgesses and community of the said burgh of Aberdeen and to their successors for ever, all and whole the said burgh of Aberdeen, with the precinct, walls, ditches, ports and other privileges at length mentioned in the said charter, with the lands and others after-mentioned contained therein, with the precept of sasine, instrument of sasine, with the act of dissolution mentioned therein, to which the said charter has relation, with all and sundry other charters, infeftments, precepts of sasine, confirmations, acts, sentences, decreets, donations, exemptions, rights, titles, securities, letters, writs, evidents, grants, liberties, commodities, immunities and privileges mentioned therein, made, granted and confirmed by his majesty's most noble predecessors specially mentioned in the said charter, or by any of them or any others, their predecessor kings and queens of Scotland, or by their regents, governors or lords of session for the time, to the said burgh of Aberdeen, provost, aldermen, bailies, deans of guild, treasurers, councillors, burgesses and inhabitants of the said burgh, and to the kirks, ministers and hospitals thereof and their successors whatsoever of whatsoever form or forms, content or contents, date or dates the same be of, of and concerning the erection of the said burgh of Aberdeen in a free burgh royal with all the rights, titles and privileges thereof, and has ordained the said general confirmation and ratification of the premises to be as sufficient as if every particular writ specified therein were at length therein engrossed, and has dispensed with the not engrossing thereof. And also, our said sovereign lord, with consent foresaid, has thereby of new given, granted, erected, conveyed and confirmed to his majesty's trusty and faithful servants, the provost, bailies, councillors, burgesses and community of the said burgh of Aberdeen and their successors, all and whole the said burgh of Aberdeen, with the precinct, walls, ditches, ports, ways, streets, passages and all and sundry houses, buildings, yards, tenements, crofts, acres and lands within the territory and liberty of the said burgh; and also all and sundry the common lands and other lands, waters, salmon fishings and others specially and generally mentioned in the said charter, with the inches, shiels², liberties, privileges, drawing, spreading and drying of nets on both the sides of the waters of Dee and Don, as well upon his majesty's highways as upon any other most commodious parts near the said waters, as the said burgh and their predecessors have been in use to do of before, with the liberty and privilege of ferry boats, one or more, on the said waters, with the fees, duties and commodities thereof, common mills of the said burgh, namely: the two mills within the said burgh called the Over and Nether Mills, two without the same, called the Justice Mills, and other two within the said burgh's liberty, the one thereof on Bucks Burn and the other on the Den Burn, with the windmill at the Gallowgate head and the two sea mills lately built, with liberty and privilege to them to build more mills at their pleasure, with the multures and sequels of the said mills, castle hill, green suburbs, called Fittie, with the chapel thereof, boats and white fishings belonging thereto, bulwark, port and shore of Aberdeen, mill dams and passages thereof, liberty and privilege of the same, uplifting and receiving of the whole small customs, anchorages and shore silver³ and other duties thereof, as freely in all respects as the burgh of Edinburgh and their collectors receive at the shore of Leith or any other free burgh at any other shore within this kingdom receives the like, the bell customs, small customs, toll and other customs used and wont, tron weight of the said burgh, fees and duties belonging thereto, all other weights and measures, liberties, privileges and immunities belonging to the said burgh in any sort, specially and generally mentioned in the said charter, dean of guild, courts, councillors and members thereof, free markets and fairs, with power to build more mills, as well windmills as corn mills and waulk mills, within the said burgh, liberty and territory thereof, and to set the same in tack or feu, and to call, pursue, arrest and incarcerate persons, delinquents and contraveners of the privileges, acts, statutes, decreets and sentences of the said burgh and to fine them; and also all and sundry lands, houses, tenements, yards, kirk lands, with all their pertinents, lying within the precinct of the said burgh pertaining of before to whatsoever abbacies, priories, preceptories, ministries, chaplainries, prebendaries, altarages and other benefices, with the whole feu duties and other duties thereof, in all time coming, interest of heritable vassals and tenants to receive with all annualrents, feu ferms and other yearly duties of the said houses, yards, tenements, kirk lands and other tenements foresaid used and wont, all and sundry chaplainries, altarages and annualrents belonging of old to the chaplainries of St Nicholas within the said burgh, dail-silver⁴ and anniversaries whatsoever which pertained of before to whatsoever chaplainries, prebendaries or altarages founded in whatsoever kirk, chapel or college within the liberty of the said burgh by whatsoever person or persons wherever they lie within this kingdom; all and whole mansion houses, place, buildings, yards and [kirk]⁵ pertaining