[1663/6/50]¹

Act anent manses and glebes and poinding for ministers' stipends

Our sovereign lord, considering the great difficulties which often the ministers of the Gospel do meet with in the due payment of their rents and stipends, so as they are sometimes forced to use legal execution by poinding, and in so doing are necessitated to carry the goods poinded to be apprised at the market cross of the head burgh of the shire, stewartry, bailiary or regality, many miles distant from the place where the goods are poinded, to the great prejudice of the party and of the goods also; therefore his majesty, with advice and consent of the estates of parliament, declares that it shall be sufficient to the ministers foresaid, in poinding, apprising and distrenzieing the goods of the persons deficient in payment of their rents and stipends, to comprise the said goods by honest sworn men upon the ground of the lands and place where the goods are, which shall be as sufficient as the same were done at the said market crosses. And because, notwithstanding of diverse acts of parliament made before, diverse ministers are not yet sufficiently provided with manses and glebes, and others do not get their manses free at their entry; therefore, our sovereign lord, with advice foresaid, statutes and ordains that, where competent manses are not already built, the heritors of the parish, at the sight of the bishop of the diocese or such ministers as he shall appoint, with two or three of the most knowing and discreet men of the parish, build competent manses to their minister, the expenses thereof not exceeding £1,000 and not being beneath 500 merks, and where competent manses are already built, ordains the heritors of the parish to relieve the minister and his executors of all costs, charges and expenses for repairing of the foresaid manses, declaring hereby that the manses being once built and repaired and the building or repairing satisfied and paid by the heritors in manner foresaid, the said manses shall thereafter be upheld by the incumbent ministers during their possession, and by the heritors in time of vacancy out of the readiest of the vacant stipend. In like manner, ordains that every minister have fuel, foggage, fail and divot, according to the act of parliament made in 1593. As also, that every minister (except such ministers of royal burghs who have no right to glebes) have grass for one horse and two cows over and above their glebe, to be designed out of kirklands and with relief according to the former acts of parliament standing in force; and if there are no kirklands lying near the minister's manse out of which the grass for one horse and two cows may be designed, or otherwise if the said kirklands are arable land, in either of these cases ordains the heritors to pay to the minister and his successors yearly the sum of £20 Scots for the said grass for one horse and two cows, the heritors always being relieved according to the law standing off other heritors of kirklands in the said parish; and because several kirks have no glebes as yet designed to them, it is hereby specially provided that in all designations of glebes that incorporate acres in village or town where the heritor has houses and gardens, the same shall not be designed, he always giving other lands nearest to the kirk. And his majesty, with advice foresaid, for special causes and considerations, declares that this present act as to the manses is to have force as if the same had been made and dated 14 March 1649.