January 6, 1774 - Printed history of Spotswood lands and summons to appear before the Lords of Council and Session at Edinburgh.
CWF Rockefeller Library, Special Collections - SCMS 1948.2
A
GEORGE, &c. Our lovit JOHN SPOTTISWOODE, Esq;
of Spottiswoode, the son and heir of John Spottiswoode
late of Spottiswoode, who was son and heir of Alexan-
der Spottiswoode of Spottiswoode, the eldest son and heir
of Sir Robert Spottiswoode of Spottiswoode, President of the Court of
Session in Scotland, THAT WHERE, in the year 1633, our Roy-
al Predecessor King Charles the First, did purchase from the said
deceased Sir Robert Spottiswoode, the pursuer's great-grandfather,
his lands, barony and estate of New Abbay, lying in the stewarty of
Kirkeudbright, at the agreed price of 3000 [£] Sterling money; and
for which sum his Majesty King Charles the First, granted bond
to the said Robert Spotiswoode: THAT immediately after this
purchase, King Charles the First annexed this estate of New Abbay
to the bishoprick of Edinburgh, then lately created; and it conti-
nued to make part of the revenue of that See until the year 1640,
when Episcopacy was abolished in Scotland by act of Parliament:
THAT upon Episcopacy being thus abolished, the said lands and
estate of New Abbay did revert to the Crown; and thereupon King
Charles the First, by his Royal signature, bearing date in the year
1641, upon a recital, that the price had not been paid, did re-
grant the said lands and estate unto Sir Robert Spottiswoode and
his heirs, who at that time delivered up the foresaid bond for
3000 [£] Sterling that had been given him for the price: THAT by
reason of the public disorders that happened in the country about
this period, and the unhappy fate of the said Robert Spottis-
woode, who was soon after attained and beheaded for his adhe-
rence to King Charles the First, the intention of his Majesty was
defeated, and no possession was ever attained in virtue of the said
signature and regrant: THAT soon after the restoration of King
Charles the Second, Alexander Spottiswoode, son to Sir Robert, and
grandfather to the pursuer, obtained another signature from his
then Majesty, bearing date the 29th day of October 1661, reciting
the signature anno 1641, and subsuming, That the said estate of
New Abbay, as well as the bygone rents thereof, did belong to him,
the said Alexander Spottiswoode, and directing a charter to be
passed of the said lands and estate in his favours; but no charter
was ever expede in consequence of that signature, by reason that, in
the year 1662, Episcopacy was restored in Scotland by act of Par-
liament, whereby the bishops were reinstated in whatever was pos-
sessed by them, or was due to their predecessors in 1637,
(2)
any act deed or gift intervening notwithstanding: AND
in consequence of this act the Bishop of Edinburgh obtain-
ed possession of this estate of New Abbay, but the purchase-money
was not paid: THAT, in the year 1690, Episcopacy being again abo-
lished in Scotland by act of Parliament, and the revenues of the bi-
shopricks reverting to the Crown, the deceased John Spottiswoode of
Spottiswoode, grandson of Sir Robert, and father to the pursuer, did, in
the year 1695, apply, by petition, to the Parliament of Scotland, set-
ting forth the facts before recited, and praying for relief; and this pe-
tition being referred to a special committee, this committee, after
hearing counsel on behalf of the Crown, did report in favour of
the petitioner. AND in consequence of which report, the parlia-
ment of Scotland passed an act, whereby they FOUND and DE-
CLARED, That the clause in the act of parliament 1662, restoring
Bishops to their estates and possessions, as by them enjoyed in the
year 1637, could not prejudge the petitioner ; and that the price
never being paid, the lands and barony of New Abbay belonged to
the said John Spottiswoode; or, at least, the price thereof, with the
interest ever since Sir Robert ceded his possession, deducing 12,000
merks received about the year 1663. AND they thereby recom-
mended to his Majesty, and the Commissioners of his Treasury and
Exchequer, to grant the lands to the petitioner, unless the foresaid
price be paid; the payment whereof was thereby recommended to
his Majesty's care and favour; and if his Majesty thought fit to
re-grant the lands, that he would be pleased to assign and mortify,
out of the rents and revenues belonging to the late Bishops, a pro-
vision to the second minister of Dumfries, equivalent to that which
his Majesty had then lately assigned to the said minister out of the
rents of New Abbay, that so the said lands of New Abbay might be
relieved of that provision: THAT in pursuance of this act of Par-
liament, the said deceased John Spottiswoode, the pursuer's father,
made several applications to be restored to his said estate of New
Abbay ; and particularly, in the year 1712, he applied by peti-
tion to her late Majesty Queen Anne, which was referred, by the
Lords of the Treasury, to the Barons of Exchequer in Scotland,
[who] reported, That the petitioner had fully proved the allegations
in his petition, that the lands conveyed by Sir Robert Spottiswood
