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MEMORIALS

FAMILY OF SKENE OF SKENE

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FROM THE FAMILY PAPERS
WITH OTHER ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS

EDITED BY

WILLIAM FORBES SKENE, D.C.L., LL.D.

HER MAJESTY'S HISTORIOGRAPHER FOR SCOTLAND

ABERDEEN

for t|jc j$eto &pa!D(n0 Club

1887

cs

flew SpalMng Club.

Founded nth November, 1886.

patroness :
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.

1886-87.

president:

THE EARL OF ABERDEEN.
Wice=prestoent8 :

THE DUKE OF RICHMOND AND GORDON, K.G.

THE EARL OF STRATHMORE.

THE EARL OF KINTORE.

THE EARL OF FIFE, K.T.

THE LORD FORBES.

THE LORD PROVOST OF ABERDEEN.

THE PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN.
CHARLES ELPHINSTONE-DALRYMPLE, of Kinellar

Lodge.

GEORGE GRUB, LL.D.

ALEXANDER FORBES IRVINE, of Drum, LL.D.
JOHN WEBSTER, of Edgehill, LL.D.

flGembers of Council :

The Earl of Southesk, K.T.

The Lord Saltoun.

The Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney.

Sir Francis W. Grant, Bart, of Monymusk.

Sir George Macpherson-Grant, Bart, of Ballindalloch.

Sir William C. Brooks, Bart., Glentanar, M.P.

Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff, of Eden,

K.C.S.I.

William Alexander, LL.D., Aberdeen.
Colonel James Allardyce, Aberdeen.
Alexander Baird, of Urie.
George Burnett, LL.D., Lyon King of Arms.
James A. Campbell, of Stracathro, LL.D., M.P.
The Rev. James Cooper, Aberdeen.
Peter M. Cran, Aberdeen.
John Crombie, of Balgownie Lodge.
Alexander Davidson, of Desswood.
Charles B. Davidson, Aberdeen.
The Rev. John Davidson, D.D., Inverurie.
Thomas Dickson, LL.D., H.M. General Register

House.

Francis Edmond, of Kingswells, LL.D.
John Philip Edmond, Aberdeen.
Robert F. O. Farquharson, of Haughton.
William Ferguson, of Kinmundy.
The Rev. James Gammack, LL.D., Aberdeen.
James Murray Garden, Aberdeen.

Henry Wolrige-Gordon, of Esslemont.

The Rev. Walter Gregor, LL.D., Pitsligo.

Alexander Kemlo, Aberdeen.

Colonel William Ross King, of Tertowie.

The Rev. James Forbes-Leith, S.J., Paris.

George Arbuthnot-Leslie, of Warthill.

David Littlejohn, Sheriff-Clerk, Aberdeen.

Charles Fraser-Mackintosh, of Drummond, M.P.

Hugh Gordon Lumsden, of Clova.

James Matthews, of Springhill.

The Rev. John G. Michie, Dinnet.

James Moir, Rector of the Grammar School,

Aberdeen.

Arthur D. Morice, Aberdeen.
Charles Rampini, Sheriff-Substitute, Elgin.
Alexander Ramsay, Banff.
Major John Ramsay, of Barra.
Alexander W. Robertson, Aberdeen.
Hercules Scott, of Brotherton.
William Forbes Skene, D.C.L., LL.D., H.M.

Historiographer for Scotland.
The Rev. William Temple, Forgue.
Alexander Walker, Aberdeen.
George Walker, Aberdeen.
Robert Walker, Aberdeen.
John Dove Wilson, LL.D., Sheriff-Substitute,

Aberdeen.

Secretary :
PETER JOHN ANDERSON, 2 East Craibstone Street, Aberdeen.

"treasurer :
PATRICK HENDERSON CHALMERS, 13 Union Terrace, Aberdeen.

PREFACE.

WHEN the Council of the New Spalding Club asked me
to undertake to compile a history of the ancient
Aberdeenshire family of Skene of Skene, which they proposed
to issue as the first of a series of histories of ancient northern
families, I willingly undertook the task, as I had ample materials
at my disposal, the result of researches made by my late father
into the Family History. I felt, however, that there might be
a disadvantage in selecting one for this task who was himself
among the few remaining male descendants of the family, from
a natural tendency to over-estimate the importance of the Skene
family, and the consideration in which it was held, fostered as it
was in some degree by the language of previous family historians ;
but I have endeavoured to avoid this tendency, and to present a
plain historical narrative of the history of the family, so far as it
is based on authentic documents.

If there had existed only one manuscript history of the family
of Skene of Skene, I would have been disposed to follow the
example of my late much esteemed friend — Mr. Cosmo Innes —
in the family histories edited by him for the original Spalding
Club, and to print the family history entire, adding such
authentic documents as tended to illustrate it ; but I had no fewer
than five manuscript histories of the family, written at different
dates, at my disposal, and I therefore thought it better simply
to insert extracts from them when it was desirable to present

viii. PREFACE.

the narrative in their language instead of my own, and to add
a reference to such authentic documents as confirmed or
corrected it.

The fact that I was able to refer to so many family histories,
written at different periods, has, however, enabled me to shew
the gradual growth and development of the traditionary history
of the origin of the family. ,

The curious circumstance that in 1296 John de Skene, the
first historic person of the name, bore as a cognizance the head
of John the Baptist, while Patrick de Skene, the Clericus, bore
on his Seal three Skenes or dirks, and that the Kirktown of Skene
belonged to the family, rather indicates that the name of Skene
was primarily connected with the Church, and extended from
thence to the barony, while the wolves' heads do not then appear
as forming part of the cognizance of the family. A circumstance,
however, connected with the arms of an ancient English family,
throws some light upon this fact. The Plumptons of Plumpton
Hall were Hereditary Foresters of the Ancient Royal Forest of
Knaresborough, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. In Wharf-
dale, which formed part of the Forest, and was anciently covered
with wood, still stands Plumpton Hall, a tower very similar to
the old tower of Skene ; and there is still preserved in it an old
stone coat-of-arms of the Plumptons, shewing three wolves
heads in fesse, a cognizance indicating, according to tradition,
their connection with the Forest, which was infested by wolves,
a certain number of which they were bound to kill each year.
The only family in Scotland which bore three wolves' heads,
besides the Skenes, was that of -the Robertsons of Strowan, and
they too were connected with a Forest, for their principal pos-
session was the great north-west Forest of Atholl, called the
Forest of Glengarry. The position of this family in the earlier
generations was an exact counterpart of that of the Skenes.
They possessed the Kirktown of Strowan, took their designation

\

PREFACE. ix.

from it — though the smallest of their possessions — and when their
lands were erected into a Barony the name of Strowan was given
to the Barony. In like manner the Skene lands were originally
part of a Forest. The family, too, possessed the Kirktown of
Skene, took their designation from it, and when the lands were
erected into a Barony it was termed the Barony of Skene. The
Seal of Patrick the Clericus of Skene shews that the cognizance of
the name was three Skenes or dirks, and the three wolves' heads
borne upon them were no doubt derived from their original
connection with the Forest. The combination of the two may
have given rise to the tradition of the first Skene having saved
the King from a wolf, and presented his head upon a Skene
or dirk.

In the narrative which I have given of the different gener-
ations of the family of Skene of Skene, with its branches, I
have not thought it necessary to print at length the Charters
and Retours which I have referred to in support of it, but have
merely quoted them from the originals in the Charter Chests,
or from the Public Records, as they do not in fact possess any
interest beyond the proof they afford of the succession of the
different heads of the family. The chief value of such family
histories lies much more in the pictures they afford of the social
position and habits of life of such families at different periods,
thus illustrating the social development of the country ; and
these I have endeavoured to bring out as much as possible, both
in the principal narrative and in the documents in the Appendix,
which were selected with that view. Thus we can see these
ancient Scottish Barons living in a tower " built of three arches
or stories, and entered by a ladder on the second story." We
can see the younger sons having no other resource than either
to enter the Church, or to have their names inscribed in the
rental books of the family as kindly tenants of some outlying
farm, which their descendants, if the laird was embarrassed,

X. PREFACE.

acquired as property, or else descended to the condition of
ordinary farmers. Then some generations later we see the
increasing trade of the country, and the new ideas and new life
infused into society by the Reformation, sending the younger
sons of such families to seek their subsistence in other fields.
We see them now obtaining a better education in the newly
founded Colleges, some of them taking a University degree,
and distinguished from their less cultivated brothers by the title
of " Mr.," a designation at that time exclusively confined to
Masters of Arts ; and then sometimes teaching for some years in
their College as Regents. We can see those who would have
entered the Church becoming Notaries Public, adopting learned
professions, or becoming Professors in these Colleges. We can
see others breaking through the aristocratic line of demarcation
between land and Burgh, and, becoming burgesses of the
County town, whence, if they were prosperous in trade, they
again emerged and founded new County families by purchasing
land. Add to this the foundation of the College of Justice, and
the increasing trade between Scotland and the Netherlands and
Poland, in which Aberdeen took a large share, and we can see
the scions of County families resorting to one or other as an
outlet for their energies, and a means of acquiring fame and
fortune. /:;

We can thus see the sons of one obscure Notary Public
on Deeside furnishing a Professor of Medicine, who became
Physician to the King, and a learned Advocate, who was " a
good, trew, stout man, like a Dutche man, and culd mak them
lang harangues in Latin," sent as Ambassador to Foreign
Courts, and occupying the high position of Lord Clerk Register,
receiving letters from learned persons abroad (App. n.)r and
laudatory verses at home (App. in.), while his last years are
embittered by disputes among his sons, and the efforts which
the Archbishop of St. Andrews narrates in such quaint language

PREFACE. XI.

to bring them to a settlement are defeated by the influence of
the puritan mother-in-law of the eldest son (App. iv.) We can
see a member of another branch occupying the position of
Conservator of Scotch privileges at Campvere, in the Nether-
lands (App. i.) ; the younger son of a Midmar farmer of the Hal-
yards in Fife branch settling at Venloo, in the same country, and
founding a family, now occupying an important and influential
position in Austria ; and the younger son of a Belhelvie farmer
of the Westercorse branch acquiring a fortune in Poland,
returning home, and founding a County family. We can see
a younger son of the Halyards in Midlothian family in the
army, serving in the Netherlands, marrying a young Dutch girl,
and dying at Tournay, and we can read the touching letters
written by himself from his deathbed, and by his young widow
(App. vii.) We can see a specimen of the intolerance exercised
by Charles I. in Scotland, under the auspices of Archbishop Laud,
when a Judge of the Court of Session was in danger of losing his
position because he had not communicated kneeling at Easter
in St. Giles (App. v.) ; while some years after we find him
President of the Court of Session, and rewarded by a Nova
Scotia Baronetcy, his patent, like other early patents, containing
the grant of a Barony, with almost regal jurisdiction, in Nova
Scotia, where the grantees were expected to settle, but which
grants were rendered nugatory by the entire district being
possessed by the French in 1638 (App. vi.) We can see, too,
the remarkable current of religious feeling which soon after
spread over Scotland, when a Magistrate of Aberdeen, and
his family, became Quakers, and a Provost of Aberdeen made
a solemn renunciation of his sins (App. ix.)

The History of the Skenes of Skene, and the families
whose descent from them can be traced, terminates with that
family to which I belong, two families whose connection with
the chief family has not been traced being placed in the

xii. PREFACE.

Appendix (No. i.) When I approached the present generation
of my own family I felt myself treading on delicate ground, as
I naturally desired to do justice to the members of it, and
especially to the character and accomplishments so generally
recognised of my late father, but was afraid that I might be led into
over laudation. I was therefore glad, in the case of my father,
to be able to substitute for my own account the obituary notice
of him addressed to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, by so
distinguished a man as Sir David Brewster, and to conclude
the Appendix by adding the well-known lines addressed to him
by his life-long friend, Sir Walter Scott (App. x.)

I was also glad to be able to supply the full-page illustrations
to this volume from the collection of my father's drawings, part
of which had already appeared in the edition of Spalding's
Troubles, printed for the Bannatyne Club.

I have, in conclusion, to record my thanks to my friend,
Charles Elphinstone-Dalrymple, Esq., for the kind interest he
has taken in the work, and the judicious advice I have received
from him ; and also to the Secretary of the New Spalding Club,
P. J. Anderson, Esq., who has kindly revised my proof sheets,
and given me many valuable suggestions from time to time.

I have only to add, that in compiling the history of so many
branches of the family, I may occasionally have been led into
inaccuracies of date or statement, for which I hope to meet with
indulgence.

WILLIAM F. SKENE.

27 INVERLEITH Row,
EDINBURGH, December, 1887.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ... ... ... ... xv.

INTRODUCTION ... ... ... ... ... i

CHAPTER I. — Skene of Skene ... ... ... ... 5

CHAPTER II. — Skene of Halyards in Fife . ... ... 49

Skene of Pitlour ... ... ... 61

Skene of Prerau in Austria ... ... 64

CHAPTER III. — Skene of Dumbreck ... ... ... 69

Skene of Newtyle ... ... ... 75

CHAPTER IV.— Skene of Dyce ... ... ... ... 82

CHAPTER V. — Skene of Westercorse and Ramore ... 90

Skene of Curriehill ... ... ... 106

Skene of Halyards in Midlothian ... ... 117

Skene of Belhelvie ... ... ... 123

Skene of Rubislaw ... ... ...... 131

. yd

XIV. CONTENTS.

APPENDIX OF ILLUSTRATIVE DOCUMENTS.

I. — Families whose descent from Skene of Skene has not

been traced — PAGE

1. Skene of Ruthrieston ... ... ... 147

2. Skene of Auchtererne ... ... ... 151

II. — Foreign Letters addressed to Sir John Skene, between

1586 and 1598 ...' ... ... ... 155

III. — Laudatory rVerses addressed .to Sir John Skene on his

publishing the " Regiam Majestatem" in 1609 ... 180

IV. — Letters connected with transactions between Sir John

Skene and his Sons in 1614 ... ... ... 186

V. — Proceedings connected with a complaint against Sir
James Skene of Curriehill for not communicating at
Easter, 1619 ... ... ... ... ... 193

VI. — Patent of Baronetcy in favour of Sir James Skene of

Curriehill, 26th January, 1630 ... ... ... 197

VII. — Letters from Hugh Skene and his wife, Petronella Van

Sorgen, addressed to the Lady Halyards ... 225

VIII. — Papers connected with the Skenes of Belhelvie ... 228

IX. — A Solemn Renunciation of Sins by Sir George Skene

of Wester Fintray and Rubislaw, 24th August, 1684 240

-X. — Introduction to Canto Fourth of " Marmion," addressed

by Sir Walter Scott to James Skene of Rubislaw ... 243

INDEX ... ... ... ... ... ... . 251

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

v.,

Skene House ... ... ... ... ... Frontispiece,

PAGE

The Skene preserved in the Skene Charter Chest ... to face 5

Seals of Johan de Skene and Patrick de Skene ... ... 10

Arms of Alexander Skene of Skene and Giles Adie ... 48

Castle of Halyards in Fife ... ... ... to face 49

Arms of Mr. Andrew Skene and Jean Courts ... ... 68

Arms of Robert Skene and Marjory Forbes ... ... 81

Arms of Sir James Skene of Curriehill ... ... ... 116

Castle of Halyards in Midlothian ... ... to face 117

Arms of Skene of Halyards in Midlothian ... ... 122

House of Rubislaw ... ... ... ... to face 131

House in the Guestrow, Aberdeen ... ... to face 133

Arms of Sir George Skene of Wester Fintray ... ... 145

Arms of John Skene of Halyards in Fife ... ... 250

MEMORIALS OF THE FAMILY OF SKENE OF SKENE.

INTRODUCTION.

THE materials for a history of the ancient Aberdeenshire Family
of Skene of Skene are more than usually abundant. They
consist of the family papers in the charter chest of Skene of Skene,
in the possession of the Earl of Fife, now the heir of line of the family ;
those in the charter chest of the family of Rubislaw, and in that of the
family of Curriehill and Halyards, which fell to the late James Skene of
Rubislaw, on the failure of that branch ; and five manuscript histories,
compiled at different times.

The oldest of these (MS.A) is a manuscript bearing the following
title, " Origo nominis necnon familiae de Skein," and concluding with the
following docquet, " Thir presents are exhibited by a wellwisher of both
the families, viz., the Laird of Glenbervie, called Douglas, whose draught
thereof is wrytten by Mr. Alexander Skene, Aberdeen, 22 January,
1678." This Mr. Alexander Skene is obviously also the compiler of
another manuscript, containing coats of arms of all the principal Scottish
families. The Skene families among them are — " Skene of that ilk, G. 3
wolfe-heads couped O., on the poynts of as many swords paleways A.
hilted and pomelled of the 2d. ; Skene of Halyards in Lothian ; Skene
of Halyards in Fyfe ; Skene of Fintrie ; Skene of Remore ; Skene of
Dyce ; Skene of Bandodle ; Skene of Dumbreck ; Skene of Corrihill ;
Skene of Tillibirlach ; Skene of Newtyle ; Gilbert Skene [his own
ancestor], bears the principall armes of the house, and for his cognisance

B

MEMORIALS OF THE FAMILY

ane helme befitting his degree, bearing upon it ane vvolfe sayhant." After
which occurs the following docquet : —

Adjuvants Jehovah

Hunc Itbrtrm Pinxit

ALEXR- SKENE
Scoto-Abredonensis

A.^E.C. 1678

cui 25to Julij coronidem

Imposuit TravTore S6£a 6eu>.

O si possem pingere ^ternitati

Duce Deo quidvis potest quivis.

•»prn -ON now p-s *

Sors mihi grata cadet.

This is followed by an alphabetical Index, and by some Notes
on Heraldry.

There can, I think, be little difficulty in identifying the compiler of these
two manuscripts with a Mr. Alexander Skene, a man of some note and
culture at the time, in Aberdeen, whose brother James, about the same
time, held the office of Lyon Depute. They were, as will afterwards
appear, sons of a Robert Skene, merchant burgess of Aberdeen, and
treasurer of the burgh. Alexander, his eldest son, was born in 1621,
and admitted a burgess in 1625, when only four years old — "jure
paternitatis et dispens. cum jurejurando quia pupillus est et infra
aetatem." In 1648 he was a Master of Arts, as appears from a sasine
in favour " probi et discreti adolescentis magistri Alexandri Skene."
In 1656 he became a magistrate of the town, and in the same year was
chosen, as one of the nearest of kin, curator of John Skene of that ilk,
whom he addresses, in 1675, in a letter in the same charter chest, as
his " beloved friend."

