[1705/6/144]¹

Ratification in favors of the earl of Mortoun

Our sovereign lady, with advice and consent of the estates of parliament, ratifies, approves and perpetually confirms a charter under the great seal of the date at Saint James's, the last day of March, j^M vij^C and four years, granted by her majestie, with consent of her commissioners of thesaury and exchequer for the time, to James, earl of Mortoun, and the heirs male lawfully to be procreat of his body, which failyieing his heirs male whatsoever, which failyieing his heirs and assigneyes whatsoever, heretably and irredeemably, of all and sundry the lands, lordships, baronies, regalities, annualrents, teinds, patronages, earldom and others underwritten, viz. The lands, lordship and barony of Aberdour, with castle, touer, fortalice, mannor place, mills, fishings, touns, woods, parks, yeards, orchyeards, dovecoats, cunninghars, outsets, parts, pendicles and pertinents, tenents, tenandries and service of free tenents, advocations, donations and rights of patronage of the kirks and chaplanries thereof, and all their pertinents, with the burgh of barony and regality of Aberdour, with the port and harbour of the same, and full right, priviledge and liberty of repairing the said harbour of Aberdour, or of building, makeing and erecting a free sea port and harbour for ships in any other part of the said barony of Aberdour, as the said James, earl of Mortoun shall think fit, and all other bulwarks and other works necessary thereto, with full pouer and priviledge to them of makeing, creating and appointing baillies, burgesses, clerks, officers, serjands and other necessary officers within the said burgh of Aberdour for the government thereof, and of choiseing, changeing and renewing the said baillies, clerks and other officers yearly, as they shall think fit, and with power to the said burgesses of the foresaid burgh of Aberdour, in all time comeing, to buy and sell wax, wine, lint, wool, broad and narrow cloath, and all other merchandice and staple goods, without any obstacle, disturbance, molestation or impediment whatsoever, and also of haveing, admitting and receiveing within the samen burgh of Aberdour baxters, maltsters, fishers, fleshers, souters, tailyeors, weavers, barbers, smiths and all other necessary artists pertaining to the liberty of a free burgh of barony and regality, and of building, haveing and keeping within the said burgh a tolbuith, a mercat cross, a mercat weekly upon Friday, with two free fairs yearly, one upon the twenty fourth day of January, to be called the first fair, and the other upon the twenty seventh day of September, to be called the latter fair, with pouer of keeping the said weekly mercat, and the said two free fairs yearly for the space of three dayes, and of collecting, uplifting and intrometting with the customes and other duties of the said mercat and fairs for the proper use of the said James, earl of Mortoun and his foresaids, and also with special and full power of receiveing resignations of all lands, tenements, annualrents and others within the said burgh of Aberdour, and of disponing the same with all infeftments, charters, seasines and other evidents necessar, to any person or persons in whose favors the said resignations shall be made, of affixing, fenceing, keeping and continueing, as oft as need bees, baron courts and regality courts within the said burgh of Aberdour, and liberty thereof and of creating clerks, serjands and other necessary members of court, of fineing the absents, punishing the transgressors conform to the laws of this kingdom of Scotland, and of creaving, uplifting, receiveing and applying to their own use the fines and amerciaments of the said courts and of doing thereanent as freely as is granted to any other burgh of barony and regality within the said kingdom, and of uplifting all and sundry the small customes, anchorages, docksilver and groundleave, and all other duties and emoluments of the said port and harbour of Aberdour, and of applying the same to their own use or otherwayes disposeing thereupon at their pleasure, as freely as the same are uplifted by any others of her majesties' vassalls, heretable proprietars of any other free port or harbour within the said kingdom of Scotland, with full power also of loading and unloading at the said sea port and harbour the haill ships, boats and bargs comeing thither or going from thence and of enjoying, useing and exerceing all other priviledges, liberties and immunities and uplifting all other duties and casualities of the said sea port and harbour in the same manner, and as freely, in all respects, as any other heretable proprietars of any other free sea ports within this kingdom, in all time bypast have done or in any time to come may lawfully do, all lying within the lordship and regality of Aberdour and sherifdom of Fyfe. The lands, earldom and barony of Mortoun, with touer, fortalice, mannor place, yeards, orchyeards, mills, woods, fishings, tenents, tenandries and service of free tenents, with the advocation and donation of the kirks thereof, annexis, connexis of the said earldom and barony, and specially with full right of presenting four poor scholars called bursars in the colledge of Glasgow to the principals, regents and masters thereof, conform to the tenor of the foundation and mortification granted thereupon, with all their pendicles and pertinents. [Also] the lands of Bonningtoun, the lands of Barns, the lands of Kincavill, the lands of Drumcroce, the lands of Gallowhill, the lands of Williamcraigs, with all their pertinents, lying within the sherifdom of Linlithgow. An annualrent of four pounds sterling money yearly to be uplifted and taken furth of the lands of Neubie, with the pertinents, lying within the sherifdom of Peebles. [Also] the lands and barony of Edmonstoun, with mannor place, fortalice, mills, fishings, outsetts, yeards, orchyeards, parts, pendicles, tenents, tenandries, service of free tenents, with advocation and donation of the kirks and chaplanries of the same, and all their pertinents lying within the barony of Biggar and sherifdom of Lanerk. The lands and barony of Borge, [and] the lands and barony of Buthill, with castles, mannour places, mills, fishings, yeards, orchyeards, woods, parts, pendicles, annexis, connexis, tenents, tenandries, service of free tenents, with the advocation and donation of the kirks and chaplanries of the said lands and baronies, and all their pertinents, lying within the sherifdom of Kirkcudbright. Which charter proceeds on the several appriseings, resignations and other conveyances therein mentioned and contains a new gift or disposition of the haill lands and others therein and above specified, with all right and title which her majesty, her predecessors or successors, had, has or any wayes may have claim or pretend thereto, or to any part thereof or to the rents and duties of the same bygone and to come, in favors of the said James, earl of Mortoun and his foresaids, and a new erection of the foresaid haill lands, lordships, baronies and others abovewritten, in ane haill and free earldom to be called the earldom of Mortoun, ordaining the castle of Aberdour to be the principal messuage thereof, and one seasine to be taken thereat or on any part of the said barony of Aberdour, by delivery of earth and stone, to be sufficient for the haill, to be holden of her majesty in free blench, for payment yearly of an penny Scots money in name of blench ferm if required at the principal messuage or mannour place of Aberdour, as is fully expressed in the said charter, whereby also the rights of the two several annualrents therein mentioned furth of the said lands and barony of Aberdour, and the conveyances thereof in favors of the said James, earl of Mortoun, are confirmed. And her majesty, with advice and consent of the said estates of parliament, ratifies, approves and confirms the precept of seasine contained in the said charter and instrument of seasine following or competent to follow thereupon, in all and sundry heads, articles and clauses thereof. And her majestie, with consent foresaid, wills and grants and, for her and her royal successors, statutes and ordains that the foresaid charter and seasine hereby confirmed are and shall be, conform to the tenors of the same, good, valid and sufficient rights to the said James, earl of Mortoun and his foresaids for possessing and enjoying in time comeing, without stopt or impediment, the foresaid lands, lordships, baronies, regality, earldom and others foresaid, and declares that the same shall never be quarrelled or revocked by her majesty or her successors in time comeing, and that this present ratification is and shall be as sufficient, to all intents, as if every word of the foresaid charter and seasine were insert herein, with the not inserting whereof and with all other defects and imperfections of the said charter and seasine and of this present ratification of the same, and with all objections that can be proponed against the same, her majesty, with consent foresaid, dispensed and hereby dispenses for ever.