to the Crown, are the lands and barony of New Abbay, which ap-
peared to be of the yearly value of 212 [£]. 10 s. 10 ½ d. Sterling;
(3)
but the same likewise appeared to be burdened by a mortification
from her Majesty, and several decrees of locality, to the value of
141 [£]. 4 s. 8½ d. Sterling, or thereabout: AND they most hum-
bly submitted to the Lords of the Treasury, considering the cir-
cumstances of the petitioner's family, whether it would not be a
proper instance of her Majesty's royal goodness, if she was pleased
to grant to the petitioner, the right that remained in her, and
which accrued by the abolishing of prelacy, that the petitioner
might thereby enjoy what was intended for his family by the
grace of her Majesty's royal uncle and grandfather, as far as the
circumstances of the case would allow. THAT by reason of the
death of Queen Anne, in the year 1714, the rebellion in the year
1715, and the death of the said John Spottiswoode, soon thereafter,
leaving the pursuer, his son, an infant, all further proceedings for
recovery of this estate stopped until the year 1738, WHEN the pursuer
brought a process and action of declarator and maills and du-
ties at his instance before our Lords of Council and Session, against
the Officers of State, for the interest of his then Majesty, and the
tenants and possessors of the said lands and barony of New Abbay,
to have it found and declared, that by the rights therein and before
mentioned, and particularly by the act of the parliament of
Scotland 1695, the pursuer John Spottiswoode had the only good
and undoubted right to the said lands and barony of New Ab-
bay, and to the rents, profits and duties thereof; and that all
dispositions, gifts, and mortifications thereof, made and granted
by their Majesties King Charles the First, King Charles the Se-
cond, King William and Queen Mary, or her Majesty Queen
Anne, or their successors, ought to be reduced and set aside ; and
that the pursuer ought to be answered and paid the maills and du-
ties of the said lands, by the tenants and possessors thereof: THAT
in the course of this process, the Lords of our Council and Session,
by their judgment, of date the 28th day of June 1740, found,
That although it appeared to them, that the pursuer was justly en-
titled to a charter from the Crown of the lands of New Abbay, or
to the payment of the price thereof, in virtue of the act and re-
commendation of the parliament of Scotland 1695, in favours of
the deceased Mr John Spottiswoode his father, That they had no
jurisdiction to grant any execution upon that act, for obtaining of
such charter, or recovering the price : And found, That until
such charter be obtained, the pursuer had no real right to the said
(4)
lands and barony of New Abbay, whereupon to maintain an
action of property, and for maills and duties ; and therefore sus-
tained the defence pleaded on the part of the Officers of State a-
gainst the action of declarator, and maills, and duties, as libelled,
leaving to the pursuer to make his humble applications to the Crown
for a proper charter, in terms of the said act of Parliament, as he
should be advised : THAT after this judgment, the pursuer made
application by petition to his late Majesty King George the Se-
cond, Our Royal Grandfather, praying for a regrant of the said
lands and barony of New Abbay. AND which petition, being 3d
day of February 1741, referred by the Lords of the Treasury, to
the Barons of Exchequer in Scotland, THE SAID BARONS, by
their report, bearing date the 12th day of February 1741,
after reference had to the report in the year 1712, before
recited, FURTHER REPORTED, That the pursuer is entitled to
the whole lands of New Abbay, in the same state and condition as
they were at the time of Sir Robert Spottiswoode's disponing the
same to King Charles the First, or to the sum of 3000 [£]. Sterling
pactioned for, as the price thereof, with interest for the same since
the year 1634 ; deducing 12,000 merks Scots, and interest since the
year 1663. AND THAT therefore, it would be a proper act of
justice as well as bounty in his Majesty, to give the pursuer a grant
or signature of the said lands of New Abbay, free from any morti-
fications or burdens, with which they have been since affected by
the Crown. But because such a grant might prove a handle for
a great many law-suits, the Barons humbly submitted, if it would
not be more proper to give the pursuer a grant of the said lands,
subject to the mortifications and other burdens with which they then
stood chargeable; and so far as the pursuer was thereby deprived of
the just title he had to the whole lands, to give him an equitable con-
sideration therefor in money : THAT, in consequence of this re-
port, the Lords of his then Majesty's Treasury, did, upon the 13th
March 1741, direct the Barons of Exchequer in Scotland, to make
out a signature in favours of the pursuer, which the said Barons
did make out, and transmitted, accompanied with a report, bear-
ing date the 17th day of July 1741, mentioning That they had
transmitted to the Lords of the Treasury, a signature of the lands
of New Abbay, in favours of the pursuer, subject to the mortifica-