* I am indebted to the Reverend Walter MacLeod for the following explanation of the
Hebrew — " The Hebrew lines are not from any particular text, so far as I can discover, but the
phraseology is Scriptural. They may be thus rendered : —

For in Thee, O Lord, is my hope ;
Therefore I rejoice in my portion"

OF SKENE OF SKENE. 3

In 1685 there appeared in Aberdeen a work with the title of
" Memorialls for the Government of the Royall-Burghs in Scotland.
By $IAOIIOAITEIOYZ, or a lover of the Publick wellfare " ; and, in the
same year, "A Succinct Survey of the famous City of Aberdeen. By
a Zealous Lover of Bon-Accord, *IAOnOAITEIOY2." That Baillie
Alexander Skene was the author appears from an entry in the Council
Register in the same year — " the little book latlie emitted be Mr Alexr
Skene late bailie dedicat to the Magrals and Counsell .... to get
tuentie thereof for the touns vse" (vol. Ivii, p. 198).

His position, his literary character, and his connection with the family
of Skene of Skene necessarily give great weight to his account of the
family, and especially to that period when he must have been personally
cognisant of the facts he narrates.

The second manuscript history, in point of date (MS.B), is unfortunately
anonymous. Its title is " Some special Accounts concerning the house
of Skene," and it belonged to the late Andrew Skene, advocate, Solicitor-
General for Scotland. This account, however, must have been written
between the years 1680 and 1724, as the writer mentions, "John Skene
of that ilk, who was father to the present Laird of Skene, whose name
is Alexander," and Alexander succeeded his father in 1680, and died in
1724. From its silence as to later events, it was probably written not
long after the former date.

Of the third manuscript (MS.C) we can give a more distinct account. Its
title is " Ane account of Sir John Skene, Lord Curriehill, Clerk Register,
his Predecessors and Successors " ; and there is this docquet — " This
account was written by Mr. Robert Cowpar, brother to Sir John Cowpar
of Gogar, who died in the ox)th year of his age in the year 1726, at
Balherton, in Midlothian, near Edinburgh. Sir John Cowpar's father was
married (as per the account) to Mr. John Skene of Halyards, one of the
principal Clerks of Session, his eldest daughter, Helen Skene ; and Mr.
John Skene of Halyards was Sir John's second son, who was a son of
Skene of Raemoir's, the eldest cadet of the family of Skene of that ilk,
now gone into the name of Hog, by the heiress marrying this Raemoir's
father, who was first of that name. This is copied out of the original
manuscript by John Ramsay of Menies, lineally descended of the family
of Dalhousie, Anno 1727." This account, therefore, belongs to the same
period with the previous manuscript

4 MEMORIALS OF THE FAMILY OF SKENE OF SKENE.

The fourth manuscript account of the family (MS.D) consists of separate
" accounts of the families of Skene of Skene, of Skene of Halyards (in
Fife), and of Skene of Curriehill and Halyards, in Lothian ; to which is
added some accounts concerning the family of Skene of that ilk ; an
account of Sir George Skene of Wester Fintray, his predecessors, and
account of some of the predecessors of Giles Adie, wife of Alexander
Skene, who died at Skene, 2Oth January, 1724." These formed part of
" The account of the families of Scotland, in the possession of the late
George Chalmers, F.R.S.S.A.," and may be dated about 1770.

The last manuscript account (MS.E) is a volume with the title
" Parentalia, or Genealogical Notes with reference to the different families
of the name of Skene and others allied to the family of Skene of Rubislaw,
collected from various sources by James Skene, 1820." This manuscript
is chiefly valuable from recording many of the floating traditions regarding
the family history, which were still current at the date at which it was
compiled, and which the author lost no opportunity of obtaining from
those old persons in whose memory they were still preserved.

The following memorials are compiled partly from these manuscript
histories, and partly from documents among the family papers, or extracted
from the public records. Where no references are added, they are from
documents in the various charter chests.

f

A

Representation of tin- ajicietit Dirk or Skeui ., pre-served in tfu- Ski •///• ('liarta
l tuul /»/•///-» w/ it> hav'e been iisetl as a symbol <>/ ' un'i -.iff turf front thetl
//if laiuls nvvv r/vv •//•<•/ into a. ftartmy in, 737J." f3 / size

CHAPTER I.

SKENE OF SKENE.

ABOUT ten miles due west from Aberdeen is the Loch of Skene, a
considerable sheet of water, and on the north side of it extends
the ancient barony of Skene, co-extensive with the more modern parish
of the same name. It is bounded on the north by the parishes of
Kinellar and Kintore, on the west by the parishes of Kinnernie, now
annexed to Cluny, and Echt, and on the east by the freedom lands of
Aberdeen. The barony consisted of two distinct portions. The western
and larger portion contained the lands of the Maynes or Dominical
lands of Skene, Hattown, Broomhill, Newton, Tearavell, Over and
Nether Auchinlech, Craigdarg, Letter, Bervie, Easter and Wester Kin-
mundie, Easter and Wester Carney, Fiddie, Mill of Keir, Ord, Blackhill,
Graystone, Rodgerhill, and Broadiach. The eastern and smaller portion,
usually termed the lands of Easter Skene, consisted of the Kirkton
of Skene, Liddach, Garlogie, and Millbuie. On the former was situated
the old tower of Skene, said by tradition to be the first built stone house
in Mar. It now forms the west wing of the House of Skene. On Easter
Skene was the Church of Skene, now a parish church, but formerly a
vicarage, dependent upon the mother church of Kinkell.

These lands were erected into a barony by King Robert Bruce, in the
year 1317, and have from time immemorial been in the possession of the
baronial family of Skene of Skene. Mr. Robert Cowpar tells the following
anecdote with reference to the antiquity of the family. He says — " This
present Laird of Skene's father being in Edinburgh, and desirous to see his
relations, Sir John Cowpar of Gogar being in company with him at the
Cross of Edinburgh, asked him if he desired to see and be acquainted
with my Lady Dundonald, being ane relation of his, he was very well \

6 SKENE OF SKENE.

pleased, and they went together to her lodging. Sir John Cowpar, intro-
ducing him to the Countess of Dundonald, told her he had brought her
Chief the Laird of Skene to wait upon her. She received him with great
joy and kindness, being the person in the world she longed to see, being
her chief, and hearing that he was ane old family — ' But, Skene, I would
gladly know what you can produce to instruct your antiquity ? ' 'I can
instruct, in my charter-chest, one-and-thirty services and retours, from father
to son, and not a daughter intervening ; ' whereupon she called upon the
Earl of Dundonald, and gave him account of what Skene told her ; the
Earl being so well pleased that he embraced him and carried him to his
foreroom, where there were several noblemen in company with the Earl,
and desired them to take his Lady's chief by the hand, who could say
that which, he believed, none of them could say the like. ' This Laird of
Skene can produce, lying in his charter chest, thirty-one services and
retours, from father to son, and not a daughter intervening ; ' which all of
them declared there was none of them could say the like, and that it was
both ane honest and old evidence of his family ; so this present old laird's
son is thirty-third from father to son" (MS.C) — and no doubt none of them
could say the like, and it would have been "ane honest and old evidence"
if the retours could have been produced ; but that the old laird's son was
the thirty-third from father to son, was simply a matter of traditionary
belief, evidently derived from the legendary origin of the family. Taking
the average length of a generation in the Skene family, which, from the
early marriages of the lairds, is unusually small, thirty-one generations
would take us back to the eleventh century, and through a period when
there were no such documents as services and retours.

The traditionary origin of the family is thus given by Mr. Alexander
Skene, in 1678 : —

" Ane old tradition yr is that the tribe and family of Skein had their
origin from Struan Robertson of Athole, and they from McDonald, and
yl our first author was a son of the Laird of Struans, and had his first
donation immediately from the king, for killing ane devouring wolfe in
the forest, near the freddom land of Aberdeen, for which he got ye
confirmation of East and Wester Skein, to the freedom of Abdn, and
that with ane coat of arms helmed and flurished, relating to the valorous
act, viz., 3 wolfs heads crazed upon the points of 3 Skeens, triumphant
in a field of Gules ; above the helmet ane naked hand holding a laurel

SKENE OF SKENE. 7

branch, wl this motto, ' Virtutis Regia merces,' which arms are registered
in ye booke of Heraldry. Under the reign of what king yl happened I
am not certainly informed. But sure I am that there was lately in the
charter chest of the House of Skein a restauration from a forfauture
granted by K. W. the Lion. This is now amissing." (MS. A).

Sir George Mackenzie, in his " Science of Heraldry," published two
years after, in 1680, gives the same account. He says — "Some also derive
their names as well as their arms from some considerable action ; and
thus a second son of Struan Robertson, for killing of a wolf in Stocket
Forrest by a durk in the king's presence, got the name of Skein, which
signifies a durk in Irish, and three durk-points in pale for his armes." (p. 5.)

The next manuscript account, written not very long after, gives us the
king's name. It says — "King Malcolm Kenmore, having defeat the Danes
at Mortlich, which was then the Bishop's see, and killed the King of Den-
mark there, on his road south from the Buttoch of Mortlich, being fiercely
purshewed by a devouring woulfe in the wood of Culbleun, which then
stretched itself from Breymar to the forest of the Stocket of Aberdeen,

miles abov that town, a second son of Donald of the Isles, perceiving
the fierceness of the woulfe with his open mouth coming upon the king,
wrapt his plaid about his left arme, and thrust in his mouth, and interposed
himselfe to the furie of the wyld beast rather than have his prince in
hazard, and then, with his right hand, drew his Skene, and under his arme
that was in the mouth of the woulfe, struck in his Skein at his head, and
cut of his head and delivered to King Malcombe, for the quhilk Malcome
gave him the lands of Skene, and caused him to be called Skene of yl
ilk, as lykways the great Laik or Loch of Skene, being sax myles of
circuit, well plenished with fresh water fishes, Elk Bulls and Croched
Cows on the sydes thereof, who have but on ear or lug, and gives exceeding
mutch milk, and are said never seen to Bule, but its vulgarly reported that
these Elfe Bulls comes out in the night season and returne with a great
Bulying in the Watter.

" The armes given for this noble atchievement and act of valour was
Gules, three Skeines palewayes, in fess argent, pomelled or, surmounted
of alse many woolfe heads couped of the third ; above the shield ane
helmit befitting his degree, mantled gules, doubled argent ; supported on
the dexter by a Dunewassell in highland habit, viz., a blue bonnet,
pinched up on the left syde with a bon pin, a slashed out coat or doublet,

8 SKENE OF SKENE.

enveloped with a plaid over his left shoulder, and girded in his sword, and
his left hand curving up the shield, and in his right hand a Skene or
dagger guarding it, and on the sinister syd a Gillieweetfoot, with his
master's target on his left arme, and his doorlach pendant to his heels,
with short hoise, and rullions on his foot ; and for his Crest a Crowne of
Lawrell, with this motto over it, in a scroll, ' virtutis regia merces! This
Coat was donum Regis, and not the douyer of a Herauld. . . .

" John Skene of yl ilk, who was father to the present Laird of Skene,
whose name is Alexander, was the Twentie-sevent Laird of Skene served
and retoured, as the breves and services by the Monsars [Macers] and
SherifFe Court Books of Aberdene can witness." (MS.B.)

The third manuscript (MS.C) repeats the traditionary origin given by
Mr. Alexander Skene in 1678 ; but Sir John Cowpar, in introducing this
John Skene of that ilk to Lady Dundonald, adds four generations to the
twenty-seven given in the previous manuscript, and credits him with
thirty-one services and retours.

In the next manuscript history (MS.D) we find a still further develop-
ment of the story, extending, in the same manner, the antiquity of the
family. The author repeats the story in MS.B, but substitutes Malcolm the
Second as the King, and gives 1014 as the date, and then adds to it this
further account : — " The first of this family we have now upon record is
John de Skeen, who lived in the reign of King Malcolm Canmore, after
whose death he had the misfortune to join Donald Bain, the usurper, who
was his near relative, for which he was most justly forfeited by King
Edgar. But afterwards, in the reign of King Alexander 1st, when that
monarch was marching against the Rebels in the North, the Laird of
Skeen joined the Royal army, did them singular service in assisting them
to pass the rivers, and in short behaved with such courage and mag-
nanimity against the King's Enemies upon every occasion, that his
Majesty was graciously pleased to rehabilitate him, and restored unto him
his Estate of Skene, Anno 1 1 18 (in the charter chest of the family), which
has been enjoyed by his posterity ever since."

In another edition of this manuscript the story is thus told : —

" The family, by the troublesome times which afterwards prevailed,
lost many of their charters and principal papers, so that there is very
little accounts of thirteen Lairds of Skene who succeeded one another,
from King Malcolm the second to the time of King Robert the Bruce ;

SKENE OF SKENE. 9

only there is still extant a Restoraution from a forfaulture of the Lands
of Skene, granted by King Alexander .the first to John de Skene, An.
1118; and the tradition of the forfaulture is, that upon Donald Bane
usurping the Crown of Scotland, after the death of King Malcolm the
Third, surnamed Keanmore, the then Laird of Skene joined with Donald
as his relation, for which he was forfeited ; and upon King Alexander
succeeding to the Crown, and going north to Murray, to subdue .the
Rebells, who had attacked him in his Castle of Luff, in the Carse of
Cowrie, the Laird of Skene followed the king north, and by his valour
and conduct was the principal mean of passing the king and his army over
the water of Spey, in spite of the Rebells who had taken possession of
the Foords, and did the king many other remarkable services in that
campaign, for which he was restored by him to his Estate."

It is no wonder that the writer could find little account of the supposed
thirteen early Lairds of Skene, but he makes up for the want of records,
by transposing the restoration from forfeiture, which Mr. Alexander Skene
said was granted by King William the Lion, to the reign of Alexander I.
in 1 1 1 8, and attaches to it a fanciful tale, in which he appropriates to
his imaginary Laird of Skene the valiant actions which Hector Boece
attributes to Alexander Carron, the king's standard bearer.

The first appearance of the surname of Skene, in any authentic
document, is in 1296, when " Johan de Skene del counte de Edneburh,"
and " Johan de Skene, Patrick de Skene del counte de Aberdene," did
homage to King Edward the First (Calendar of Documents relating
to Scotland, pp. 203-208). The seals attached to these homages are
preserved, and show that Johan de Skene del counte de Edneburh and
del "counte de Aberdene was the same person. His seal bears the
device of a head of John the Baptist upon a charger, with a hand
pointing down, and the inscription " S. loh'is de Sceyn." The Seal
of Patrick de Skene has the device of a small shield within quatrefoil,
bearing three Skenes or dirks paleways, "S. Patricii de Sken Cl'ici." It is
probable that Johan de Skene did homage as holding the lands of Skene,
with the Tower, of the Crow/i, and Patrick as holding the lands of Easter
Skene, containing the Kirktown of Skene, and that he was himself the
vicar of Skene. The name of Skene is thus plainly territorial. And
as these Church lands always formed part of the subsequent barony, we
may infer that, like other families, the Skenes were hereditary possessors

C

I0 SKENE OF SKENE.

of the vicarage of Skene, and took their name from it. What lands
Johan de Skene possessed in the county of Edinburgh it is difficult to
say, but they may have been the lands of Halyards, in the parish of
Kirkliston, which were afterwards acquired by the family, and were
connected with the possessions of the Hospitallers or Knights of St. John
of Jerusalem ; and so may have given rise to the device upon his seal.
This is the more probable as his successor, in 1358, as we shall afterwards
see, bore the name of Gilian, which means the servant of St. John.

Seals of Johan de Skene and Patrick de Skene.

There are some documents, however, which bear upon the territorial
history of the lands. In the Chartulary of the Bishopric of Aberdeen is the
following: — "Conventio inter Petrum episcopum et Alanum Hostiarium."
" Hec est conuentio facta inter venerabilem patrem episcopum Aberdon-
ensem ex parte vna et dominum Alanum hostiarium justiciarium Scotie ex
altera. Videlicet quod dictus dominus Alanus hostiarius dedit et concessit
Deo et ecclesie beate Marie et sancte Machorij de Aberdon et episcopoPetro
eiusque successoribus viginti duos solidos sterlingorum legalium de terra
sua de Schene ad duos terminos imperpetuum percipiendos medietatem
videlicet ad Penthecosten et aliam medietatem ad festum sancti Martini in
yeme pro decimis de Onele quas sui antecessores Episcopi ex collatione
illustris regis Dauid et regum succeSsorum eiusdem actenus percipere
debuerunt. quas quidem decimas predictus Petrus episcopus prefato Alano
hostiario et heredibus suis pro dictis xxij solidis annuatim soluendis

SKENE OF SKENE. II

imperpetuum dimisit et quieteclamauit. Ita tamen quod dicta terra de
Schen pro prefata quantitate pecunie dictis terminis soluenda Episcopo
Aberdonensi qui pro tempore fuerit in perpetuum remaneat obligata.
In cujus rei testimonium parti hujus scripture in modum cirograffi
confecte penes dictum dominum Alanum remanenti sigillum dicti domini
Episcopi vna cum sigillo capituli ecclesie sue Aberdonensis est appositum.
alteri vero parti penes dominum Episcopum residenti sigillum prefati
domini Alani est appensum. Hiis testibus domino Willelmo de Brechyne.
W. Byset. Colmero hostiario. Johanne de vallibus. Gregorio de maleuile.
R. Flandrensi. magistro W. officiali Aberdonensi. domino Gilberto de
Strivelyng. et Hugone de Bennam canonicis ecclesie Aberdonensis
et alijs." — (i. 17).

In a Rental of the Bishopric, in the reign of Alexander III., there is
this entry — " De tern's de Skyen dentur domino Episcopo Aberdonensi
pro secundis decimis de Onele xxij. s. ex conuentione inter episcopum
et capitulum Aberdonense et Alanum Hostiarum dominum earundem." —

(I- 57).

Alan Hostiarius or Durward died in 1275, so that this agreement
must have been entered into before that date. What his precise connec-
tion with the lands of Skene was, at this time, is not very clear, but it may
be inferred that he possessed only the superiority of the lands from the
following circumstance.

The Church of Skene was undoubtedly a vicarage dependent upon the
Church of Kinkell. In the same Register there is the following: — "Carta
domini comitis mariscalli facta magistro Alexandro Gallouay rectori a
Kinkell de et super concessione vnius crofte iuxta ecclesiam de Skein
pro mansione construenda vicario dicte ecclesie. Celebrando missam
hebdomadatim omni secunda feria. Data apud Castrum de Kyntor xij
Decembris A.D. MDXXXIX." — (r. 416). What the Earl Marischall's
connection with the lands was will after appear. In 1613 there is in
the Register of the Privy Seal " ane letter maid makand mention
that umquhile Mr. Thomas Lumsden, parson of Kinkell, had, by tack,
to Alexander Skene of that ilk, set to him the teind Sheaves of the
lands of Wester Skene, &c." And by an Act of the Scotch Parliament,
in 1649, the kirks of Drumblate, Skeene, Kintore, Kynnellar, Dyce, and
Kemnay, " as being kirks and pendicles of the kirke of Kinkell of auld
erected in ane benefice and parsonage, quhairof the kirkis aboue writtin

12 SKENE OF SKENE.

were proper parts and pendicles," are dissolved, disunited, and separated,
"with the right of patronage and title of the teynds rexue of the samen kirks
from the forsaid kirk and benefice of Kinkell," and declared "to be
severall and distinct paroche kirkis and parochines be thameselffis, and
nowayes to be parts and pendicles of the said kirk of Kinkell, benefice
and personage theirof, in all tyme comeing." — (Acts of Parl. vi., pt. ii., 183).

