[1571/8/20]¹

Concerning the ward, relief and marriage of those that shall happen to be slain in our sovereign lord's service in defence of his majesty's authority

²Item, [John Erskine, earl of Mar], my lord regent's grace, with advice of the three estates and whole body of this present parliament, has statute and ordained that in case any earls, lords, barons, freeholders, landed men, gentlemen or any other person or persons shall happen to be slain, hurt or wounded to the death, and thereafter of the said hurts and wounds happens to die at any time in defence of our sovereign lord's authority against certain his forfeited and declared traitors presently being within the castle and burgh of Edinburgh and others, his majesty's open and manifest enemies, resisters and conspirators against his hi[ghness's authority, during all] the time of the open and manifest resistance thereto, that [their heir or heirs] shall have their ward, non-entry, relief and marriage free [of our sovereign lord], dispensing with their minority and less age what years that [ever they be of], without payment of any teind penny or other profit therefore, and [likewise] all other lords, spiritual and temporal, both of vassals [and subvassals], providing that the heirs aforesaid pursue and obtain entr[y of their over]lords within three terms after the decease of their fathers, or [of whatsoever] other persons whom to they are to succeed for the cau[ses] aforesaid. [And] if the said heirs be of less age, within tutory and being [not entered to their] lands and heritage before their age of 14 years, which [may be through] negligence of their tutors and others, their friends, our sovereig[n lord] privileges and grants to them that they may enter within three [terms next] after their complete age of 14 years as said is, and this to be extended to the non-lineal heir that is to succeed to the person that happens to dec[ease] during the time and in manner aforesaid. And because it may happen the person or persons that happens to decease in manner and during the time aforesaid to have no lawful bairns of their bodies by the heir, therefore ordains that the profit of the ward lands be taken up by their mothers (if there be no tutors testamentars) as long as she remains widow, and, failing thereof, by the nearest and lawful tutors of the said bairns to be distributed to the sustenance of the heir and to the utility and profit of the remaining brother and sisters, to the perfect age of the said heir or heirs: that is to say, if the heirs be male of 21 years and if they be female of 14 years, the profit of the said heirs' marriage being always free to himself, the mother, tutor or governor finding sufficient caution before the lords that they shall make account, reckoning and payment of their intromission before the lords of council or in the exchequer yearly; and if the heirs of the persons that happens to die as said is have any feus, that they enter likewise to their feu lands held of whatsoever persons, spiritual or temporal, within the terms aforesaid without any payment of the feu.