tions and other burdens with which they there stood chargeable ;
and did observe to their Lordships, that upon a motion from the
B (5)
Lord advocate for the Crown, the patronage of the several kirks
which were formerly part of the barony of New Abbay, and be-
longed to the pursuer's predecessors, should still be reserved to the
Crown, the same were accordingly reserved by the signature, and
the pursuer had consented thereto, humbly submitting himself to
his Majesty's great goodness, for such consideration as to his
Majesty in his Royal wisdom should seem meet : THAT in con-
sequence of this report, the pursuer did obtain a charter of the
said lands and barony of New Abbay, under the Great Seal of
Scotland, bearing date the 31st December 1741, but subject to
the mortifications granted by several Sovereigns, Kings of Scot-
land, when the estate was in their possession, to the amount of
141 [£]. 4 s. 8 ½ d. Sterling yearly, and with a reservation to the
Crown, of the patronages of fifteen parish churches, which belonged
to the said barony, at the time it was disposed to King Charles the
First by Sir Robert Spottiswoode in the year 1633. AND TRUE
IT IS, That the foresaid sum of 3000 [£] Sterling of principal, the
price agreed to be paid by King Charles the First, to the said de-
ceased Sir Robert Spottiswoode, for the said lands and barony of
New Abbay, with the interest thereof, since the year 1633, is all
resting unpaid, excepting the sum of 12,000 merks Scots, received
thereof in the year 1663, and the value of those parts of the said
estate of New Abbay, which was restored to the pursuer, in virtue
of the charter, under the Great Seal, expede in consequence of
Our Royal Grandfather's signature, in the year 1741, being of
yearly rent, about 71 [£]. 6 s. 2 d. Sterling money, or thereby; AND
ALBEIT, it was found by the foresaid act of Parliament 1695,
and by several reports of the Barons of Exchequer, in the years
1712 and 1741, that the pursuer and his predecessors were entit-
led to the said whole lands and barony of New Abbay, in the same
state and condition as they were at the time of Sir Robert Spottis-
woode's disponing the same to King Charles the First ; or to the fore-
said price pactioned for the same, with interest thereof; and that it
would be an act of justice, as well as bounty, to give the pursuer a
grant of the foresaid lands, free from any mortifications or burdens.
But, in case it should be more proper, to give a grant of
the lands subject to the mortifications, and other burdens with
which they then stood chargeable (which is the case that has hap-
pened) That so far as the pursuer should be thereby deprived of
the just title he had to the whole lands, he was entitled to have an
(6)
equitable consideration therefor in money. Yet, notwithstanding
those proceedings, and that the pursuer is entitled at common
law, and agreeable to every rule of justice and equity, to have
full payment of the price of the foresaid lands and barony, he
has never received any consideration in money or otherwise for the
same, in so far as he has been prejudged, by taking the lands
subject to the before-mentioned mortification, and other burdens,
although he has made various applications for that purpose.
AND THEREFORE, our Officers of State in Scotland for our in-
terest, OUGHT and SHOULD be called and convened before
our Lords of our Council and Session, to hear and see it FOUND
and DECLARED, by decreet of our said Lords, that the said
pursuer, as heir to the said deceased Sir Robert Spottiswood, is a
just and lawful creditor to us, for the foresaid sum of 3000 Ster-
ling money of principal, and for the annualrent of the said prin-
cipal sum, from and since the year 1663, and in all time coming,
during the not payment, after deduction and allowance from the
foresaid sums of the sum of 12,000 merks Scots money, received
in the year 1663, and of the value of those parts of the said estate
of New Abbay, granted to the pursuer by the foresaid charter
1741, being of yearly rent 71 [£]. 6 s. 2 d. Sterling money, or there-
about. And the said Lords of our Council and Session, OUGHT
and SHOULD direct and appoint our said Officers of State for our
interest, to cause payment be made to the pursuer of the foresaid
sums, AND to give the necessary orders and directions, for carry-
ing their decree, to follow hereupon, into execution, so as the pur-
suer may recover his payment agreeable to the rules of law and
justice. OUR WILL IS HEREFORE &c.
I Messenger, by virtue
of summons, whereof this and the five preceeding pages is a full
double to the will, raised at the instance of John Spottiswoode, Esq;
of Spottiswoode, in his Majesty's name and authority, lawfully
summon, warn, and charge you
to compear before the Lords of Coun-
cil and Session at Edinburgh, or where it shall happen them to be
for the time, the
in the hour of cause, with continuation of
days, to answer at the instance of the said pursuer, in the action
and cause libelled in the said summons ; with certification conform
to the principal summons, which is dated and signeted the 6th day
of January 1774. This I do upon the day of
One thousand seven hundred and seventy four
years, before these witnesses,