This parsonage of Kinkell was, as its name implies, the plebania or
mother church of the great Thanage of Kintore ; and the lands attached
to the other dependent vicarages all belonged to the Thanage. It is
therefore probable that the lands of Skene originally formed part of the
Thanage of Kintore ; and the narrative is probably correct which
describes it as forming part of an extended forest, for that part of the
parish of Kintore which bounds it on the north, was the "foresta de
Kintore," and at the northern extremity of the forest was the old tower of
Hall Forest, believed to have been a hunting seat of the Scottish kings.
It is thus described — " Hall Forest [a royal castle], according to tradition,
was built by King Robert Bruce for a hunting hall. It consisted of four
stories, having battlements, besides what is called a Capehouse, with a
moveable ladder, by which those who occasionally lodged in it, entered
to the first floor. The Earl Marischall, having acquired a right to it from
the Crown, presented it to his son, the first Earl of Kintore." — (Kennedy's
"Annals of Aberdeen," vol. ii., p. 323). That the old tower of Skene was
an analogous structure, will appear from the description of it given in one
of the MS. histories of the family — " The Tower, or old house, still
stands, which was originally built of three arches or stories, and entered
by a ladder on the second story. It was covered with a mound of earth
upon the top of the third arch, and is all built with lime, quite run to-
gether or vitrified, and the walls about ten feet thick. It continued in its
original state till about the year 1680, that the arches being taken out, it
was roofed and floored by Jean Burnet, Lady Skene, Relict of John
Skene of that ilk, in her widowhood, and makes now a part of the
accommodation of the present house" — (MS.D). Both towers, however,
belong, from the style of their architecture, to a much earlier period than
the reign of King Robert Bruce, and were probably erected not later than
in the twelfth century.

The Thanage of Kintore was in the possession of the Crown in the
reign of Alexander the Third, as appears from a Rental preserved in the

SKENE OF SKENE. 13

Chartulary of the Bishopric of Aberdeen (i. 57), but in the same reign
Alan Dunvard undoubtedly possessed extensive lands in the Earldom of
Mar. These lands were acquired in consequence of a claim made by his
father, Thomas Dunvard, before 1228, to the Earldom of Mar, and
renewed by his son Alan, in 1257. This claim seems to have been com-
promised by the Durwards obtaining possession of three hundred pound
land, partly in domain (dominiis) and partly in holdings (Jiomagiis), or
more, in the Earldom (Palgrave Records, p. 22). Part, if not the whole,
of the Thanage of Kintore, including the lands of Skene, may thus, for
the time, have been in his possession. The tenure on which Thanage
lands were held was analogous to that of lands held in feodofinna, that is,
for an annual money payment Alan Dunvard is termed, in connection
with Skene, " Dominus earundem," and therefore held it probably as
" a holding," that is, the superiority only, and his grant of xxij shillings
to the Bishop was probably from the feu rent due to him as overlord.
Fordun tells us that Alan Dunvard died in 1275, and that his three
daughters succeeded to him in his lands, but these acquisitions to the
Earldom of Mar appear not to have fallen under his succession, but to
have reverted to the Crown. The Thanage, afterwards the Barony, of
Oneill, one of his principal possessions, appears to have been granted to
the Earls of Fife, and the possessions of the lands of Skene would now
come to be held of the Crown, as we find was the case with John de
Skene and Patrick de Skene in 1296.

It is quite possible that the family of Skene is at least as old as the
reign of William the Lion, and that Mr. Alexander Skene may be correct
in saying that there had been in the charter chest a restoration from for-
feiture by that monarch, for in 1174 there broke out in the north an
insurrection in favour of a Donald Bane Mac William, who held possession
of the northern counties till 1 181, when it was suppressed, and the ancestor
of the Skenes may have been among those who supported him. The
confusion between the Donald Bane of King William's time and the
Donald Bane, brother of Malcolm Canmore, who usurped the throne in
the eleventh century, would at once account for the earlier tradition.
The name of Skene, signifying in Gaelic a dirk, would give rise, by the
canting heraldry of the time, to the arms, and, if Skene was a forest, to
the addition of the wolves' heads, and thus lead to the traditionary origin
of the name.

14 SKENE OF SKENE.

The history of the family, so far as it is really based on services and
retours, commences in the reign of King Robert Bruce, and is as
follows: —

I. — ROBERT DE SKENE.

In 1317 he received the following charter from King Robert the
Bruce : —

" Robertus Dei gracia Rex Scotorum Omnibus probis hominibus
totius terrae suae Salutem. Sciatis nos dedisse, concessisse et hac presenti
carta nostra confirmasse Roberto Skene dilecto et fideli nostro pro
homagio et seruicio suo, omnes et singulas terras nostras del Skene et
lacum ejusdem cum pertinenciis infra Vicecomitatum del Aberdene.
Tenendas et Habendas dicto Roberto et heredibus suis de nobis et
heredibus nostris in vnam integram et liberam Baroniam in feodo et
hereditate in perpetuum cum furca et fossa soc et sac thol et theme
infangandthef et outfangandthef et per omnes rectas antiquas metas
ct divisas suas in longitudine et latitudine in boscis planis pratis pascuis
et pasturis silvis moris et maresiis viis semitis aquis et stagnis in mollen-
dinis multuris et eorum sequelis in aucupationibus venationibus et
piscariis et cum omnibus aliis libertatibus commoditatibus aisiamentis ac
justis pertinentibus quibuscunque tam non nominatis quam nominatis ad
dictas terras et lacum cum pertinentibus spectantibus seu quoquomodo
juste spectare valentibus in futurum. Faciendo inde nobis et heredibus
nostris dictus Robertus et heredes sui quolibet anno imperpetuum com-
munem sectam curie ad placita nostra vicecomitatus del Aberdene et
in exercitu nostro Scoticanum servicium pro omni alio servicio con-
suetudine actione seu demanda quae de dictis terris et lacu cum per-
tinentibus per nos vel heredes nostros exigi poterit vel requiri. In cujus
rei testimonium presenti carte nostre sigillum nostrum precepimus
apponi. Testibus Bernardo abbate del Aberbrothoc cancellario nostro,
Thoma Ranulphi comite Moravie et domino vallis Anandie et Mannie
nepote nostro, Waltero senescallo Scocie, Jacobo domino Douglas,
Alexandro Eraser, Dauid Berclay et Roberto de Lawider militibus,
Apud Sconam primo die lunij anno regni nostri duodecimo."

" This Robert married Marion Mercer, daughter of the Baron of Adle
and Meiklure, then provost of Perth " (MS.D). In a retour, dated 10
April, 1629, afterwards quoted, he is said to have died at the peace of
David II., that is between 1329 and 1370.

SKENE OF SKENE. 15

His successor appears to have been —

II. — GILIAN DE SKENE.

There is in 1358 the following entry in the Exchequer Rolls, in the
accounts of " Thomas comes de Marr camerarius Scocie " : —

" Item, in solucione facta Giliane de Skene, vt patet per literam
ipsius comitis de Marr, camerarii, de precepto et ipsius Giliane de recepto,
ostensas super compotum iij li. vj s. et viij d., de quibus idem comes,
camerarius, respondebit " — (Exch. Rolls, Vol. I., p. 552).

Nothing more is known of him ; but his name Gilian, a servant of
St. John, suggests a descent from the John de Skene who bore the head
of St. John the Baptist on his seal.

III. — ADAM DE SKENE.

He is mentioned in the retour of 1629 as grandson of Robert de
Skene, and ancestor of the subsequent lairds of Skene. He is followed
by another

IV. — ADAM DE SKENE,
and he by a third

V. — ADAM DE SKENE,

" who before the battle of Harlaw married Janet Keith daughter of Earl
Marischal of Scotland. About this time, when Donald Lord of the Isles
had invaded that part of the country, Skene raised his friends and
followers and joined the Royal army to oppose them and raised 300
merks from his father-in-law, Lord Marischal to equip himself and men :
he mortgaged a part of his estate for it which afterwards brought great
trouble upon the family all which appears in the family writs which
we have seen. He was killed at the battle of Harlaw in the year 1411 and
his lady being with child brought forth a son William Skene who died
in 1445 leaving a son James Skene of that ilk " (MS.D). This account
is confirmed, as we shall see by the family papers, except that James was
the son of Adam, and there was no William intervening. By him Gilian
is probably meant, who preceded Adam, instead of following him.

VI. — JAMES DE SKENE — 1411-1461.
We now come upon firmer ground in the history of the family.

16 SKENE OF SKENE.

In the year 1428 there is the following entry in the Exchequer Rolls: —

" Et in liberacione facta Jacobo de Skene, pro firmis terrarum suarum
de Corntoun, existentibus in manu regis de terminis Pentecostes et Sancti
Martini ultimo preteritis, ut patet per literas regis de precepto et dicti
Jacobi de recepto ostensas super computum vj li. xiij s. iiij d." — (Exch.
Rolls, Vol. iv., p. 444) ; and in the following year among the payments
— " Et Jacobo Skene, pro firma sua tercie partis de Corntoun per asse-
dacionem in manibus regis existente de anno computi, ut patet per
literas domini regis de mandato pro voluntate duraturas, et dicti Jacobi
de recepto, ostensas super computum vj li. xiij s. iiij d." — (Ib., p. 483).

Again, in 1434, it is more distinctly given, and the king's letter of
authority is endorsed : —

" Et Jacobo Skene, pro firmis tercie partis terre de Corntoun spectantis
uxori ejusdem, de duobus terminis hujus computi vj li. xiij s. iiij d. Et
eidem ex causa xiij s. iiij d., de mandato regis, ut patet per literas suas de
precepto ostensas super computum et registratas in dorso hujus rotuli. . . .

" James, be the grace of God king of Scottis, to the custumaris of oure
gret custome of Abreden greting. We charge yhu and commande^ that
yhe content and pay yherly to James of Skene of that ilk ten markkis of
usuale mone of oure realme at two termes of the yheir proporcionaly
quhil yhe have contremandment of us, the first term begynnand at the
fest of Saynt Martin last passit, takkin his lettres of ressayt to schaw to
us, and to be alowit to yhu yherly in 5our comptis, this presentis enduring
for our will. Gevin under our signet at Edynburch the xxj. dai of
Februar the yhere of our reigne xxj " — (Ib., p. 567).

The learned editor gives the following explanation of these entries : —

" Corntoun, in the first half of the fifteenth century, belonged to a
branch of the Eraser family, and was occupied by the king, who paid a
rent for it. But by an excambion of date 1455 it became Crown
property, Eraser getting in exchange for it Muchal (afterwards called
Castle Eraser), in Mar, and Stoneywood, near Aberdeen." He adds in a
note—" From 1428 to 1435, James I. paid annually £6 133. 4d. to James
Skene of Skene, for his occupation of terce lands of Corntoun, belonging
to Skene's wife, widow of a Eraser of Corntoun. From 1438 to 1450,
Thomas Fraser of Corntoun got £20 yearly out of the king's fermes north
of Dee, or the customs of Aberdeen, in compensation for the king's occu-
pancy of Corntoun " — (Ib., vi., pref., p. Ixxvi).

SKENE OF SKENE. 17

James Skene of Skene was thus married to the widow of Fraser of
Corntoun as early at least as the year 1428, and had, by his wife, a son,
Alexander, who succeeded him, and who was marriageable in 1438, as on
the 1 2th of May in that year, Egidia de Moravia, domina de Culbin, in her
widowhood, with consent of Alan of Kynnarde, her son and heir, grants
to Alexander Skene, son and heir of James Skene of that ilk, on account
of the marriage to be contracted between him and Mariot of Kinarde
her daughter, the lands of Dulpoty, Estertown, and Mill of Dulpoty, in
the Barony of Culbin, and Sheriffdom of Forres, in security of the sum
of ;£ioo Scots, James Skene must therefore have been born long before
the year 1411, when his father was killed at Harlaw, and the statement in
MS.D that Adam's successor was a posthumous child is plainly apocryphal.

The family seems now to have spread somewhat, as we find others of
the same name appearing for the first time. In 1430 a Jacobus Skene
appears as Notarius Publicus. In 1440 a Fergusius de Skene is admitted
a burgess of Aberdeen, and in 1443 a John Skene. In the same year
Robertus Skene is "vicarius de Logymar," and is again mentioned in
1477 ; and in 1461 an Alexander Skene appears in the Town Council of
Aberdeen. These scions of the family probably belonged to an old
branch of the family, the Skenes of Auchtereme, in the parish of
Logic Coldstone.

It was in the time of this James of Skene that the family entered
into an arduous struggle with the more powerful family of the Earls
Marischal, to regain possession of the lands of Easter Skene, which had
been pledged to them, as has been previously adverted to.

The family appears to have lost the original deed of impignoration or
wadset, and commenced the contest by instructing by the evidence of
witnesses, that such a deed had existed. There are still preserved, in the
Skene charter chest, two official reports, by a Commissioner appointed
for the purpose, of the evidence then taken. They are printed at length
in the third volume of the " Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and
Banff," p. 318 ; but a short abstract may here be given : —

The first is dated 22nd September, 1446, and reports the evidence of
three witnesses before a Court held in the Cathedral of Aberdeen. The
first witness, John Petkarne, being sworn and examined, states that he
read a deed, written on parchment, concerning the impignoration sen
fornalyn of the lands of Ester Skene, in favour of the late Lord William

D

18 SKENE OF SKENE.

de Keth, Marischal of Scotland, by Adam de Skene, Lord of the same,
father of James de Skene of that ilk, and that said lands were impig-
norated sen fornalyt for two or three hundred merks Scots, and this was
about 21 years ago, and that it was shown to him by Mariota, then
" Domina de Keth." The second witness, William de Sancto Michaele,
depones that he was present when the previous witness saw a charter or
evidence made in favour of William Lord Keith, by Adam de Skene, of
the lands of Ester Skene, sealed with two seals, a round one of the said
Adam, and an oval one of the Bishop of Aberdeen, and that John Pet-
karne told him that it was a deed made by Adam de Skene, super for-
?talyn, of Ester Skene, for 304 marks. A third witness, William Norvele,
depones that he was present in the house of Lord William de Keth,
Marischal of Scotland, in the town of Aberdeen, before the battle of
Harlaw, when Lord John Stewart of Invermey, and David Berkley of
Mernys, instigated the said Lord William de Keth to found two chaplain-
ries, for the souls of himself and the Lady Margaret, his wife ; and that
Lord William agreed to assign twenty merks of the lands of Ester Skene,
with its pertinents, for two chaplains, in the Cathedral of Aberdeen, but
the said Lady Margaret declared, in a loud and clear voice, that she never
would consent to the chaplainries being founded out of the lands of Ester
Skene, because they had no right to the said lands ; upon which the
Earl Marischal said, in a rage, that he would not found a single chap-
lainrie for their souls, but at length, after consulting with the said Lord
John Stewart and David Berkley, assigned an annual payment of twenty-
two merks for two chaplains, to celebrate for ever in the Cathedral of
Aberdeen, out of the lands of Ester Skene, with warrandice from the
lands of Kyntor, should the lands of Ester Skene fail them ; and the
Lady Margaret consented to this warrandice : the Earl then sent for
Sir John Yoill, priest, and Thomas Spryng, Burgess of Aberdeen, who
read, among other documents, the deed by Adam de Skene, regarding the
lands of Ester Skene, by which they were fornalit for three hundred
merks, and which deed was sealed with two seals, the round seal of
Adam, and the oval seal of the Bishop of Aberdeen. Interrogated
whether he deponed these things from party or prejudice, hatred or love,
he replied, that it was not so, but for the safety of his soul, to avoid
the excommunication which he heard widely published, with sounding
bells, lighted and extinguished candles, by the reverend fathers in Christ

SKENE OF SKENE. 19

the Bishops of St. Andrews and Aberdeen, against all persons detain-
ing or concealing said deed, and not revealing it to the said James
de Skene. This public instrument was issued at the instance of the
said James de Skene, in presence of Ranald Chene of Crechie, John
Burnet of Leyis, David Scrymgeour, Andrew Buchan of Auchmacoy,
and Thomas Beset, witnesses.

This proceeding, however, seems to have led to nothing, and James
of Skene appears, after a time, to have committed the conduct of the
struggle to his son and heir, Alexander Skene, at whose instance a second
examination of witnesses was made. This inquiry took place in the
parish church of Kincardine, on the ninth day of November, 1456, when
a discreet man, John Yoill, was examined, and deponed that eight days
before the death of the late Sir John Yoill, vicar of Peterculter, the late
Lady of Keth, mother of the Lord William de Keth, now Marischal of
Scotland, came to the said Sir John Yoill, at Culter, when grievously sick
in bed, and interrogated him regarding the lands of Ester Skene, Ledach,
Kirktoun of Skene, Milboy, Garlogy, with the mill thereof, whether his
Lord, the Lord William de Keth Marischal, had a real right to the said
lands, or whether, as she had often heard asserted, James Skene of that
ilk had the right of reclaiming said lands, as belonging, by hereditary
right, to the Barony of Skene ; to which Sir John Yoill answered, as he
should answer at the great day of judgment, that the Earl Marischal had
the said lands in formalyn, made by Adam de Skene for three hundred
merks, as contained in a certain deed ; and further stated on oath, that
the said Earl Marischal had no other rights from the said Adam to these
lands : whereupon the said Lady said, that the Lord Marischal possessed
these letters of formalyng of the said lands of Skene, granted by the said
Adam de Skene, and nothing else. Interrogated who were then present,
said only the Lady of Keth and Sir John Yoill, with himself. Interro-
gated how it came there were not more, stated, on oath, that the said
Lady caused several others to leave the room, and retained him to serve at
mass in the room, asserting him to be hereafter a native man to his Lord,
the said Marischal ; and that he made this deposition without party or
prejudice, hatred or love, in presence of Master William of Coultis, vicar
of Tarlane, Alexander Yrwin of Stradie, of Strathachyn, and

Kennocht of Cragmyle, with many others.

The right which the Keith family claimed to the lands of Ester Skene

2O SKENE OF SKENE.

seems now to have passed to Janet de Keith, only daughter of Robert de
Keith, who was eldest son of William, first Earl Marischal, and brother
of William, second Earl Marischal, and was thus heir of line of the
family ; and on 26th April, 1457, she obtained a decreit from the Sheriff,
upon a brief of richt, dated 2ist February, 1456, between "Jacobus de
Skene de eodem et Joneta de Keth cum patruo suo nobili Domino
Willelmo domino de Keth Mariscallo Scocie de et super terris de ly
Ledach de Skene de ly Kirktoun de Skene de Mulboy et de Garlogy,"
on which the Jury, after hearing evidence " antiquorum virorum," gave
their verdict " quod Jacobus de Skene supradictus habet majus jus
quam habet dicta Joneta de Keith in et ad dictas terras ; " and on 3Oth
April, Jacobus Skene de eodem is infeft in these lands.

