A facsimile has been photo-zincographed by the Treasury as one of the national MSS. of Scotland.* As there is not among the Beauly transcripts any copy of the charter of confirmation of John Byset's grant by King Alexander II., it will be useful to give the translation of this charter to Pluscardine, the work in which it is found being expensive, and seldom seen in private libraries. "Alexander, by the grace of God King of the Scots, to all the men of all his land, clergy, and laity, greeting. Let those present and to come know that we, for the love of God, and for the weal of our soul and of the souls of our ancestors and successors, have given and granted, and by this our charter have confirmed, to God and the Blessed Mary, and to the Blessed Apostle Andrew, and to the Brethren of the Order of Valliscaulium serving and to serve God in the house that we have founded in our forest of Elgin, in the place to wit that is called the Vale of Saint Andrew at Pluscardin, in exchange for the forest of Lanach, which we formerly gave to the same brethren, twenty nets upon Inverspe in free, pure, and perpetual alms. "Moreover, we give and grant, and by this our charter confirm, to the same brethren, our mill of Elgin, with all the other mills belonging to that mill, and our mills formerly belonging to our castle of Foreys,+ and our mill of Dulpothin, in the bailliary of Foreys, so that * Facsimiles of National MSS. of Scotland, part i., No. xlviii. + It appears from Stevenson's Documents relating to Scotland, published under the direction of the Master of the Rolls, that in 1291-92, notwithstanding all the traditions about castles in the north, the only castles into which garrisons were placed by Edward I. north of the Spey, were the castles of Elgin, Forres, Nairn or Invernairn, Inverness, Dingwall, and Cromarty. These were the only strong places of sufficient importance for Edward to keep in his own hands. Under the protection of each of these castles, there were, by the time of Alexander III., the following municipalities: The Provost and Burgesses of Dingwall, the Burgesses of Inverness, the Burgesses of Elgin, the Burgesses of Forres, the Burgesses of Cromarty, and the Burgesses of Invernairn. to any of these is that of William the Lion to Inverness. of Alexander II. to Dingwall, dated 6th February 1227. 66 omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines quas burgenses nostri de Inverness et The first charter extant This and three other charters of the same king are set out in a charter of King James III., dated 16th August 1467, and printed in Bell's Treatise on Scotch Election Law, Edin. 1812, App. xxxv. the aforesaid brethren may have and hold and possess all the aforesaid mills in free, pure, and perpetual alms, with all the multure payable from all the lands from which at the time of this grant we drew multure, or ought to have drawn it if it had been tilled, with their waters and stanks. We will moreover and grant that the aforesaid brethren and their millers take earth, stones, and timber for making the stanks of the aforesaid mill, and for repairing and preserving them without any contradiction or hindrance, in neighbouring convenient and suitable places. We give also and grant, and by this our charter confirm, to the aforesaid brethren, in exchange for twentyfour nets that the monks and the said brethren had by our gift on the water of Findorin for twenty-four pounds, these lands underwritten by the eight marches, and with their just appurtenances, to wit, Fernavan, Thulidoui, Kep, Meikle Kyntessoch, to be held and had by them in free, pure, and perpetual alms; in wood and plain, in meadows and pastures, in moors and marshes, in ponds, mills, waters, and fishings belonging to the said lands, free and quit from every exaction, and service, and demand, and custom, with all suits and pleas in all the foresaid possessions chancing in their court, which we give to them to be litigated and determined, excepting those that specially belong to our crown. "We will, moreover, and grant that they, in respect of all their proper chattels, be free and quit over all our kingdom from all toll and custom. And all the aforesaid things that they have at present, and that they may in future times acquire by just means in our kingdom, we will and grant that they have, hold, and possess in free, pure, and perpetual alms, according to the tenor and form of the gifts made to them or to be made, as freely, quietly, fully, and honourably as any alms in our kingdom are most freely, quietly, fully, and honour in eo manentes habent."* The earliest extant charter in favour of Elgin recognises the existing burgh, which is mentioned as a burgh in King David's charter to Urquhart in 1125, and gives to the burgesses a merchant guild. It is dated at Elgin 28th November 1234, and has William Byset among the witnesses.+ The earliest mention I have found of the burghs of Forres, Cromarty, and Invernairn, is the insertion among the letters addressed to the King and Queen of Scotland, probably King Alexander III. and Queen Margaret, by Scottish municipalities, of letters from the burgesses of Forres, Cromarty, and Invernairn.‡ * Stat. Acct. Ross-shire, Dingwall, 1837, p. 219. ably had, held, and possessed by any religious men. And we have taken the aforesaid brethren and their house, all their men, and all the possessions and goods of them and their men into our firm peace and protection; and we firmly forbid that any one inflict any injury, trouble, or grievance upon them, or upon any one of them unjustly, upon pain of our full forfeiture; and that any one presume to take poind of them or of their men for any debt unless for their proper debt that they or their men may owe, upon pain of our full forfeiture. But if any one shall have rashly presumed to go against what is aforesaid in anything, let the diocesan in whose diocese this has been done, justly compel, by ecclesiastical censure, him who has done the injury to give satisfaction to the aforesaid monks; and if, on account of his contumacy, he has been tied with the sentence of excommunication, and obstinately resisting has scorned to obey the mandates of the Church, and has remained during forty days under sentence of excommunication, let the