[1649/5/319]¹

Procedure: citation in favour of John Stewart of Coldingham

Citation in favour of John Stewart of Coldingham

The estates of parliament, having heard and considered the supplication given in to them by John Stewart of Coldingham, showing that whereas he having repaired to Edinburgh in June last to have followed forth his action of account and reckoning with [James Home], earl of Home anent his intromission with his estate presently depending before the lords of council and session, to the effect he might have employed such parts of his estate as he should happen to recover from him for payment of his debts, in the meantime the said supplicant is apprehended and incarcerated within the tolbooth of the Canongate at the instance of his creditors, whereby all means competent to him for recovery of his debts and maintenance of himself is obstructed and he put in that condition the he is likely to starve. Therefore humbly supplicating the said estates of parliament to take the premises into their consideration and ordain him to be set at liberty out of the said tolbooth, or else that the said estates of parliament would ordain the persons at whose instance he is incarcerated to support him during his abode therein, and for that effect that the said estates would ordain a competent sum per day to be paid to them towards his said maintenance; and in case of the non-payment of the said maintenance so to be modified by the said estates, so that eight days run together unpaid, that then he may have letters charging the magistrates of the Canongate to put him to liberty upon the said failure; and that the said failure be qualified by the keeper of the tolbooth's deposition under his hand, which shall be a sufficient warrant either for raising the letters to charge or to the magistrates by themselves without a charge to put him to liberty, as the said supplication bears. Which being taken into consideration by the said estates of parliament, they have ordained and ordain a messenger of arms to summon all parties interested to compear before the parliament or the committee of estates to hear and see the said John Stewart of Coldingham ordained by their act and decreet to be put to liberty or otherwise to show a reasonable cause why the same should not be done.