The Keith family did not, however, notwithstanding these proceedings,
relax their grasp of them, and the scene of litigation was now transferred
to Parliament, and a declaration was obtained, on 7th November, 1457,
from the King, through the Chancellor of the Kingdom, that James de
Skene was to refrain from retaining the rents of these lands till the fourth
day of the meeting of Parliament, in the month of March next. Before
this Parliament the following protestation was made by his son and heir,
Alexander, whose position was strengthened by his taking infeftment on
a charter confirming " Alexandro Skene filio et haeredi apparent! Jacobi
Skene de eodem," the charter of King Robert the First to Robert Skene
of the Barony of Skene : —

" Reuerendis nobille and worschipfull lordis of Parliament, I yhour
serviter Alexander of Skene procuratour to my fader Jamys of Skene of
that ilke humbli protestis in my fader name that quhat euer be saide
done reformyt decretit or adjugit ony maner of way agayn Alexander of
Douglas depute to the Shira of Aberdene, now befor yhour lordschippis
that hes the force of parliament, or in tym to cume, for the execucioune
of his office, made to my fader upoun a briefe of rycht purchast be hym
agayn Jonet of Keth for hir unrychtwise deforsing him of the landis of
the Ledache of Skeyn, the Kyrktoune of Skeyn, Moylboy, and Garlogy,
with the myln of that ilke, with the pertinentis lyand in the Barouny of
Skeyne wythin the Shiradome of Aberdene, turne nocht my fader na
his ayris to prejudice of the said landis and mylne with the pertinentis
in tyme cuming, for sa mekell as my fader hes be the saide briefe recouerit
the said landis and mylne with the pertinentis fra the saide Jonet be

SKENE OF SKENE. 21

decret and deliuerance of a gret assise of rycht and dome giflfin thar-
apoun and thareftir hes tane sesing of thaim, quhilke assise procedit be
uertu of the said briefe and be compromise made betuix my fader and
the said Jonet and my Lorde of Keithe chosin be thair avise of four
shiradomes to determin the saide cause, but ony excepcioune dilatour or
peremptour proponit in the entrance, suppose the saide shirefe wald
graunt he had done amys owthir for aid or lufe of the said Lord or Jonet,
considering that the said Lorde and Jonet ar bundyn be lettir and seel,
and be thar bodely athis sworne on the Haly Ewangelis, for till underly
the finale determinacioune of the said assise irreuocabli for euermare."

This was followed on 5th October, 1458, by a petition by Alexander
Skene, that his father might be preferred to the possession and rights of
said lands, and protestation that no decree to the contrary might prejudge
his undoubted right thereto ; which appears to have been granted and the
grant again recalled, as on I2th October, 1459, there is again a protesta-
tion by Alexander Skene, as procurator for his father, James Skene of
that ilk, before the Parliament held at Perth, which narrates that after the
king had recognised his right, he had recalled his recognition, at the in-
stance of Jonet de Kethe, and given her the lands " adplegium" contrary,
the said Alexander maintained, to the laws, rights, and statutes of the
realme, and to the hurt, loss, and prejudice of the said James Skene,
and on the part of the said James humbly pressed the king to replace
him in possession of the said lands, according to the rights, customs, and
ancient laws of the kingdom, and protested that the demising of the
said lands to the said Jonet de Kethe ad plegium, should not prejudice
his rights in future, and that he should have free regress to these lands.

A similar protestation was made on /th March, 1460. In the mean-
time, while his son and heir was carrying on this contest with their
powerful neighbours, the Keiths, his mother, the widow of Fraser of
Corutoun, had died, and his father had married a second time Giles
Murray of Cowbin, widow of Thomas Kinnaird of that ilk, in 1458, for
we find an obligation by Alane of Kynnarde of that ilk, narrating that
" forasmeikle as my tender fader James Skene of that ilk and Giles of
Murrane of Skelbo, his spouse, has set to me all and sundrie the lands of
Skelbo, in the Earldom of Sutherland and Sheriffdom, &c."

James Skene of Skene appears to have died in the year 1461.

22 SKENE OF SKENE.

VII. — ALEXANDER DE SKENE — 1461-1470.

There is, on ist June, 1461, a sasine in favour of Alexander Skene of
that ilk, as heir to the said James, his father, of the lands and barony of
Skene, following upon a retour and precept of Chancery.

Soon after, his contest with the Keith family seems to have been
brought to a conclusion, at least for the time, in his favour, a result to
which the marriage of his half-brother, Alan of Kinnarde, with his
antagonist, Janet of Keith, may have contributed; for, on i8th May, 1464,
there is a sasine in favour of Alexander Skene de eodem, on a charter
from William Earl Marischall, of the lands of "Leddach de Skene Kirkton
de Skene Milbuy ct Garlogy in Baronia de Skene ; " and the close con-
nection with the Kinnards is still further evinced from a charter of
Balerdmund, in the Skene charter chest, granted in 1467 by Alanus de
Kynnarde " dilecto fratri nostro naturali Alexandro Skene de eodem.
Testibus Gilberto Skene nepote meo Magistro Roberto Skene."

The term naturalis did not at that time imply bastardy but the
reverse. It was opposed to the terms carnalis and bastardus.

VIII. — GILBERT DE SKENE — 1470-1485.

In May, 1470, Gilbert Skene is infeft as heir, served and retoured, to
Alexander Skene, his father, in the lands and barony of Skene.

In 1481 he married Cristina Mercer, and settled two farms in Wester
Skene as her jointure lands, as appears from a Crown charter granted in
23rd May, 1481 — "Gilberto Skene de eodem et Cristine Mersare sponsesue
in conjuncta infeodatione et post eorum decessum legitimis et propinquiori-
bus heredibus dicti Gilberti quibuscunque de terris de Aclloche et Tulivale
cum pertinentiis Jacentibus infra vicecomitatum de Aberdene super
resignationem dicti Gilberti. Tenendas de Rege. Reddendo jura et
servitia debita et consueta."

IX. — ALEXANDER DE SKENE — 1485-1507.

On the 1 9th of March, 1485, Alexander Skene is infeft as heir, served
and retoured, to Gilbert Skene, his father, in the lands and barony of
Skene.

SKENE OF SKENE. 23

In 1504 he acquired, from David Strathaquhyn of Carmyle, certain
lands in the parish of Kinnernie, which bounds the lands of Skene on
the west, as appears by charter granted on i6th April in that year, by
" David Strathaquhyn de Carmyle et Dominus de Tulibrochloch dilecto
meo Alexandra Skene de Eodem terras meas de Tullibrochloch Tulyna-
hiltis Balnadodill cum le Cumeris Auchquhory et molendino ejusdem ; "
and among the witnesses is Johannes Skeyne. This charter is confirmed
on 1 7th April by Johannes Comes Crawrfurdiae et Dominus de Lyndesay,
the Superior ; and on the 22nd April he was infeft in these lands. The
lands thus conveyed to him, consisting of five separate possessions
adjoining the lands of Skene, formed what were called Tanistry lands,
in order to make a provision for the younger sons of the family, who
occupied them during their lives as kindlie tenants.

Alexander appears to have died in the year 1 507, as towards the end
of that year, on I2th February, 1507-8, there is in the Privy Seal Record a
letter to Sir Alexander Irving of Drum and Duncan Forbes of the
ward of the lands of the late Alexander Skene of that ilk, and of the
marriage of Alexander Skene, his son and heir ; and on the third day of
October, 1508, Agnes Forbes is served by a jury assembled at Aberdeen,
before John, Earl of Crawfurd, and Lord Lyndesay, " qui jurati dicunt
quod Agnes Forbes relicta Alexandri Skene de eodem tenetur habere
racionabilem terciam omnium terrarum baronie de Skene exceptis
duabus partibus terrarum de Lattir que attigit habere suam terciam in
solari parte hujusmodi terrarum."

This Agnes Forbes, according to MS. authority, was a daughter of
Lord Forbes, probably of James, second Baron Forbes, by Egidia de
Keith, daughter of William, First Earl Marischal, and was thus sister of
that Duncan Forbes who was one of the guardians of her infant son. By
her Alexander Skene had two sons —
I. Alexander Skene, who succeeded him.

II. James Skene, kindlie tenant of Bandodill, ancestor of the families of
Skene of Ramore, Curriehill, Halyards in Midlothian, and Rubislaw.

X.— ALEXANDER DE SKENE— 1507-1517.

With this laird Mr. Alexander Skene begins his genealogical account
of the family. He says — " After many generations succeeded Alexander

24 SKENE OF SKENE.

Skene of yat ilke. At that tyme the family being weak and under
burdens, he married Elizabeth Black, daughter to a burgess of Aberdeen,
with whom he got in dott and tocher good all that tract of land called the
round table ;" and MS.D adds — " being that part of the town of Aber-
deen bounded on the east with the Castle Street or present Exchange, on
the south with the Exchequer Row, and on the west with the Rotten
Row, and on the north with the Narrow Wynd. Besides these houses,
he got a considerable sum of money with her." No doubt the protracted
struggle with the principal family of the Keiths Marischal would, in some
degree, account for the depressed state of the family. Alexander Skene
was, as we have seen, in pupillarity when his father died in 1 507, and
attained majority in 1514, as in that year he obtains, on 8th May, a
charter of the Tanistry lands, from " Alexander Comes Crawfordiae et
Dominus de Lindesay et dominus omnium et singularum terrarum de
Tulibroloch, Tullynahiltis, Balnadodill, le Comeris, Auchorye, Auchmor
et molendini ejusdem Alexandro Skeyne filio et heredi quondam
Alexandri Skeyne de eodem ; " and among the witnesses is " Johannes
Skeyne de Auchterarnanc."

On i/th July, in the same year, he is infeft as heir, served and
retoured, to Alexander Skene, his father, in the lands and barony of Skene.

In 1516 he married Elizabeth Black, as on 2Oth May in that year he
receives a Crown charter to himself and Elizabeth Black, his spouse, of
the lands of Newton in Skein and Letter, in Baronia de Skene, by his
own resignation, as her jointure lands. He seems to have died in 1517.

XL — ALEXANDER DE SKENE — 1517-1604.

Mr. Alexander Skene says of him — " Alexander Skene, commonly
designed the little laird, who was left a child in his mother's womb when
his father, fighting for his king and country, was slain in the battle of
Pinkey. Therefore, he being the only child of his umquhill father, his
land fell ward in the king's hands. The laird of Drum being at that time
at Court, got the gift of his ward, which he gave to the laird of Corsenday
for a horse ; and the said Corsenday took the tutilage of the child, till
such tyme as he was for marriage, and then gave him 10,000 merks of
tocher, with his own daughter in marriage, called Margaret Forbes."
This is a good specimen of the character of such family traditions. They

SKENE OF SKENE. 25

state facts which are or may be true enough, but attribute them to wrong
persons and dates. It seems true that he was a posthumous child, and
the account given by MS.D of the reason why he was called " the little
laird," bears all the appearance of probability. " He was killed at the
battle of Pinkie in 1547, and was called the little laird from his being
hunchbacked from a fall he got out of his nurse's arms when going up
the ladder to the old house of Skene." But it errs in saying that he was
killed at the battle of Pinkie, as Mr. Alexander Skene does in saying his
father was killed in that battle.

Mr. Alexander Skene is also mistaken in saying that the gift of
his ward was given to the laird of Drum, and by him transferred to the
laird of Corsinday, for, as we have seen, it was his father whose ward was
given to Sir Alexander Irving of Drum and Duncan Forbes of Corsinday,
and " the little laird," as he was called, was under the guardianship of his
uncle, James Skene, for we find, on 2nd November, 1538, in a mutual
agreement between Alexander Skeyne of that ilk and Mr. Walter
Styvart, regarding the marches of the lands of Tullibroloch, belonging
to the former, and Tullocht belonging to the latter, that Alexander
Skeyne becomes bound, with the consent of his uncle and curator, James
Skeyne (Protocol Book of John Christisone), and he came of age in the
following year, as on 22nd March, 1539, he is infeft in the lands and
barony of Skene, as heir served and retoured, to Alexander Skene of that
ilk, his father.

Neither was he ever at the battle of Pinkie, for when the trumpet call
to this great national conflict resounded over all Scotland, and caused
many a quiet laird to bOckle on his armour, we find in the record of the
Privy Seal — " Ane brieve maid to Alexander Skeyne of yat ilk, giving
leave to him to remain fra ustin al ye days of his life, because he is wake
of complexion and inhabill for travel, vexit with infirmities and sikness,
provided alwayis that the said Alexander sends ane habill furnished man,
with his household and servants, to the said oistis at St. Andrews, penult
October, 1 546." The " habill furnished man" was his uncle, James Skeyne
in Bandodle, and he it was, as we shall afterwards see, who, with other
Skeynes, was slain at the fatal battle of Pinkie.

It is true, however, that he married a daughter of Duncan Forbes of
Corsinday, for on i8th March, 1541, there is a charter " Alexandro Skene
de eodem et Elizabethe Forbes ejus sponse terrarum de Auchloche et

E

26 SKENE OF SKENE.

Cragydarg jacen. in Baronia de Skene in conjuncta infeodatione super
resignationem dicti Alexandri."

Notwithstanding Alexander Skeyne being " vexit with infirmities and
sikness," he was longer in possession of the barony than any pther laird,
was twice married, had a large family of children, lived to see his eldest
son and heir and his son and heir both married, was predeceased by his
grandson, saw his great-grandchildren, and died in the year 1604, at the
age of 87.

The author of MS.B refers to this period when he says — " There were
foyve lairdes at on tym, with from father, son, grandchyld, gryt-grand-
chyld, and gryt-great-grandchyld, designed by the laird of Skene elder,
the laird of Skene younger, the laird of the Letter, &c., being parcel of the
Barronie of Skene ; and each succeeded another in a short space."

On 27th August, 1557, "Alexander Skene de eodem fecit constituit
.et creavit proles suos sequentes suos assignatos irrevocabiles in et ad
summam mille mercarum monetae Scotiae quam habuit in deposito vizt
Gulielmum Skene ejus filium ad 300 merks, Patricium Skene ejus fr.
filium ad 30x3 merks et deficien. dicto Patricio Alexandrum Skene ejus
fr. filium et Agnetem Skene ejus filiam ad 400 merks " (Ab. Sas. Regr.),
no doubt part of the tocher he got with Elizabeth Forbes.

In the following year Agnes was married evidently to a relation of his
mother, as we find in the Burgh Sasine Register, on i6th February, 1558
— " Possessio of John Black and Agnes Skene, his future spouse, of
Auchmoir, in Baronia de Tillibrohloch, on precept of sasine from Alex-
ander Skene of Skene."

On loth January, 1566, Alexander Skene de eodem is infeft in the
Burgh Suburbs belonging to the family, and one of the witnesses is Gilbert
Skene, his son.

His mother, Elizabeth Black, appears to have died in 1573, as on 4th
March in that year " Alexander Skene de eodem haeres Alexandri
Skene de eodem," serves heir^in terris de Newton de Skeyne, et Letter
de Skeyne," which were hyJppther's jointure lands.

There seems to have )j^p some quarrelling about the burgh lands, as,
in the Register of the Pj^y Council, the following entry occurs on pth
February, 1566: — "Registration by Mr. Robert Irving, as procurator of
Band, by Alexander Skein of that ilk, for James Skein of Bandodill,
Gilbert Skein, Mr. Patrick Skene, and Alexander Skene, ' my lawful

SKENE OF SKENE. 27

sons/ £500 each, not to harm Thomas Buk, burgess of Aberdeen. Sub-
scribed at Aberdeen 5th February, before Mr. Duncan Forbes of the
Letter, Mr. William Skeyne, Johnne Forbes, servitor to the parson of
Kinkell ; Andro Skeyne, in the Glak ; William Forbes, son of Johnne
Forbes of Tolquhon ; and Mr. Patrick Skeyne, burgess of Aberdene,
writer hereof; William Reid and John Nicolsoun, notaries, subscribing
for Alexander Skein of that ilk " — (V., p. 673).

Alexander Skene was twice married, and by his first wife, Elizabeth
Forbes, he had —

I. James Skene, his heir, designed, during his father's life, as James

Skene of Bandodill.

II. Gilbert Skene in Tillibirloch, ancestor of the families of Dumbreck
and Newtyle.

III. Mr. William Skene, burgess of Aberdeen, married, in 1563,

Elizabeth Lesly, and had by her a son, William Skene, also a
burgess of Aberdeen, who served heir to his father, William
Skene, on loth June, 1586, and married Janet Donaldson, only
daughter of John Donaldson. In 1602 he was ruined, from
having been cautioner for Duncan Leslie, son to the laird of
Wardes, and probably his mother's brother, who fled the
country. He complained of being ;starved, and unable to
maintain a wife and sundry- young infants. He died before
1605, when Janet Donaldson, relict of William Skene, burgess,
is buried ; and no more is heard of that family.

IV. Mr. Patrick Skene, burgess of Aberdeen, ancestor of the family of

Dyce.

V. Mr. Alexander Skene. i " As for Alexander, the fifth son to the
little laird, he died unmarried" (MS.A). He died in 1601,
and was buried on ist January, 1601. In 1602, Mr. Patrick
Skene, burgess of Aberdeen, appears for Barbara, natural
daughter to umquhile Alexander Skene, his brother.
VI. Agnes Skene, married, in 1558, to John Black.
By his second wife, Katharine Stewart, he had three daughters —

VII. Elspeth Skene, married to John Forbes of Boquharm, in Millboy,

1 7th July, 1576.

VIII. Beatrix Skene married James Forbes of Tillibpy. — (Burgh Prop.

Book.)

28 SKENE OF SKENE.

IX. Isobel Skene died unmarried $th September, 1604.
The " little laird " died in 1604, at the age of 87.

XII.— JAMES SKENE OF SKENE— 1604-1605.

During his father's life he appears sometimes as James Skene of Ban-
dodill, one of the tanistry lands, and at others as James Skene apparent
of that ilk. In a sasine of the Manor Place, of Monymusk, in favour of
William Forbes, in March, 1688, the witnesses are James Skeyn apparen.
de eodem, Patrick and Alexander Skeyns, his brothers, James Forbes of
Tilliboy, and John Forbes of Camphill.