bailie of us and of our heirs, in whose bailliary that excommunicated person may be, seize him and thrust him into our prison; which, if that bailie shall have neglected to do after being required three times, the sentence of excommunication shall be enforced by the course of justice. We will, moreover, and grant that as often as injury has been done to the aforesaid brethren or to their men in respect of their lands, mills, or the marches of their lands, their possessions or other things, the bailies of us and of our heirs, when required by them, without waiting for a special royal mandate, do them full and swift justice according to the assize and customs of our kingdom. We charge, moreover, that no one presume to detain unjustly their serfs and those of their lands if found outwith our domains, upon pain of our full forfeiture. Witnesses— William, Bishop of Glasgow our Chancellor; Andrew, Bishop of Moray; William, Abbot of Dunfermline; Herbert, Abbot of Kelchoch; Ralf, Abbot of Aberbrothock; Gilbert, Abbot of Holy Rood; Patrick, Earl of Dunbar; Malcolm, Earl of Fife; Walter Cumin, Earl of Menteith; Roger of Quinci, our Constable; Walter, the son of Alan, our Steward, and Justiciar of Scotland; Walter Olifand, Justiciar of Lothian; Ingram of Balliol; Roger Avenel; Walter Biseth; Thomas, the son of Ranulf; Archibald of Dufglas; David, the Marischal. At Edinburgh, on the 7th day of April, in the 22d year of the reign of our Lord the King." The king had been careful, in his grant to the Valliscaulians, to remember their rules, and to give them incomes without labour; as at Beauly, so at Pluscardine, much of the revenues are derived from mills and salmon-fishings. "One grant," says Mr Innes, " of twenty nets fishing at Inverspey may have comprehended the whole fishing of the great river from the ancient bridge downwards."* The maintenance of the ancient bridge, we may remark, was secured by the wise king in 1228 granting property for the purpose of keeping it in repair. The bishop's charter confirming this in 1237 releases the tithes of the same land to the monks. We print the charter from the Treasury translation: "To all the sons of Holy Mother Church that shall see or hear these letters, Andrew, by divine permission Bishop of Moray, everlasting health in the Lord,-Be it known unto you all that when our Lord Alexander, the illustrious King of the Scots, had bestowed, in pure and perpetual alms, for the support of the House of the Vale of St Andrew, of the order of Valliscaulium, which he founded in Pluscardin, and for the support of the brothers there serving, and for ever to serve God, the mill of Elgin, with all the mills and other things belonging to it; also the mills of Foreys and of Dulpotin, with all the mills and other things belonging to these mills, from which the churches of Elgin, and of Foreys, and of Dye [Dyke] were wont to draw tithes ;† at the instance of our same Lord the King we quit-claimed to the aforesaid house, and to the aforesaid brethren, with the counsel and consent of our chapter and of the rector of the church of Foreys, to wit, the Archdeacon of Moray,§ all the tithes of the aforesaid mills and others, if any happen to have been made within the soke of the aforesaid mills which the aforesaid mills had at the time of the making of this writing, except the tithes from the profits of the millers holding the aforesaid mills. We have quit * Facsimiles of National MSS. of Scotland, Introduction, p. xi. + It would seem that these churches had the tithes of mills, which are generally vicarial tithes. William the Lion gave the churches of Forres and Dyke to Richard, Bishop of Moray, who had been his chaplain. § Bishop Bricius of Moray erected Forres and Logyn-Fythenach into a canonry, and gave it to the Archdeacon of Moray. This Logie is the Logie near Dumphail, and called Logie Fythenach, or the Woody Logie, to distinguish it from the other Logie. claimed, moreover, to the same house and to the same brethren, at the instance of our same Lord the King, all the tithes that were wont to be paid to us, and that ought to be paid to the Bishops of Moray for ever, from the rents* arising, and that shall arise, from the lands of Fernauan,† Tuliduui, Kep, Meikle Kintessoc, reserving to the mother churches in whose parishes the aforesaid lands are the other tithes pertaining to them. And our Lord the King aforesaid, by bestowing greater gifts, has of his grace benevolently provided an indemnity, and abundantly given satisfaction to us and to our successors, and to the church of Moray. And we have given full satisfaction to the church of Forays and the Archdeacons of Moray§ for those things that belonged to them. In sure and indubitable testimony of the things aforesaid, to this writing along with our seal is affixed the seal of our chapter, together with the subscriptions of the canons. Done in the year of grace one thousand two hundred and thirty-seven. I, ANDREW, Bishop of Moray and Canon of the Holy Trinity of Elgin, subscribe. I, WILLIAM, Precentor of Moray, subscribe. I, WILLIAM, Chancellor of the church of Moray, subscribe. I, WILLIAM, Archdeacon of Moray, subscribe. I, JOHN OF BEREWIC, Canon of the church of Moray, subscribe. I, WALTER, Canon of Kingussy, subscribe. I, R., Canon of Duppol, subscribe. I, ARCHIBALD, Canon of Croyn, subscribe. * The bishop perhaps refers to the grant to his see by William the Lion of the tithes of the king's can, or rents in kind, but the bishop's charter seems by Pope Urban's confirmation to have been sufficient to grant the corn tithes. + This is probably Fernway, which, according to Mr Forsyth (Acct. Moray, p. 173), is the original name of the district of Fernoway or Darnaway. This district, or the forest part of it, became the property of Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, who is said to have founded Darnaway Castle between 1315 and 1331. Kintessack is the present name of a locality in the parish of Dyke. § Although Bishop Bricius had erected the canonry of Forres and LogynFythenach for the benefit of the Archdeacon of Moray, yet, for some reason, the gift of Logyn-Fythenach required confirmation. This confirmation was enforced as a condition by Alexander in his grant to the bishop, in the month of September |