[1661/1/402]¹

Act anent cruives etc. upon fresh waters in forbidden times

Our sovereign lord, considering that by the 16th act of King Alexander II, as also by the 11th act of the first parliament of King James I and by the 73rd act of the 10th parliament of King James II, and by the 15th act of the second parliament of King James IV, and by the 16th act of the 4th parliament of King James V, and by the 68th act of the 9th parliament of Queen Mary, and by the 111th act of the 7th parliament of King James VI, in the latter end thereof, by the whole statutes and acts above-written, it is statute and ordained that all those who have cruives or yairs in fresh waters shall not suffer them to stand in forbidden times and that, according to the said acts and statutes, they shall inviolably keep and observe the laws anent the Saturday's slop,² the midstream and such a distance and largeness of the bars of the said cruives, as is contained more at length in the said acts and statutes, ordaining the said laws to be inviolably observed and put to due execution, according to the tenor thereof in all points, by the respective sheriffs, stewarts, bailies and other magistrates where the said cruives and yairs are. Yet,³ notwithstanding of the said statutes and acts above-written the owners of the said cruives and yairs, taking advantage of the troubles of the times and by the neglect of the said sheriffs and bailies in not putting to due execution the said acts of parliament by uplifting the penalties contained therein for transgression of the same, to the great prejudice of all those having heritable rights by their infeftments to salmon fishings above the said cruives, their salmon fishing being made altogether unprofitable by the transgressors in not observing duly the said acts of parliament, the most part of the profits and yearly commodity, which the owners of the said salmon fishings might have, being altogether taken from them by the owners of the said cruives not observing the said act of parliament, and by the transgression thereof engrossing with their cruives the whole yearly profit which might arise to the heritable proprietors of the said salmon fishing above their said cruives, and usurping their rights by stopping all passage of the salmon fishes by their said cruives; therefore, our sovereign lord, with advice and consent of the estates of parliament, do not only ratify and approve the said whole statutes and acts of parliament, but also declares the same, according to the tenor thereof, to stand and to be of full force and strength, and to receive due execution as laws and acts of parliament to be inviolably observed according to the tenor thereof, with this addition: for the better observing of the said acts and putting the same to due execution against the transgressors thereof, that the penalties contained in the said acts be uplifted by sheriffs, bailies of regalities and other magistrates which, by their neglect, has been omitted and thereby occasioned the more frequent transgression of the said acts and not observing thereof, and especially, the penalties against the transgressors being small, it is statute and ordained that the transgressors, in all time coming, shall not only incur the penalties contained in the said acts but the same (being small and inconsiderable as said is) shall be augmented and increased to £20 Scots money, which penalties in all time hereafter the one half thereof shall be uplifted, by such persons as his majesty's treasurer and deputes and others having commission from them shall empower for that effect, to his majesty's use and behoof, and the other half to be uplifted by any party having right and interest in those salmon fishings, who shall first challenge and legally by a summons pursue and prosecute the non-observers of the said acts, which penalties are hereby ordained to be uplifted and exacted from the transgressors, as said is, without any modification or defalcation, and the exacting of the penalty foresaid to be without prejudice to the party interested to prosecute the transgressors of the said acts for the prejudice and loss sustained thereby, and finding sufficient surety and caution for due observing of the said acts in all time coming, whereunto the owners of the said cruives are declared legally to be liable over and above the payment of the penalties foresaid as transgressors and non-observers of the said acts.