On 7th August, 1541, there is an action, at the instance of Alexander
Skene of that ilk, against James Strachan of Carmylie, concerning the
alienation made by umquhile David Strachan of Carmylie, guidsir to the
said James Strachan to umquhile Alexander Skene of that ilk, guidsir to
the said Alexander Skene, now of that ilk, in the year 1485, or thereby,
of all and haill the lands of Tulliebreloche, Tullnahilt, Auchorie, Ban-
dodell, Auchmore, Commons, with the miln of the same and their
pertinents, lying in the Barony of Auchterellon and Newpark and Sheriff-
dom of Aberdeen, as the infeftments thereupon bear, &c. ; the defender
alleging that there was a reversion granted by the pursuer's umquhile
guidsir for redemption of the said lands, containing the sum of 840 merks,
and which the pursuer attests is false and, forged, &c. ; and in August,
1591, there is a counter action, at the instance of James Strauchan, now
of Carmylie, and Mr. David McGill of Cranston Riddell, king's advocate,
against James Skene, apperand of that ilk, Alexander Skene, elder, of
that ilk, and Alexander Skene, younger, his nevvy — mentions that where
the said James, as abnewy and heir male to umquhile Sir David
Strachan of Carmylie, his foir grandsir, has action of redemption
depending befoir the Lords against the said Alexander Skene, elder, of
that ilk, oy and heir, at least apparent heir to umquhile Alexander Skene
of that ilk, his guidsir James Skene, apparent of that ilk, and Alexander
Skene, his son, and apparent heir, for redemption of all and haill the
lands of Tillibrolloche and others lying in the Barony of Auchterellon and
Newpark, and Sheriffdom of Aberdene, conform to a reversion granted
be the said umquhile Alexander Skene to the said umquhile David
Strachan of Carmylie, for eluding of which action the defenders have
lately fabricated and forged certain discharges, contracts, &c., alleged

SKENE OF SKENE. 29

made by the said umquhile David Strachan, since the date of the said
reversion, which is dated i6th May, 15 — ; therefore the said defenders
ought to be punished, their persons, goods, &c. The case was sub-
mitted to arbitration on 22nd January, 1591-2, and it is probable the
deeds referred to on both sides were found to be genuine, as on 2nd
October, 1604, there is a special service, "Jacobus Skene de eodem
hares Alexandri Skene de eodem patris in terris et Baronia de Skene
terris de Tillibriloch Tilnahiltis Balnadodill Auchinmoir Auchorie et
Comaris infra Baronium de Ochterellone." On the same day there is the
service of Katherine Stewart, "relicte diet quondam Alexandri Skene
suam vitalem redditum et Margarete Skene relicte quondam Alexandri
Skene de Letter."

On the 8th November, in the same year, James Skene is infeft in the
lands and barony of Skene, as heir served and retoured to Alexander
Skene of that ilk, his father, his procurator being " Honorabilis vir
Robertus Skeyne de Tillibroloch actornatus pro Jacobo Skene de eodem
sui patris."

James Skene of that ilk was upwards of sixty years old when he
succeeded his father, and appears to have died within the year, as in 1605
Johanna Skene or Douglas, widow of James Skene of that ilk, is served
to her terce. She was daughter of Sir Archibald Douglas of Glenbervie,
and sister of the ninth Earl of Angus ; married to him about 1563 ; and
it was through this marriage that the connection between the families of
Glenbervie and Skene arose which led to MS. A being compiled in 1678.
This James Skene of Skene had the following children : —
I. Alexander Skene, called " Barren of the Letter" (MS.A). There is
among the Skene papers a contract of marriage in the year 1584,
between Alexander Skene of that ilk, younger, with consent of
his father, James, then liferenter of Bandodle, and his grand-
father, Alexander Skene of that ilk ; and Margaret Johnston,
daughter of Sir George Johnston of Caskieben, with whom he
got 5000 merks of tocher. Mr. Patrick Skene, sone lawful of
Alexander Skene of that ilk, is a witness, but he predeceased
both his father and grandfather, dying before 1599, as appears
from a discharge by Margaret Skeyne, eldest lawful daughter to
umquhile Alexander Skeyne, fiar of that ilk, with assent of Maister
Duncan Forbes in Letter, and Robert and Alexander Skeyne,

0 SKENE OF SKENE.

his curators, for their interest, to John Forbes of Camphill and
Andrew Skeyne in Aberdeen, executors of said umquhile
Alexander (Council Regr., Abdn.).
Alexander Skene left by his wife, Margaret Johnston, three children—

1. Alexander Skene, who succeeded his grandfather.

2. Mr. Andrew Skene. In 1620 Mr. Andrew Skene, frater ger-

manus Alexandri Skene de eodem, is admitted a burgess.
In 1628 he receives a tack, from James Skene of that ilk, of
the lands of Newton of Skene. In 1633 we find him in
Kirkton of Dyce, where he and Margaret Forbes, his spouse,
are infeft in the lands of Overtown of Dyce.

" Mr. Andrew Skene, Alexander's second son, married
Margaret Forbes, daughter to Mr. John Forbes, minister of
Delft, in Holland, on whom he begat seven daughters —
(i) Christian, married to David Drummond, factor in Camp-
vere, in Holland, to whom he had but one daughter, Mar.
Drummond. David Drummond dying, she married the
second time Andrew Skein of Rudrestoun, Dean of Guild
of Aberdeen, to whom she had Robert and John, and two
daughters ; (2) Margaret Skene, second daughter to Mr.
Andrew Skene, married John Anderson of Standingstones ;
(3) Katherine married Mr. William Cheyne, minister of
Dyce ; (4) Jannet married David Anderson, Provost of
Kintoir ; (5) Isobel married David Warrand, Town Clerk of
Forres ; (6) Jean married David Dunbar, Bailyie of Forres ;
(7) Bessie married Captain James Ross " (MS. A).

3. Margaret, only daughter of Alexander Skene, married, in 1 599,

Duncan Forbes in Letter ; and in 1604 there is a contract
of marriage between her and Mr. Robert Irving of Mincoffer.
She married, thirdly, John Forbes of Leslie.
II. Andrew Skene of Auchorie, ancestor of the family of Halyards in

Fife, and Pitlour.

III. Robert Skene in Tilliebirloch. There is recorded in the Register
of Deeds in 1610, a contract between Alexander Skene of that
ilk and Mr. James Skene, Clerk of Register and others, the said
Alexander's curators on the one part, and Robert Skene of
Tillibrolocht, for himself, and taking burden upon him for Jeane

SKENE OF SKENE. 31

Douglas, relict of Mr. James Skene of that ilk, his mother, on the
other part, at Edinburgh and Aberdeen, 24th April and 22nd
May, 1605. Robert appears to have been appointed tutor to his
nephew, Alexander Skene of that ilk, on his grandfather's death,
as in 1606 he appears as " Robert Skene in Tillibroloche, called
the tutor" (Forbes papers), and on 22nd April, 1636, there is an
obligation by Robert Skene of Tillibury, and Christiane Johnstone,
his spouse, to Alexander Black, elder burgess of Aberdeen.
" Robert Skein of Tillibirloch, son to James Skein of that ilk,
married, ist, Christian Irving, sister to Captain Irving of Mon-
durch, on whom he begat Alexander, and ane daughter, named
Jean, who both died unmarried. After her death he married
Christian Johnston, daughter of the laird of Crimond, on whom
he begat Mr. Robert Skene, schoolmaster at Banchorie, and
thereafter of the Grammar School of Aberdeen, which Mr. Robert
Skene married Elizabeth Reid, daughter to

and sister to Mr. Robert Reid, minister of Banchorie-ternan '
(MS. A) ; and had by her Robert Skene, who went to Poland, and
two daughters, the eldest of whom married Mr. George Skene,
parson of Kinkell.

IV. Mr. William Skene. " He lived most part of his days at Court,
and was schoolmaster of the Music School of Aberdeen " (MS.A).
In 1591 Mr. William Skene was appointed master of the Song
School of Aberdeen ; and in 1 597 " Alexander Skene de Eodem "
resigns two annual rents, payable out of Angelscroft and Cullinges,
in Futtie, " nepoti suo Magistro Willielmo Skene Schole Musice
dicti Burgi preceptori." " He married Janet Preston, daughter
to Mr. John Preston, Merchant Burgess of Aberdeen, on whom
he begat Alexander, who died a child, and a daughter, Isobell,
unmarried " (MS.A).

V. Patrick Skene appears, on his father's succeeding to the barony of
Skene, to have obtained the Tanistry lands of Bandodle, having
previously been a tenant of Forbes of Corsinday, with whom he
was connected through his grandmother ; as in 1606 Patrick
Skene, sometime in the Muirtown of Corsinday, and now in Ban-
dodle, discharges the tocher of Bessie Alshenor, sister of Robert
Alshenor, burgess, and now spouse of Patrick. Contract of

32 SKENE OF SKENE.

marriage, dated 9th January, 1605 : John Forbes of Camphill,
cautioner for Patrick and Robert Alshenor, and Gilbert Skeyne
of Westercorse, for Bessie, umquhile William Alshenor, and
Bessie Skene, his spouse, her parents. By her he appears to
have had two sons, Gilbert Skene, burgess of Aberdeen, who
married, in 1688, Elizabeth Cordiner, daughter of William
Cordiner, Notary Public, and died in 1669 ; and Alexander. He
married, a second time, Jeane Cushney, by whom he had a son,
John ; as on 2pth April, 1653, there is an obligation by Walter
Forbes of Tolquhone, principal, and Master William Forbes,
Advocat in Edinburgh, his brother-german, as cautioner to
Patrick Skene in Bandodle, for himself, and in name and behalf
of Jeane Cushney, his spouse ; and on /th November, 1673, John
Skene, in Wester Kinmundie (in the Barony of Skene), serves
heir of provision to Patrick Skene of Bandodle, his father, by
Jean Cushney, his wife.

VI. Mr. John Skene " died unmarried " (MS.A).
VII. Jean Skene married John Forbes of Camphill.

VIII. Margaret Skene. There is, on 25th May, 1590, Renunciation by
Elizabeth Lumsden, spouse of Alexander Cullen, Burgess of
Aberdeen, in favor of Margaret Skene, dochter lawful to James
Skene of Badindodill, future spouse to Andrew Cullen, sone eldest
to the said Alexander Cullen and Elizabeth Lumsden, of the
town and land of Cottoun. Either this marriage did not take
place, or she became soon a widow, for we find her, in 1600, wife
of William Forbes of Pittalochie, and she was soon again a
widow, for there is, in 1620, an action of Removing against
Margaret Skene, relict of William Forbes of Pittalochie, from
the lands of Kinaldie.

IX. Katharine Skene "married, ist, John Leith of Likliehead, and 2nd,
to Arthur Forbes, sometime Baillie of Old Aberdeen, who had no
succession by any of them " (MS.A). Action at the instance of
Katharine Skeyne, relict of umquhile Robert Leith of Liklie-
head, and Arthur Forbes, now her spouse, against Patrick Leith,
now of Likliehead, relative to contract, dated i6th September,
1621 (Acts and Decreets).
X. Christian Skene " married James Eraser of Balbrydie " (MS.A).

SKENE OF SKENE. 33

XIII. — ALEXANDER SKENE OF SKENE — 1605-1634.

On 5th May, 1605, there is a sasine in favor of Alexander Skene,
proceeding upon precept by the Earl of Crawford to him as " pronepos
et legitimus haeres quondam Alexandri Skene de eodem sui proavi " of
the lands of Tillibirloch, &c., and on 27th February, 161 1, when he attained
majority, there is a retour " Alexander Skene de eodem haeres Jacobi
Skene avi in terris et baronia de Skene cum lacu," followed by infeftment
on 2/th April, 1612.

In 1623 he obtained a crown charter of the lands and barony of
Skene to himself, and failing him to James Skene, his son and heir
apparent, whom failing, to return to himself and other heirs male of his
body, whom failing, " Magistro Andree Skene fratri germano dicti
Alexandri et heredibus masculis de corpore suo," whom failing " Magistro
Andree Skene de Chappelton et heredibus masculis de corpore suo,"
whom failing, to return to him and his heirs male whomsoever. He was
infeft on 3rd September, 1623.

Soon after, and perhaps in consequence of this, the old controversy
broke out again between the Skenes of Skene and the Keiths, with regard
to the possession of the lands of Ester Skene, which ended this time to
the disadvantage of the former.

On loth April, 1629, Alexander Skene de eodem served heir in
general to Robert Skeyne " de eodem avi quondam Adami Skeyne de
eodem attavi tritavi" and on the same day, by a separate service, he
serves heir to Adam Skene " de eodem proavi Jacobi Skeyne de eodem
avi tritavi"

The question seems to have been submitted to the arbitration of the
Lords of Council and Session, as on ist December, 1629, we find the
Lords of Session assigning to William, Earl Marischall, of his own
consent, the eighth of December next, to exhibit and produce the writs
and evidents of the lands, barony, and loch of Skene, libelled in the action
of improbation pursued at the instance of Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall,
King's Advocate, and Alexander Skene of that ilk, proprietor of said
lands, against the said Earl and others ; and on 26th March, 1631, there
is a Decreet Arbitral in the process at the instance of Alexander Skene of
that ilk and Sir Thomas Hope, King's Advocate, against William Earl

F

34 SKENE OF SKENE.

Marischall and others, touching the exhibition of all infeftments,
charters, &c., alleged made and granted to the said Earl or his prede-
cessors (of whom a long line is enumerated), "be the said Alexander Skene,
now of that ilk ; umquhile James Skene of that ilk, his guidsir ; umquhile
Alexander Skene of that ilk, his grandsir ; umquhile Alexander Skene
of that ilk, his fair grandsir ; umquhile Alexander Skene of that ilk, his
fair grandsir 's father ; umquhile Gilbert Skene of that ilk, his foir grand-
sir' s guidsir ; umquhile Alexander Skene of that ilk, his foir grandsir' s
grandsir ; umquhile James Skene of that ilk, his foir grandsir' s foir
grandsir ; umquhile Adam Skene of that ilk, the said umquhile James
Skene of that ilk, his grandsir ; and umquhile Adam Skene of that ilk, the
said umquhile Adam his guidsir ; or by any or other of them ; or in a
decreet granted by any sovereign back to King Robert Bruce, of and
concerning the lands and barony of Skene, and loch of Skene, to be
considered by the said Lords, and to have the same lawfully improvin,
&c., the parties compeiring by their procurators, and compeiring also Mr.
Andro Skene of Halyairds, taking burden on him for the said laird of
Skene." Submission being entered into for amicable settlement of
matters, the Lords " decree and ordain the said Alexander Skene to
resign in favour of the Earl Marischal, all claim to the lands of Kirktown
of Skene, Ledach, Mylnebowie, and Garlogie, with the pertinents, to be
bruikit be the said Earl in his own proper lands in all time coming.
Lyke as the saide Lords arbitrators declairit that the loch of Skene, nor
no pairt thairof, is naways comprehendit under the decreet arbitral."

These documents are interesting, as showfng both the Latin and the
corresponding Scotch technical names designating the steps in a pedigree;
and if the lairds of Skene failed eventually to redeem these lands under
the clause of reversion in the impignoration of them, they had at all
events the satisfaction of having successfully resisted a similar attempt, on
the part of the Strachans of Carmylie, to redeem the lands of Tillibirloch
and others, forming the Tanistry lands of the family.

Alexander married Janet Burnet, daughter of Sir Thomas Burnet of
Leyes, and had by her —

I. James Skene, who succeeded him.

II. Jean Skene married " Alexander Innes of Pethenick."
I IT. Margaret Skene married, ist, " Mr. John Carrie," and 2nd, Mr. John
Skene in Knowheade. 1646. Sasine Margaret Skene, future

SKENE OF SKENE. 35

spouse of Mr. John Garioch, son to William Garioch of Tillie-
bethie, in the lands of Auchballoch. 1675. Carta per Willelmum
dominum de Forbes concessa Margarete Skene relicte Magistri
Johannis Skene in Knowheade in vitali redditu et post ejus
decessum Willelmo Gareoch de terris de Auchballoch in parochia
de Awfurde.

IV. Janet Skene married "Mr. Adam Barclay, minister of Nigg" (MS. A).
Ratification, by Oliver Cromwell, of contract between James
Skene of Skene and Mr. Adam Barclay, minister of Tarvie, and
Janet Skene, his wife, at Edinburgh, I4th August, 1656. Sasine
Mr. Adam Barclay, younger of Towie, and Janet Skene, his spouse.
V. Isobell Skene married " the laird of Aswanlie " (Calder).

VI. Katharine Skene married, ist, "to a younger son of Sir Alexander

Gumming of Coulder ; and 2nd, to Robert Cheyne" (MS.A).
VII. Mary Skene married "George Mackenzie of Kincardine, second
brother to the Earl of Seaforth" (MS.A). 1653. Sasine Isobell,
Katharine, and Maria Skene, lawful daughters to umquhile
Alexander Skene of that ilk, with consent of Gilbert Skene of
Dyce, and Mr. Andrew Skene of Overdyce. 1692. Discharge
Robert Cheyne, son to Mr. William Cheyne, minister of Dyce,
and Katharine Skene, his spouse, sister to James Skeyne of that
ilk. Assignation and Disposition Mary Skene, youngest sister of
James Skene of that ilk, with consent of George Mackenzie of
Kintowdie, brother-german to Kenneth, Earl of Seaforth, her
husband.

XIV. — JAMES SKENE OF SKENE— 1634-1656

succeeded his father in 1634, and was infeft in that year in the lands and
barony of Skene as heir served and retoured to Alexander Skene of
Skene, his father.

He married Elizabeth Forbes, daughter of Arthur Lord Forbes, in
1637, as on I4th July, in that year, there is a sasine in her favour in his
jointure lands of Letter and Broomhill.

On 1 7th October, 1639, there is a sasine in favour of James Skene de
eodem, upon letters of four forms, dated 6th April, in a tenement in
Aberdeen, " ex boreali parte ly Keyhead," in payment of 4000 merks,

36 SKENE OF SKENE.

contained in an obligation by Alexander, Master of Forbes, to Elizabeth
Forbes, his sister, " nunc sponse dicti Jacobi Skene de eodem," dated
2oth December, 1629, and assigned by the said Elizabeth Forbes, with
consent of Arthur Lord Forbes, to James Skene, on 5th July, 1637.

" This James of Skene was a great loyalist, and suffered many hard-
ships on account of his attachment to the interest of the Royal Family."
" In that copy of the covenant subscribed before the Sheriff of Aber-
deen, still extant, this James Skene of that ilk subscribes, along with the
Marquis of Montrose. However, afterwards he was a great companion
of the Marquis of Montrose, and got a protection from him for saving his
estate from being pillaged in Charles the ist time. He had the misfor-
tune, soon after his marriage, to be bitten by a swine in the knee, and his
lady, who liked gadeing abroad, and had an expensive turn, persuaded
him, for his cure, to go to the wells in Germany. They stayed there a
year or two, with a brother of his, a merchant there, and by his wife's
expensive turn, brought the estate under a great load of debt. He died
young, and was greatly esteemed for his capacity in every respect, while
he lived. The said Elspet Forbes lived a widow on the estate till the
year 1695 " (MS.D). By her he had two sons and one daughter.
I. John Skene, who succeeded him.

II. James Skene, " called the martyr, had the misfortune to associate
with the Covenanters at Queensferry, Rutherglen, &c., when he
was taken prisoner, tried, and executed in the Gressmerceat "
(MS.D). " He was hanged, with two others, at the Cross of
Edinburgh, on the ist December, 1680, Skeen being all cloathed
in white linnen, to his very shues and stockings, in affectation of
puritie and innocence, and I wish it might be a praelibation and
type of a white robe to be given him in heaven." (Fountainhall
Historical Observes, p. 10.) His trial and last speech are recorded
in the " Cloud of Witnesses."
III. Barbara Skene married her cousin, Calder of Aswanlie.