of before to the grey friars of the said burgh, with the whole duties and rents thereof, common loch, hills, greens and fields called the links, tenants, tenancies, service of free tenants of the said lands and fishings with the parts, pendicles and pertinents thereof, with all other liberties, immunities, rights and privileges whatsoever belonging to the said burgh, and whereof the said provost, bailies, council and community thereof and their predecessors have been in possession in any time bygone with as ample and great privileges and immunities as have been granted and conveyed by our said sovereign lord or his predecessors to the burghs of Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee and other burghs royal within this kingdom at any time bygone, with all right and interest thereof; and also ratified, approved and confirmed the act and statute of the said burgh made by the said provost, bailies, council and community of the said burgh, whereby they statute and ordained that no ground malt shall be brought, presented nor sold within the market of the said burgh privately nor publicly, which act is of the date 11 January 1628, with an ample addition thereto; and has given, granted and conveyed to the said provost, bailies, council and community of the said burgh and their successors forever, the offices of sheriffs, colonel⁶ and justice of peace within the said burgh and whole bounds of the lands, mills, waters, fishings and pertinents thereof with all liberties, privileges, fees, casualties, duties, immunities and commodities thereof, and to review, enquire for, search and try all mets, weights and measures within the bounds of the said burgh and whole sheriffdom of Aberdeen and within all common markets and fairs, as well in burgh as landward, within the bounds foresaid, and to mark all vessels, measures and weights great and small and to exact the fees due thereof; and has also ratified the act of secret council made at Holyroodhouse, 15 July 1619 regarding the constant measure of salmon through this whole kingdom, according to the old gauge and standard of Aberdeen in the whole heads thereof, and has made them and their successors keepers thereof for ever with all fees, duties and commodities thereof used and wont, and to take, apprehend, incarcerate and punish all persons wearing and bearing unlawful and forbidden weapons, and with diverse other privileges and liberties specified in the said charter, whereby our said sovereign, with consent foresaid, has united, annexed and incorporated into with the said burgh of Aberdeen, lands, mills, multures, fishings, anchorage, port, harbour and other liberties and privileges thereof foresaid granted to the said burgh, all and whole the said offices of sheriff, coroner and justice of peace within the bounds foresaid and liberties thereof foresaid, escheats, amercements, liberties, privileges of the same, visiting, enquiring for, searching and trying the said measures and weights within the bounds foresaid, keeping of the said gauge and standard, with the privilege of electing, nominating, presenting and providing ministers to the kirks and chaplainries foresaid, or any of them as often as they shall become vacant, in a free burgh royal to be called now and in all time coming the burgh of Aberdeen, with ample power and privilege in manner at length specified in the said charter to be held by the said provost, bailies, dean of guild, treasurers, councillors, burgesses and community of the said burgh and their successors of our said sovereign lord and his highness's successors, in free burgh royal, free heritage, free burgage, free offices of sheriffship, coroner and justice of peace and within the bounds foresaid forever, as the said charter of the date foresaid at more length bears, with the precept of sasine following thereupon under the testimony of the great seal of the same date, and instrument of sasine following thereupon of the date 31 October 1638, in all and sundry the heads, points, clauses, articles and conditions contained therein, and after the forms and tenors thereof in all points. And our said sovereign lord and the estates of parliament will and grant and, for them and their successors, decree and ordain that this present ratification of the said charter, precept and sasine following thereupon and other acts and charters mentioned therein is and shall be as valid and sufficient, and of as great strength, force and effect to the said provost, bailies, council and community of the said burgh of Aberdeen and their successors for possessing and enjoying of the said burgh of Aberdeen and all and sundry lands, heritages, forests, mills, woods, fishings, offices, casualties, liberties, privileges, immunities and others whatsoever contained in the said charter and otherwise belonging thereto, as if the same charter, precept, sasine, acts and others above-specified mentioned therein were all at length word by word inserted, engrossed and contained in the said ratification thereof, notwithstanding that the same be not so done; concerning which, and with all other defects and imperfections whatsoever which may be proposed or alleged against the same charter, precept and sasine, acts, charters and other writs foresaid mentioned therein or any of them, and the said ratification thereof, our said sovereign lord and estates of this present parliament have dispensed and by this ratification dispense for ever.