XV.— JOHN SKENE OF SKENE— 1656-1680.

On 3 ist October, 1656, an edict of curatory was issued, charging
William, Master of Forbes ; Andrew, Master of Fraser ; Sir Alexander
Gumming of Cults ; John Urquhart of Craigstone ; Alexander Urquhart

SKENE OF SKENE. 37

of Dunlugus ; John Skeen of Auchtertoill ; Richard Maitland of Pitrichie ;
Gilbert Skene of Dyce; Mr. Andrew Skene of Overdyce; Mr. Alexander
Skene, baillie burgess of Aberdeen ; Mr. Robert Burnet of Crimond, advo-
cate, as " friends and nearest of kyn on the father and mother's syde,
to John Skene of that ilk " (Sheriff Register of Deeds) ; and on 24th
July, 1657, John Skene of that ilk, served heir in special to James Skene
of that ilk, his father, in the lands and barony of Skene, with the
loch thereof, the lands of Tillibriloch, Tulnahilt, Bandodle, Auchmoir,
Auchorrie, with the myles and burghar lands of Comers, unite into the
barony of Skene, the lands and mains of Aslowne in the parish of Alford,
the lands of Dorrsoilt, Muchills, Badinapettis, and Drumnalunda (Index
Retours).

On 2 $th January, 1658, he was infeft on this retour, among the
witnesses being Mr. Andrew Skene of Overtown, and Robert Skene,
pedagogue to the said John Skene — no doubt the Robert Skene, son of
Robert Skene in Tillibirloch, who was schoolmaster at Banchorie, and
afterwards of the Grammar School of Aberdeen.

The Tanistry lands seem now to have finally left the family, as on 5th
May, 1659, there is a ratification, by John Skene of that ilk, with consent
of William, Master of Forbes ; Gilbert Skene of Dyce ; Mr. Alexander
Skene, baillie burgess of Aberdeen ; and Mr. Andrew Skene of Overdyce,
his curators, of a procuratory of resignation granted by the deceased
James Skene of that ilk, dated 3Oth June, 1641, to John Forbes of Cor-
sinday, of the lands of Tillibirloch, Tilnahilt, Bandodle, Auchmore,
Auchorrie, &c.

On the I4th February, 1678, he obtained a crown charter of the
lands and barony of Skene, on which he was infeft on 3<Dth June, 1679 ;
but died in the following year.

He married Jean, daughter of Alexander Burnet, eldest son and
apparent heir of Sir Thomas Burnet of Leys.

In the end of a small bible are the following notes in his handwriting: —

" Nott of my childrens ages —

"Junii 24 166= my eldest daughter Elizabeth was born. August 4
1 661 rny second daughter Anna was born. Sept. 12 1663 my eldest
sone Alexr was borne. May 2 1666 my second son George was born 1666.

"Junii 4 1667 my third daughter Margret was born. Apryll 16 1670
my third sone Andrew was born. July I 1671 my fourt sone John was
born. February i 1673 my fourt daughter Jean was born.

38 SKENE OF SKENE.

"July 4 1676 my fuivt daughter Barbara was born. On August 19
1678 my sext daughter Catren was born. July 24 1679 my fift sone
Thomas was born."

In a later hand there is added —

"'In the end of October after the dear father Jo. Skene of that ilk in
death he departit the 9th of May 1680. his sone James was born. He
died the 3d day after his birth.

" Jean Burnett mother of the above writtin children grandaunt to
the present Sir Al. Burnett of Leyes wife to John Skene of that ilk died
at Crathes in harvest 1688 somewhat more than eight years after her
husband's death. This is writt 1745.

" Jean Burnett aforesaid wife to John Skene of that ilk built the new
midle part of the house of Skene in her widowhood and put the roof upon
the old tower. This is writt by her grandchild George Skene of that
ilk at Skene the 7th of July 1745. The above built by Jean Burnett is
the main or middle part, the south wing was built by her said grandchild.
The old tower makes the north wing " (Old Bible).

" The said Jean Burnet, Lady Skene, was a woman of uncommon
conduct and frugality, and altho' she got things in the greatest disorder
from the former lady's mismanagement, yet she kept the family together
and lived in a very decent way, and after her husband's death, from her
savings of her jointure, she floored and roofed the old tower, after taking
out the vaults, and also built a large addition to it, which is at present the
main body of the house of Skerie ; the family having always lived before
that in low thatch houses, like the better kind of their common farm
houses "(MS.D).

John Skene of Skene had the following children by Jean Burnett,
who survived him, the others mentioned by her having died young : —
I. Alexander Skene, who succeeded him.

II. George Skene, "who served under the Duke of Maryborough in
Queen Anne's wars, and afterwards acquired a considerable sum
in the Mississippi Stock, in France, with which he bought the
estate of Caraldstone, An. 1720" (MS.D). He married Elizabeth
Baird, widow of Francis White, coffee merchant in London, by
whom he had two daughters —

1. Elizabeth married her cousin, George Skene of Skene.

2. Jean married Sir Alexander Forbes of Foveran, Baronet. He

died in London, 3rd August, 1724.

SKENE OF SKENE. 39

III. Thomas Skene " was a lieutenant in the army, and was among the

troops sent by Queen Anne into Spain, where he was killed "
(MS.D).

IV. Elizabeth Skene married William Livingstone, merchant, Aberdeen.
V. Ann Skene married James Barclay, son to the minister of Keig.

VI. Jean Skene married Donald Farquharson, son of Charles Far-

quharson.
VII. Barbara Skene married John Tytler, merchant, Aberdeen.

XVI. — ALEXANDER SKENE OF SKENE — 1680-1724.

On the 1 9th March, 1686, when he had attained majority, he was
served heir to John Skene of that ilk, his father, in the lands and barony
of Skene, with the lake and mills of the same, and was infeft in the same
on 1 3th May, 1686.

Four years after, he made a marriage, which brought to the family the
lands of Wester Fintray. This was with " Giles Adie, daughter of Mr.
David Adie of Newark and Easter Echt, Baillie and Burgess of Aber-
deen, and Guild Brother of Edinburgh " (MS.D). Her mother was
Katherine Skene, niece of Sir George Skene of Wester Fintray and
Rubislaw, who was unmarried, and settled the estate of Wester Fintray
on his grandniece, by the contract of marriage between her and Alexander
Skene, to which he was a party, and which may be given at length —

Contract of marriage between Alexander Skene of that ilk, on the
one part ; and Sir George Skene of Wester Fintray, late Provost of
Aberdeen, and David Adie of Newark, late Bailie of the said burgh, for
themselves, and taking burden upon them for Giles Adie, daughter to the
said David Adie, procreate betwixt him and the deceased Katharine
Skene, his spouse, who was niece to the said Sir George Skene, and the
said Giles Adie for herself, on the other part : Whereby the said Alexander
Skene and the said Giles Adie agree to enter into the bonds of matri-
mony with each other, and thereafter love, cherish, treat, and entertain
each other as becometh Christian married persons of their estate and
rank : And narrating that the said Sir George Skene stands infeft, in
virtue of a charter granted by King Charles II., in the lands of Wester
Fintrayes, and that by his disposition, dated I5th September, 1658, he
disponed the said lands to the deceased George Skene, his nephew, eldest

40 SKENE OF SKENE.

son of the deceased David Skene, merchant burgess of Zamosky, in the
kingdom of Poland, and the heirs male of his body ; whom failing, to
Alexander Skene, youngest son of the said David Skene, and the heirs
male of his body ; whom failing, to Mr. George Skene, eldest son of
Robert Skene, late treasurer burgess of Aberdeen, and the heirs male of
his body ; whom failing, to the deceased John Skene of that ilk, his heirs
and assignees whatsomever, bearing the arms and surname of Skene ;
reserving power to himself to dispone the said lands during his lifetime,
or to set the same in tack, and also to redeem from the said George and
Alexander Skenes and others above mentioned, by payment of the sum
of £3 Scots, in the Tolbooth of Aberdeen, on any day between the hours
of twelve and two, intimation having been given to them twenty-four
hours previously, with various other provisions : And that having resolved,
from various reasons, to revoke said disposition, and having paid the said
sum of £3 Scots to the said disponees, and being most zealous and
desirous to contribute his endeavours and assistance for the flourishing
and standing of the family of Skene, which had stood in a prosperous
and flourishing condition for some hundreds of years, in the person of
the said Alexander Skene of that ilk and his predecessors, of the sur-
name of Skene, and of which the said Sir George Skene is duly descended,
and for the special love and respect which the said Sir George Skene
bears to the said Alexander Skene of that ilk and Giles Adie, his
apparent spouse : Therefore, in view of the said marriage between them,
he dispones to them in liferent, and to the heirs male to be gotten be-
tween them ; whom failing, to the other heirs male of the said Alexander's
body ; whom failing, to his heirs male whatsoever ; whom all failing, to
the said Alexander's heirs and assignees whatsoever ; the said lands of
Wester Fintrayes, with all their pertinents. Dated at Aberdeen the
eighth February, 1690. Witnesses, John Skene, younger of Dyce ;
George Adie ; Robert Skene, late treasurer of Aberdeen ; and Mr. George
Skene, his son.

Among the letters in the Skene charter chest is one dated I5th
August, 1694, from George Skene of Rubislaw, grand-nephew of Sir
George Skene, and his successor in that estate, to the laird of Skene,
"with five guineas to buy a pony for Lady Skene ;" and another written
on 7th April, 1715, which led to a still more important addition to the
family estates. This was a letter from George Skene to his brother, the

SKENE OF SKENE. 4!

laird of Skene, asking advice as to the marriage of his eldest daughter,
Elizabeth, and acknowledging the advice received from Andrew Skene
of Hilton. Dated at London, 7th April, 1715.

What this correspondence led to, the following document shows : —
Post-nuptial contract of marriage between Alexander Skene of that
ilk and George Skene, his eldest son, on the one part, and Major George
Skene of St. James's, London, and Elizabeth Skene, his eldest daughter,
on the other part, for the marriage of the said George and Elizabeth,
which took place at York, in August, 1719. The contract is dated 26th
February, 1723.

Giles Adie adds her quota to the family Bible thus : —
I. My eldest son, George, was born at Aberdeen the 23° of February,
being Saturday, betwixt four and five in the afternoon, in the year
of God, 1695.

II. My daughter Jeane was born at Skene the twa of November, 1696
years ; married to George Forbes of Alford ; died in March,
1 723, at Skene.

III. My second daughter, Keatren (married Moncoffer), was born at

Skene the sixtint of January, one thousand seven hundred and
one, being Thursday, in the forenoon, at 1 1 o'clocke or thereby ;
died in Feby., 1744, at Banff; married their to Dr. Fotheringham.

IV. My third daughter, Elizabeth, was born at Skene 24 Maye, being

Monday, at eleven o'clock or thereby, in the year of God, 1703
years ; died a child.
V. My fourt daughter, Margret, was born on Monday, 24 Dec1"., in the

year of God, 1704 years ; died a child.

VI. My second sone, Alexander, on Tuesday, the nint of July, was
born in the year of God, 1706 ; died in Jamaica, 1732.

VII. My third son, David, was born on Saturday, 24 of Aprill, in the

year of God, 1708 years, at Skene ; died coming from the East
Indies, 1733, at sea.

VIII. I had a fourt sone dead-borne on the first day of April, in the

year of God, 1711 years.
IX. My 5 son, John, was born the 6 October, being Tuesday, betwixt

8 & nine in the afternoon, in the year of God, 1713.
Her eldest son adds to this —

" John, the said Alexander's fifth son, was born 1713, was a lieutenant

G

42 SKENE OF SKENE.

in Colonel Murray's regiment, and was killed under Sir John Cope, at the
battle of Preston, near Edinburgh, by some called the battle of Glads-
muir, fought the 2ist September, 1745, being the first fought in that
rebellion, so that he wanted only a little of being 32 years of age, so that
none of the children are now alive but one, the writer, and eldest."

Alexander Skene of that ilk, the father, died at Skene the 2Oth
January, 1724 ; his brother, Major George Skene of Caraldstone, died at
London, the i8th of August said year, 1724 — (old Bible).

XVII.— GEORGE SKENE OF SKENE— 1724-1756

succeeded his father and uncle in 1724, and on roth June, 1725, he took
infeftment upon a disposition by the late Major George Skene of Carald-
stone, with consent of Elizabeth Baird, his spouse, in favour of himself and
her, and the heirs male between them ; whom failing, to the heirs male of
his body, by any other marriage ; which failing, to Elizabeth Skene, his
eldest daughter, now spouse to George Skene, now of that ilk, eldest son
of the late Alexander Skene of that ilk, who was brother-german to the
said Major George Skene, and to the heirs male between them ; which
failing, to the other heirs of entail of the granter ; of his lands and barony
of Balnamoon and others contained in said disposition, and in the disposi-
tion thereof by Sir John Stuart of Grandtully, baronet, to the said Major
George Skene, of date i$th August, 1721, now disponing an annuity of
£600 sterling, in trust, for behoof of the said Elizabeth Skene, his eldest
daughter, and her heirs, the said George Skene of that ilk, and Andrew
Skene of Lethenty, being of the trustees.

The deed of entail of the lands and barony of Balnamoon, compre-
hending the lands and barony of Caraldstone, Little Watterston, Brocklaw,
and Berrytullich haugh, on the west side of the South Esk, executed by
Major George Skene on the 24th October, 1721, was recorded in the
Register of Entails on 6th January, 1725.

On 20th August, 1725, the testament dative and inventory of the
goods gear debts and sums of money pertaining to the deceased Major
George Skene of Caraldstone, residenter in the City of London, who died
there upon the I3th of August, 1724, was given up by George Skene of
that ilk, husband to, and in name and behalf of, Elizabeth Skene, his
spouse, and by Sir Alexander Forbes of Foveran, Bart, husband to, and
in name and behalf of, Dame Jean Skene, his spouse ; which Elizabeth

SKENE OF SKENE. 43

and Dame Jean Skene, lawful daughters to the said Major George Skene,
are only executrixes dative decerned as nearest in heir to him, and the
said George Skene of that ilk, husband to the said Elizabeth, and the said
Sir Alexander Forbes, husband to the said Dame Jean Skene, for their
interests, and that by decreet of the Commissaries of Edinburgh, of date
loth March, 1725. Amount of the inventory, £10,791 145.

Among the moneys owing to the deceased is the following, viz., Item,
the said defunct, his four shares in the capital stock of the Governor and
Company of the Bank of Scotland, being £4000 Scots subscription, of
which three was paid in by the defunct (designed in the said company's
books Captain George Skene, in the Royal Regiment of Dragoons).
Amount of inventory and debts, £17,065 153. oxi.

Among the Skene papers are a number of letters relating to the death
of Elizabeth, the wife of George Skene of Skene, which happened at
Montrose on soth March, 1730, her husband being then in London. In
one of these, from Sir Alexander Burnet of Leyes, his brother-in-law,
mention is made of the welfare of the " two pretty boys," the sons of the
said George Skene, then staying at Leyes. He married a second time
his cousin, Sarah, daughter of Baillie Simpson of Aberdeen, by whom
he had no children. She died 28th November, 1789.

George Skene of Skene was, on nine successive occasions (1737-45),
elected Lord Rector of Marischal College and University. The following
notice of his death appeared in the Aberdeen Journal of September 7th,
1756 : — " On Friday morning [September 3rd], about 10 o'clock, died at
Skene (the seat of this ancient Family), in the sixty-second Year of his
Age, much and justly lamented, George Skene of that Ilk, a Man of
superior Capacity ; fitted for Business ; remarkable for doing good, and
making up Differences amongst his Friends and Neighbours. He was a
sincere and steady Friend, a dutiful Son, a tender and affectionate
Husband, a fond indulgent Parent, a kind and encouraging Master. His
Humanity and Benevolence was extensive, especially to the poor ; and
those in Distress were sure of a Friend in him. He was a Father to the
Fatherless, and a Husband to the Widow ; a sincere good Christian,
without Ostentation or Show. These substantial Qualities being accom-
panied with great Knowledge, true Taste, and an inimitable Turn of
Humour, make the Tears of his Friends flow unbidden o'er his grave."

He had two sons by his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Major
George Skene of Caraldstone, viz. : —

44

SKENE OF SKENE.

I. George Skene, who succeeded him.

II. James Skene, who was a captain in the army, and married a Miss
Allan, by whom he had seven sons and three daughters.

1. George Skene, who was executed in London for forgery.

2. Alexander Skene, captain in the Navy (well known as a

beautiful musician), married Miss Fordyce of Ay ton, and
died at Edinburgh on the I4th September, 1823, leaving no
issue.

3. David Skene, died young.

4. Andrew Skene, died young.

5. James Skene, died in India, leaving a natural son, James, an

officer in the army.

6. John Skene, died in India.

7. Another son died.

8. Elizabeth Skene, married the Reverend Dr. Munroe, and had issue.

9. Sarah Skene, married Lynch of Jamaica, and had issue.
10. Barbara Skene, married Sturgeon, and had issue (MS.E).

XVIII. — GEORGE SKENE OF SKENE — 1756-1781.

On 27th July, 1757, there is a sasine on a charter under the great seal,
in favour of George Skene of that ilk, eldest lawful son of the deceased
George Skene of that ilk, procreated between him and the also deceased
Elizabeth Skene, his spouse, eldest lawful daughter of the deceased Major
George Skene of Caraldstone ; and to the heirs male of his body ; whom
failing, to James Skene, only other son now in life of the said George
Skene of that ilk, senior, procreated between him and the said Elizabeth
Skene, his spouse, and the heirs male of the body of the said James
Skene ; whom failing, to the heirs male procreated between Sir Alexander
Forbes of Foveran, baronet, and Lady Jane Skene, second daughter of
the said Major George Skene ; whom failing, to Alexander Skene, second
lawful son of the deceased Alexander Skene of that ilk, and the heirs
male of his body ; whom failing, to David Skene, third lawful son of the
said Alexander Skene of that ilk, and the heirs male lawfully procreated
of his body ; whom failing, to John Skene, fourth son of the said deceased
Alexander Skene, and the heirs male lawfully procreated by his body ;
whom failing, to the heirs male of the body of the said Alexander Skene,
brother of the said Major George Skene ; whom all failing, to the heirs
female of the substitutes above mentioned, without division.

SKENE OF SKENE. 45

In the same year there is a discharge by Sarah Simpson, widow of
George Skene of that ilk, of various sums of money contained in bonds
granted by her late husband, now paid by George Skene, also of that ilk.
Dated at Skene, 8th November, 1757.

George Skene of Skene married his cousin Mary, daughter of George
Forbes of Alford, by Jane, daughter of Alexander Skene, his grandfather.
She is said to have been exceedingly handsome, but had the misfortune
to be dumb. She died i$th March, 1786.

By her he had the following children : —

I. George Skene, who succeeded him.
II. James Skene, who died unmarried.

III. David Skene, was a burgess of Aberdeen, and died at Croydon in

March, 1817.

IV. Andrew Skene, died unmarried.

V. Alexander Skene, was born deaf and dumb.

VI. Mary Skene, married, I7th August, 1775, the Honourable Alexander
Duff, afterwards third Earl Fife, by whom she had two sons.

1. James, fourth Earl Fife, who died without issue pth March, 1857.

2. General the Honourable Sir Alexander Duff died 2ist March,

1857, leaving by Anne, daughter of James Stein of Kilboagie,
two sons and two daughters : —

(1) James succeeded as fifth Earl.

(2) George Skene.

(3) Catharine.

(4) Louisa Tollemache.

VII. Sarah Skene, married, I2th June, 1780, Thomas Macdonald, W.S.,

and had issue.

George Skene of Skene died in 1781, and was succeeded by his eldest
son.

XIX.— GEORGE SKENE OF SKENE — 1781-1825.

" He was educated for the Scotch bar, and passed advocate, but never
practised. He afterwards entered the army, and served for some years
in General Gordon of Fyvie's regiment of infantry, as captain. He was
afterwards elected member of Parliament for the county of Aberdeen, but
being subsequently opposed by Mr. Ferguson of Pitfour, did not succeed
in a second canvass. He was an ardent admirer of the Ministry of Mr.
Fox, and a firm adherent of the Whig side of politics to the termination

SKENE OF SKENE.

of his life. Had it not been for the violence of his political opinions, and
the dissipated life to which he was addicted, he was a man of talents and
dispositions calculated to have made a figure in the corner of the country
where his fortune and the antiquity of his family entitled him to take a
lead. But in spite of these disadvantageous circumstances, his acuteness
in the public affairs of the county, and remarkably conciliatory manner,
continued, during the course of his life, to give great weight to his opinion
at the meetings of the Freeholders. He never married ; and having
lived to see every member of his family of the name of Skene disappear,
save one unfortunate remnant, he executed, towards the end of his life, a
deed of entail of the whole of his property, movable as well as heritable,
upon the line of heirs contained in the entail of the estate of Caraldstone,
and thus, notwithstanding his pride in the antiquity of his name and
family, and the strong interest he was in use to express in the duration
of the clan of which he was the chief, he voluntarily extinguished almost,
in his own demise, the name of Skene of Skene " (MS.E).

The editor well remembers having seen this laird of Skene when
visiting his father at Inverie House, on the Feuch, near Banchory. The
editor was then only six years old, but a circumstance connected with
the visit made an impression upon his mind, and corroborates the sketch
above given of the convivial habits into which the laird had fallen in the
later years of his life. The editor's father and he used to exchange an
annual visit, but their habits were very different, Mr. Skene of Rubislaw
being sobriety itself. He was known, on one of his visits to Skene —
when detained till early in the morning at the laird's convivial table — when
at length he was allowed to escape to his bedroom, to have jumped out
of the window and walked 17 miles home to Inverie. On the occasion
of a return visit of the laird to Inverie, the editor — then a little boy —
had been promised by his father that he would take him out next morning
with him, when he proposed to fish for salmon ; but when he was detained
till a late hour at the dinner table, seeing that the laird had drunk himself
into such a state that he could not see the difference, he quietly slipped out
and substituted his Swiss servant, a man of good appearance and manner,
to sit with the laird. The editor recollects being in his father's dressing-
room at six o'clock, A.M., and seeing the laird with the Swiss servant
walking round the court, the former clamouring for another bottle, while
the latter was vainly advising him to go to bed.

SKENE OF SKENE. 47

George Skene of Skene died at Skene on the 28th April, 1825, and
was succeeded by his brother.

XX. — ALEXANDER SKENE OF SKENE — 1825-1827.

He was " upwards of sixty years of age, and having the misfortune
to have been born deaf and dumb, and now (1826) for many years nearly
blind, by reason of a disease in his eyes, his mind, though not absolutely
in a state of imbecility, has been so little cultivated, as to render him
quite unfit to take charge of his own affairs in any respect Application
was accordingly made to the Court of Session by his three nearest rela-
tives, Earl Fife, General Duff, and the Reverend Mr. Macdonald, his
nephews, to appoint a factor loco tutoris, which has been done. Upon
his decease the family may be considered extinct, as the whole of the
properties merge in the extensive entailed territories of the Earl of Fife,
thus giving a singular confirmation to a traditional malediction reported
to have been pronounced against the race of Skene of Skene. With
what degree of truth I cannot say, but I have heard it narrated that the
grandfather of the present laird, who married the dumb lady, Mary
Forbes of Alford, who was very handsome, had had the baseness
previously to seduce her, and was compelled by the family to fulfil the
marriage, having previously fought with and wounded her brother.
Upon which occasion the aged father of the lady is said to have
imprecated the judgment of Heaven upon the family, that they might
be cursed in their generation and come to a speedy termination. I have
known in my time eleven males of the family, and seen nine of them
swept off in the full vigour of life, one by an ignominious death; the last
laird remarkable for a dissolute life ; his only sisters both divorced from
their husbands, abandoned in their conduct, the one accidentally burnt
to death, the other dying in misery a prostitute in a foreign land ; and
now the only remnant left a poor helpless object, unconscious of the
affluence and honors to which he has succeeded, vegetating in the old
mansion of Skene, bereft nearly of all the attributes which distinguish
man from the brute creation, and wearing out in humiliating obscurity
the last dregs of his ancient race " (MS.E). He died of an attack of
apoplexy on Sunday the 29th of April, 1827, and with him terminated
the line of Skene of Skene. One exception to this melancholy picture of
the younger members of the family appears to be " Miss Betty Skene,

48

SKENE OF SKENE.

eldest daughter to the Laird of Skene," who died at Carreston on the
1 6th February, 1766, and who is said, in the Aberdeen Journal, to have
been " much regretted, as she was a most amiable, virtuous young lady."

The succession to his estates fell under the deed of entail executed by
his great grand uncle, Major George Skene of Caraldstone, and by his
elder brother, George Skene of Skene, to his nephew, James, Earl Fife;
while the male representation of the family devolved upon the Skenes
of Halyards, in Fife.

James, fifth Earl Fife, who succeeded his uncle in 1857, was in the
same year created a British Peer, by the title of

BARON SKENE OF SKENE.

Arms of Alexander, XVI. of Skene, and Giles Adie his Spouse, from a Stone at Skene House,

CHAPTER II.

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE.

I. — ANDREW SKENE IN AUCHORIE

is erroneously called, in MS.A, second son of "the little laird," but correctly,
in MS.D, second son of James Skene XII. of that ilk, by Jean Douglas, his
wife, and grandson of " the little laird," a filiation which his son's being
called to the barony of Skene in the deed of 1623, immediately after
Mr. Andrew Skene of Overdyce, shows to be correct

He appears, in 1598, as burgess of Aberdeen ; and in 1599 Andrew
Skene in Aberdeen (the brother), and John Forbes of Camphill (the
brother-in-law), appear as executors to umquhile Alexander Skene,
sometime fiar of that ilk ; and again, in the same year, on 3rd November,
as executors, lawfully confirmed, to umquhile Alexander Skene, fiar of
that ilk.

He appears, after his father's death in 1605, to have obtained posses-
sion of the Tanistry lands of Auchorie, as we find him so designed in
a service in 1610 ; and, in 1613, Andrew Skene in Auchorie is baillie
of the barony of Skene.

He married " Bessie Cadell or Calder, daughter of the laird of
Asloun, by whom he begat three sons —

I. Sir Andrew Skene, thereafter laird of Halyards, in Fife.
II. Patrick Skene [ancestor of the Skenes in Austria].

III. William Skene, died unmarried.

IV. Jean Skene, married Mr. Robert , Professor of Divinity

at St. Andrews.

V. Isobell Skene, died unmarried " (MS.A).
He appears to have died in 1619.

H

50 SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE.

II. — SIR ANDREW SKENE OF HALYARDS— 1619-1653.

He appears, during his father's life, to have filled the lucrative office
of servitor to Sir John Skene, the Lord Clerk Register, and to have been
a Master of Arts.

In the Register of the Privy Seal we find, on i7th December, 1608,
" Ane letter maid to Mr. Andro Skene, servitor to Sir John Skene of
Curriehill, knight, Clerk of Register, of the gift of the escheit of John
Irving, in Quhytrigis, at the instance of David Ramsay of Balmain, for
payment to the said David, as cautioner for Arthur Stratoun of Canter-
land, of certain sums" ; and again, on 28th June, 1610, "Ane letter maid
to Maister Andro Skene, servitor to Sir John Skene of Curriehill, knight,
Clerk of the Register, of the gift of the escheit, whilk is pertenit of befor
to Alexander Skene, lawful sone to umquhile Gilbert Skene of Tillebir-
loche, at the instance of Robert Forbes, portioner of Findrossie."

On 8th December, in the same year, there is a precept "Jacobus &c
dedimus &c dilecto nostro Magistro Andreae Skene servitori Clerici nostri
registri heredibus suis et assignatis quibuscunque hereditarie totas et
integras terras et Baroniam de Leslie specialiter in se comprehenden.
villas terras et alias suprascriptas."

On 22nd August, 1612, there is another precept which shows his
identity with the son of Andrew Skene of Auchorie — " Jacobus &c dedi-
mus &c dilecto nostro Magistro Andreae Skene filio natu maximo Andreae
Skene de Auchorie heredibus et assignatis quibuscunque terras de Cammo
et Chappelton."

When Sir John Skene resigned his office of Clerk Register in
1612, he appears to have become servitor to the Earl of Crawford, as
there is recorded in the Register of Deeds, on 9th June, 1613, a bond, by
David, Earl of Crawford, to his servitor, Mr. Andro Skene, eldest son
to Andro Skene of Auchorie, dated at the castle of Edinburgh, 2nd
January, 1612.

In the year 1628, we find him in possession of the lands and barony
of Auchtertule. The whole parish of Auchtertule was the property of
the bishops of Dunkeld, and they were in the habit of granting their
lands, as was the usual custom with church lands, to lay proprietors, in

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE. 51

feu-farm. We find that Auchtertule had been granted, in this manner,
to Sir William Forbes of Craigievar, in 1617, and subsequently to Mr.
John Skene, Clerk of Session, second son of Sir John Skene, from whom
it passed to Mr. Andrew Skene, who received a crown charter confirming
these grants, and thus came to hold it of the crown. This charter,
granted on i8th January, 1628, confirms " duas cartas feudifirmae
subscriptas unam quarum factam per reverendum in Christo patrem
Alexandrum Dunkelden. episcopum superiorem terrarum &c dilecto
nostro Magistro Joanni Skene uni clericorum nostri concilii et heredibus
suis et assignatis de omnibus et singulis tern's et baroniae de Auchter-
tule jacen. infra vie. de Fife et alteram dictarum cartarum factam per
dictum reverendum in Christo patrem dilecto nostro Magistro Andreae
Skene tune de Chappeltown nunc de Auchtertule heredibus suis et
assignatis de omnibus et singulis terris et baronia de Auchtertule."

The barony of Auchtertule contained within it the old castle of
Halyards, situated on the lake of Halyards, and Mr. Andrew Skene
appears to have made it his residence, and eventually taken his title
from it, as we find him designed in 1633 " Mr. Andro Skene of Hal-
yards," in an assignation by Thomas Bruce in Parkhill, and Elspet
Skene, his spouse, with his consent, to William Leslie, in Ley of
Tulliebardie.

Sir Andrew Skene was knighted by King Charles the First, in
Parliament assembled at Edinburgh, 6th November, 1641, along with
three others who served as esquires upon the installation of General
Leslie as Earl of Leven — (Balfour's Annals, III., p. 140).

He married Barbara Forbes, daughter of William Forbes of Craigievar,
and had the following children : —
I. John Skene, who succeeded him.

II. James Skene of Wester Bogie, who married Elizabeth Orrock, and
was, in 1662, infeft in the lands of Watstoun, in Cambusnethan,
in which he is designed lawful son of the deceased Sir Andrew
Skene of Auchtertule, knight, and Mr. Andrew Skene, his
brother, is attorney ; and, in 1673, James Skene of Wester
Bogie, brother-german to John Skene of Halyards, and Elizabeth
Orrock, his spouse, are infeft in the town and lands of Bogie
Wester, in the constabulary of Kinghorn. He had by her —
I. Andrew Skene, younger of Wester Bogie, mentioned in 1693.

52 SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE.

2. John Skene of Wester Bogie, who receives, in 1708, a Renuncia-
tion, by Michael Malcolm of Balbeadie, of an annual rent of
£19 43. 6d., out of the lands of Wester Bogie. He had a
son, John Skene, mentioned by Sibbald as in possession of
Wester Bogie in 1710. He seems to have been the last of
the family.

III. Mr. Andrew Skene appears, in 1665, as indweller in Edinburgh.

He married Christian Wardlaw, and had three sons — Henry,
Andrew, and John.

IV. Mr. Alexander Skene. In 1663, on 1st, July, Mr. Alexander

Skene, Halyards' brother, is admitted Regent of St Leonard's
College, St. Andrews, and became Provost of St. Salvador's.
Appended to one of the maces is this inscription — " Dr. Alex-
ander Skene Collegii Sancti Salvatoris nostri prepositus me
temporis injuria laesum et mutilatum publicis dicti Collegii
sumptibus reparandum curavit An. Dom. 1685." On 24th April,
1718, the testament dative and inventory of the debts and sum of
money pertaining to the deceased Doctor Alexander Skene,
residenter in the Canongate, sometime Provost of the Old College
of St. Andrews, who died in the Canongate in the month of

, 1707, is given up by executors dative as creditors.
V. William Skene.

VI. Patrick Skene. 2Oth September, 1693, Mr. Andrew Skene and
Patrick Skene, sons of deceased Sir Andrew Skene of Halyards,
are mentioned.

VII. Robert Skene in Lamington. John Skene of Halyards, and
James Skene, his brother, tutors to Robert Skene, our brother-
german. Disposition John Skene of Halyards, and Robert
Skene, his brother-german, to James Skene of Wester Bogie,
their brother-german, of an annual rent of £20 Scots, dated at
Lamington, 2Oth October, 1668.

VIII. Barbara Skene married, ist, David Ramsay of Grangemuir. " 1657,
December 15, David Ramsay, by way of rapt, took away Barbara
Skeyne, Halyards' eldest sister, out of her mother's house at
Kingorne, and went and married her at the Border " (Chron. of
Fife). She married, 2nd, Sir David Mores, advocate.

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE. 53

IX. Katharine Skene married William Lindsay, afterwards Bishop of
Dunkeld, son of James Lindsay of Dowhill, by contract, dated
in 1666.

"January, 1653 — The old laird of Halyards (surnamed Skene)
departed this life at Halyards, and was interred at Auchtertoole church.
In November, 1653, his lady left Halyards, and went and dwelt in Dun-
fermling. All her children went with her" — (Chron. of Fife).

III. — JOHN SKENE OF HALYARDS — 1653-1707.

On 24th May, 1653, John Skein of Halyards served heir to Sir Andro
Skeene of Halyards, his father, in the lands and barony of Auchtertule,
viz., the lands of Newtoune and Craigtoune of Auchtertule ; the lands of
Weltoun ; the lands of Milnetoun and Milne of Auchtertule ; the lands
and loch of Halyairds ; the lands of Easter and Wester Clintrayes, with
the loch of Lochorishburne, unite into the barronie of Auchtertule ; the
burgh of barronie of the Milnetoun of Auchtertule with the weiklie and
yierlie faires ; the lands of Shepletoune, with the commonties of White-
hills, Greenmyre, and Pilmure, within the parochin and barronie of Meigle,
with the advocatione of the kirk of Auchtertule, within the diocie of
Dunkeld and SherifTdom of Fyff— (Ind. Ret).

John Skene's arms are recorded in the Lyon Register : " Gules three
Daggers Argent, hilted and pomelled Or, surmounted of as many woolfs
heads couped of the third, a crescent for difference." Crest : " A dexter
hand proper holding a dagger as the former." Motto : " Virtutis regia
merces."

He was twice married, 1st, on 4th February, 1653, to " Margaret,
daughter of David McGill of Rankeillor, by whom he had two sons and
two daughters" (MS.D).

I. John Skene, who succeeded him.

II. James Skene, "who got from his father the lands of Grange and
Kirkcaldy"(MS.D).

6th December, 1684 — Sasine on crown charter in favour of John
Skene of Halyards, in liferent, and James Skene, his second son,
in fee, of the lands and barony of New Grange. " He married
on 1 2th January, 1688, Anna Drummond, 2nd daughter of James

54 SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE.

Drummond, Cultmalundie, by whom he had two daughters"
(MS.D).

1. Margaret Skene married to John Carnegie of Boysach.

2. Katharine Skene died unmarried.

James died without issue male, in 1698 ; and on 29th Novem-
ber, 1699, John Skene, senior, of Halyards, was served heir of
provision to James Skene, his second son, in the lands of Mains
of Grange and Banchrie.

III. Elizabeth Skene married Sir Henry Wardlaw of Pitreavie, bart.

23rd May, 1691 — Disposition by John Skene, elder, of Hal-
yards, to Dame Elizabeth Skene, his eldest lawful daughter,
spouse to Sir Henry Wardlaw of Pitreavie, of an annual rent of
;£i2O. out of the lands of Milnehills.

IV. Katharine Skene was three times married, ist, to Sir James

Anstruther of Airdrie ; 2nd, to Major Andrew Quhyt ; and 3rd, to
Lord Edward Murray; and had issue by them all. It is said that
she obtained her three husbands from the extreme beauty of her
hand ; and there is a portrait of her by Sir Peter Lely, formerly
in the possession of the editor, and now in that of H. J. Trotter,
Esq., M.P., a descendant of the family, in which the hands are
prominently displayed, so as to show the back of one, and the
palm of the other.

28th February, 1688 — Charter under the great seal, in favour of
Dame Katharine Skene, relict of Major Andrew Whyt and Philip
Anstruther, only lawful son, procreat between her and the
deceased Sir James Anstruther of Airdrie, of the lands and
barony of Airdrie.

4th June, 1744 — Testament dative of the deceased Dame
Katharine Skene, relict of Lord Edward Murray, who died in the
Canongate of Edinburgh, given up by John Murray, son lawful
procreated between the deceased Lord Edward Murray and the
defunct, his spouse.
John Skene of Halyards married, 2nd, Helen, daughter of Patrick

Pitcairn, sometime of Pitlour, from whom he had, in 1683, bought that

estate, and by her he had a son.

V. David Skene, born I7th January, 1696, ancestor of the Skenes of
Pitlour.

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE. 55

On 23rd April, 1684, there is a sasine on a disposition by
Henry Pitcairn, elder of Pitlour, and Patrick Pitcairn, fiar
thereof, his eldest lawful son, in favour of John Skene elder
of Halyards, John, Charles, and Thomas Skene, his grand-
children, of the town and lands of Wester and Easter Pitloures,
in the barony of Strathmiglo, dated at Edinburgh, 22nd
November, 1683, and at Balmuill, 24th November, 1683.

On 29th July, 1700, John Skene of Halyards grants a dis-
position in favour of David Skene, his lawful son procreat
betwixt him and Helen Pitcairn, lawful daughter to Patrick
Pitcairn, sometime of Pitlour, his present spouse, and the heirs
male to be procreat of his body ; which failing, to the eldest
for the time, of John, Charles, Thomas, William, David, and
Edward Skenes, lawful sons to John Skene, younger of
Halyards, eldest son to the said John Skene, elder and so forth,
of the lands of Wester and Easter Pitloures, in the Lordship
of Balmerino, dated at Grange.

And on i8th July, 1706, there is a sasine on a royal charter
in favour of David Skene, lawful son to John Skene, senior of
Halyards, and the heirs male to be lawfully procreat of his
body; whom failing, James Skene, lawful son of John Skene
of Halyards and the heirs male to be lawfully procreat of his
body; whom failing, Andrew Skene, lawful son of the said John
Skene and the heirs male to be lawfully procreat of his body;
whom failing, David Skene, lawful son of the said John Skene,
junior, and the heirs male to be lawfully procreat of his body;
whom failing, Edward Skene, also lawful son of the said John
Skene and the heirs male of his body; whom all failing, to the
said John Skene, senior, and his nearest heirs and assignees
whomsoever, of the lands of Easter and Wester Pitloures, and
the town and lands of Friermilne, in the parish of Strathmiglo.
Dated at the- Palace of St. James, I9th January, 1706.
1707, December 10 — Upon the loth instant, John Skene of Halyards
departed this life (Par. Reg.).

56 SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE.

IV.— JOHN SKENE OF HALYARDS— 1707-1709

succeeded his father, and is infeft on nth December, 1708, on a charter
under the great seal in favour of John Skene of Halyards and the heirs
male, lawfully to be procreat of his body ; whom failing, the heirs male,
procreat of the body of the deceased John Skene of Halyards, his father,
and whom failing, his heirs male whomsoever ; whom all failing, his
nearest and lawful heirs and assignees whomsoever, of the lands and
baronie of Auchtertoole, at Edinburgh, 2pth November, 1708.

He married Elizabeth, second daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of
Craigie, Baronet.

1680, August 28 — John Skene, younger of Halyards, in Fife, Mrs.
Elizabeth Wallace, lawful daughter to the deceased Lord Craigie,
married by Dr. Alexander Skene, Provost of St. Salvators College, in
St. Andrews — (Edin. Session Records).

22nd January, 1690 — Sasine on contract of marriage, of date, at
Edinburgh, iith August, 1680, entered into between John Skene, elder
of Halyards, John Skene, younger thereof, his eldest lawful son, and
Margaret McGill, spouse to the said John Skene, elder; and Mistress
Elizabeth Wallace, then promised, and present spouse to the said John
Skene, younger of Halyards, therein designed, lawful daughter to the
deceased Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, Knight, Baronet, Lord-
Justice Clerk, with advice and consent of Sir William Wallace of Craigie,
Knight, and Baronet, her brother-german : whereby the said John
Skene, elder, with consent of his said spouse, bound him to infeft and
seize the said John Skene, younger, his eldest lawful son) and the heirs
male, to be procreat between him and the said Elizabeth Wallace, in the
lands, barony, and whole parish of Auchtertool.

By Elizabeth Wallace he had the following children : —

I. John Skene, who succeeded him*,

II. Charles Skene, who was a lieutenant in Lord Dalrymple's
regiment, "was married and had a son, who died 1741, and two
daughters living in 1788" (MS.E).

III. Thomas Skene died unmarried before 2pth June, 1706, when his

Testament is confirmed in Edinburgh Commissary Court.

IV. William Skene died unmarried.

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE. 57

V. James Skene, who carried on the line of this family.
VI. Andrew Skene, lieutenant in Earl of Orkney's regiment

1 9th April, 1710 — Renunciation by Andrew Skene, lieutenant
in the Earl of Orkney's regiment of foot, and sixth lawful son
of the deceased John Skene of Halyards, in Fife, in favour of
John Skene, now of Halyards, his eldest lawful brother, now
served and retoured, and infeft, to the said deceased John Skene,
their father, of an annual sub-rent of the lands, barony, and
parish of Auchtertool.
VII. David Skene died unmarried.
VIII. Edward Skene died unmarried.
IX. Margaret Skene.

X. Elizabeth Skene married Calderwood of Pittedie.
John Skene appears to have married a second time Mrs. Anne Stuart
On iQth January, 1709, there is a sasine on a bond of provision by
the deceased John Skene, younger of Halyards, in favour of Charles,
William, James, Andrew, David, and Edward, Margaret and Elizabeth,
his lawful children, whereby he bound himself and his heirs to pay to his
said children the sums of money following, viz., to each of his sons, 5000
merks Scots, to his eldest daughter Margaret, 10,000 merks Scots, and to
his youngest daughter Elizabeth, 9000 merks Scots, and bound himself to
infeft them in an annual rent of £2120, or any other rent corresponding
to the principal sum of 53,000 merks forsaid out of the land and barony
of Auchtertool, reserving the liferent interest of Mrs. Anne Stuart lady
of the said John Skene. It is dated at Halyards, loth July, 1705.

"John Skene, fiar of Halyards, having married Elizabeth, second
daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, Baronet, his third daughter
having married John Drummond, brother to the Duke of Perth, and
himself Duke of Melfort, in France, John Skene and his lady accom-
panied them to France, where he ran through his estate" (MS.E). He
survived his father only two years, and died in 1709.

V. — JOHN SKENE OF HALYARDS — 1709-1717

succeeded to an encumbered estate on his father's death, and on 29th
August, 1713, is infeft on a precept of clare constat by Charles, Earl of
Murray, Lord Doune and Abernethy, as nearest heir male of the deceased
John Skene of Auchtertool, his grandfather, of the kirklands of Auchter-

I

58 SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE.

tool, dated at Donniebristle, loth August, 1713, and on the 2oth August,
1713, he resigns these lands to Charles, Earl of Murray.

Two years after, on 3Oth June, 1715, there is a resignation, by John
Skene of Halyards, eldest lawful son and heir male, served and retoured
to the deceased John Skene of Halyards, his father, procreat between him
and the late Elizabeth Wallace, his spouse, to Charles, Earl of Moray, of
the lands, barony, and whole parish of Auchtertool, with the manor place
of Halyards, in Fife, 5th May, 1713.

John Skene died unmarried and the line of the family was carried on
by his brother.

VI. — JAMES SKENE

"was engaged in the rebellion of 1715, and taken prisoner at Preston.
On the 7th April, 1716, he was arraigned for high treason, condemned on
1 2th May, but afterwards pardoned. He again engaged in the attempt
of 1719, and was taken at Glenshiel. He was examined for his share in
Bishop Atterbury's treason in 1722 " — See " State Trials," vol. vi., pp.
389, 448, and 466).

"James Skene married Mary Ann Smith, daughter of the Reverend
J. Smith of Battersea. He engaged in trade, but being unfortunate died
of grief in 1736 "(MS.E).

He left two sons and one daughter —
I. Philip Wharton Skene, born 5th February, 1725.
II. James Skene, a surgeon in the East India Company's Service,

died unmarried in London in 1780.
III. Elizabeth Skene died unmarried in June, 1799.

VII. — PHILIP WHARTON SKENE

" first joined the army under his uncle Andrew's charge, then a captain
in the Royal Scots. He served in the same regiment in the West Indies,
where Captain Andrew Skene died, 3Oth March, 1742, in Jamaica. He
afterwards served in Flanders, at Dettingen, Fontenoy, and in 1745 at
Culloden, and again in Flanders in 1747. After the peace he went
to Ireland, where he married Katharine, only child of Samuel
Heyden of Arklow. Colonel Philip Skene went upon service to North
America in 1756, and returned to Ireland in 1765, in order to take his
family to North America, where he established them at Skeneborough, on
Lake Champlain, a property obtained partly by purchase and partly by
grant from the Crown. Mrs. Skene died there in 1771. In 1775

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE. 59

Colonel Skene was appointed lieutenant-governor of the forts at Crown
Point and Ticonderoga, and surveyor of the forest of Lake Champlain.
When the American war broke out, he and his family were arrested,
and his estates confiscated. He served during the war, and came to
England in 1778. In 1786 or 1787, the commissioners for the claims of
American loyalists awarded him £20,000 for his personal losses, with
which he purchased property in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire,
and died at Hartwell, in June, 1810, in the 86th year of his age" (MS.E).
He married in 1752 Katherine, daughter of Samuel Heyden of
Kilmacow, in Arklow, County Wicklow, and had by her —

I. Andrew Philip Skene, born 25th March, 1753.
II. Mary Ann Margaret Skene, born 1755, died unmarried.
III. Katharine Skene, born 1756, married Major de Piguet, and had
issue.

VIII. — ANDREW PHILIP SKENE

" served along with his father in America, in the 27th, 72nd, and 43rd
regiments, and was afterwards Major of Brigade in America, subsequently
on the staff in Scotland " (MS.E).

He died i8th January, 1826, having had by his wife, Henrietta, only
child of David James, of Serjeants Inn, London, whom he married on
2Oth December, 1792 —

I. Philip Orkney Skene, born I4th October, 1793, first lieutenant
Royal Engineers. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard
Wood, Esquire, and died without issue in April, 1837.
II. David James Skene, born I3th October, 1794, lieutenant in the
68th regiment of foot, and afterwards in the 1st Light Dragoons,
died without issue, ist February, 1835.

III. Andrew Motz Skene, born 28th June, 1797 ; a captain in the
navy, married Rachel Jemima, youngest daughter of James
Walmesley, Esq., and died in July, 1849, having had the
following children —

1. Andrew Philip Skene, born 6th September, 1832.

2. Elizabeth Rosa Skene, born 8th September, 1826, and died loth

September, 1846.

3. Augusta Maria Skene, born 22nd November, 1827 ; married

Charles, son of Warren Maude, Esq.

4. Jemima Margaret Skene, born 3rd March, 1836; married

George Edward, son of Reverend R. Booth.

60 SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE.

IV. William Wallace Skene, born 4th February, 1800, died unmarried,

1st July, 1829.
V. George Robert Skene, born nth April, 1802, died unmarried.

VI. Katherine Heyden Skene, born 8th April, 1805: married, first,
Richard Smyth, Esq., by whom she had a daughter, Henrietta,
who married Canon Walter, and secondly, George Hutton
Wilkinson, Esq. of Harperley Park, Co. Durham, Recorder of
Newcastle-on-Tyne.

VII. Henrietta Skene, born i6th November, 1806 ; married William
Trotter, third son of Colonel John Trotter, of Haughton Hall,
near Darlington, and had by him eight children —

1. William Dale Trotter, Colonel of the Durham Militia, died 1875.

2. Henry John Trotter, of Byers Green Hall, Co. Durham, and the

Temple, London, M.P. for Colchester.

3. Margaret Jane Trotter, married the Rev. J. E. W. Loft.

4. Harriet Susannah Trotter marriedRev. W. T. Tyrrwhitt Drake.

5. Caroline Elizabeth Trotter married Rev. A. Williamson.

6. Emily Katharine Trotter unmarried.

7. Charles Vaughan Trotter, captain in the army.

8. Catherine Francis Trotter married W. J. Walter, Esq.

"Died at his house in Durham, on the i8th instant [January, 1826],
highly respected, aged seventy-three, Andrew Philip Skene, B.A., of New
York, Esquire of Hallyards, in Fife, and Kilmacoe, Wicklow, Ireland,
only son of the late Colonel Philip Wharton Skene of Skenesborough,
United States, and of Hackleton, Northamptonshire, governor of Crown
Point and Ticonderoga, North America. This gentleman was a descen-
dant of the famous Sir William Wallace, and traces his descent from the
year 1014, from the first Skene of Skene, according to tradition, a
younger son of the (Donalds) Lords of the Isles. He also held a military
commission in the British service above sixty years. His remains were
interred in the cathedral on the 2ist instant, and were borne to his vault,
according to his request, by eight old soldiers. A few weeks before his
death he requested the following epitaph to be placed on his tomb : —
' Terrae filius in terram hie reposuit ' " — (Newspaper notice).

IX. — ANDREW PHILIP SKENE,
his grandson, is now the male representative of the family of Skene.

SKENE OF PITLOUR.

I. — DAVID SKENE OF PITLOUR,

son of John Skene III., of Halyards, by his second wife, Helen Pit-
cairn, succeeded to the estate of Pitlour, in terms of his father's settlement.
He married, on 25th July, 1718, Jean Douglas of Strathhenry, by
whom he had three sons and three daughters —
I. Robert Skene, who succeeded him.
II. Philip Skene, who succeeded his brother.

III. David Skene, a captain in the 28th Regiment ; he died nth May,

1788, leaving by his wife, Elizabeth Morrison, one son —
i. David Skene, who succeeded his uncle, Philip.

IV. Helen Skene married, in 1746, to Colonel George Moncrieff of

Reddie, by whom she had —

1. Patrick Moncrieff, who succeeded his father, and had by his wife,

Emily Raitt, a son —

I. Patrick George Moncrieff, who eventually succeeded to the
estate.

2. George Moncrieff, youngest son.

3. Jane Moncrieff.

4. Ann Moncrieff married Dr. John Govan, physician in Cupar.

5. Margaret Moncrieff.

6. Catharine Moncrieff married John Hay Balfour, Esq. of Leys and

Randerston.

7. Helen Moncrieff married James Cheape of Strath tyrum.

8. Christian Moncrieff.

9. Douglas Moncrieff.
V. Jane Skene.

VI. Catharine Skene.

62 SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE.

David Skene of Pitlour granted a disposition, dated at Pitlour, 2pth
January, 1747, in favour of himself, in liferent, and to Robert Skene, lieu-
tenant in the Honourable Major-General Charles Howard's Regiment of
Foot, his eldest lawful son, his heirs and assignees whomsoever, heritably
and irredeemably, in fee, of all and whole the lands of Easter Pitlour,
with the fortalice and manor place of Pitlour (now and in all time here-
after to be called Halyards}, Wester Pitlour, and Auchmorie, lying in
the barony of Strathmiglo and Sheriffdom of Fife ; Steedmuirlands, in
the Lordship of Balmerino and Sheriffdom aforesaid ; Friermilln, lying
in the barony of Pitgarno ; West Mill of Strathmiglo, and others: but
always with and under the burden of a liferent annuity of 1000 merks
Scots, provided by the said David Skene to Jean Douglas, his spouse,
conform to contract of marriage, dated 25th July, 1718, and that notwith-
standing Helen Pitcairn, his mother, be alive, and with and under any
burdens made, or to be made, for behoof of his younger children.

This disposition was followed by a royal charter of Resignation, dated
at Edinburgh, 29th February, 1747, on which infeftment was taken on
1 7th March, 1747.

David Skene appears to have died soon after, and was succeeded by
his eldest son.

II. — ROBERT SKENE OF PITLOUR (VI. OF HALYARDS).

As on 22nd April, 1748, there is a factory by Robert Skene of
Halyards, lieutenant in the Honourable Major-General Charles Howard's
Regiment of Foot, in favour of Mrs. Jean Douglas, relict of David Skene
of Pitlour, his mother.

On 2 ist December, 1752, Robert Skene of Pitlour, then a lieutenant-
general, made a settlement of his estates in favour of himself and the heirs
of his body ; whom failing, to General Philip Skene and his heirs male.
He died without issue, and was succeeded by his brother.

III.— PHILIP SKENE OF PITLOUR (VII. OF HALYARDS), 17 -1788,

who, on 1 4th August, 1752, was infeft, on a charter of resignation, under
the great seal, in favour of Captain Philip Skene, of the regiment of foot
commanded by General Philip Anstruther, of Airdrie, in the town and
lands of Wester Pitlour, in the barony of Strathmiglo, at Edinburgh,
27th July, 1752.

He served heir to his brother in 1757.

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN FIFE. 63

On loth August, 1787, he executed a deed of entail of the estate of
Pitlour, in favour of himself and the heirs of his body ; whom failing, to
Captain David Skene, of the 28th Regiment of Foot, then Inspector of
Military Roads in Scotland, his brother-german ; whom failing, to David
Skene, the said Captain David Skene's son procreat of the marriage
betwixt him and Mrs. Elizabeth Morrison ; whom failing, to the other
heirs of the body of the said Captain David Skene ; whom failing,
to Mrs. Helen Skene, otherwise Moncrieff, relict of Colonel George
Moncrieff of Reidie ; whom failing, to Patrick Moncreiff, then of Reidie,
eldest son of the said Mrs. Helen Moncrieff and the heirs of his body;
whom failing, to Captain George Moncrieff, youngest son of the said
Mrs. Helen Moncrieff and the heirs of his body; whom failing, to their
seven sisters in order, and their heirs ; whom failing, to his own two
younger sisters.

General Philip Skene died on 22nd June, 1788, and was succeeded by
his nephew.

IV. — DAVID SKENE OF PITLOUR (VIII. OF HALYARDS), 1788-1803,

son of Captain David Skene, who was served heir to his uncle upon the
2nd October, 1788, and obtained a crown charter of the lands of Pitlour,
&c., on 3rd February, 1789.

He died unmarried, in Paris, in 1803, upon which event Mrs. Moncrieff
made up her titles to the estate, and died in 1826, aged 96 years. She
was succeeded by her grandson, Patrick George Moncrieff, who changed
his name to

V.— PATRICK GEORGE SKENE OF PITLOUR (IX. OF HALYARDS),

and was twice married, 1st, to Emily, second daughter of James Rait of
Anniston, by whom he had —

I. Moncrieff Patrick George Skene, who died unmarried in October,

1868.

He married, secondly, Jessie, daughter of Dugald John Campbell of
Skerrington, by whom he had —

VI.— WILLIAM BAILLIE SKENE OF PITLOUR (X. OF HALYARDS),

married, in 1874, Sarina Charlotte Liddell, daughter of the Very Reverend
the Dean of Christchurch, Oxford, and has issue.

SKENE OF PRERAU, IN AUSTRIA.

I. — PATRICK SKENE,

second son of Andrew Skene of Auchorie, " married Jean Forbes, daughter
of Robert Forbes, sometime of Drumlassie, on whom he begot —

I. Mr. Andrew Skene, parson of Turriff, who married Jean Coutts,

daughter to the laird of Auchtertoull.
II. John Skene, yet unmarried" (MS.A.).

John Skene appears to have been settled, first, at Bridgend
of Puttachy, in the parish of Keig, and afterwards at Mill of
Turriff, and to have married, and had two sons —

1. Mr. Andrew Skene.

2. James Skene in Turriff

nth January, 1666 — John Skene of Bridgend of Puttachy, cautioner

for Mr. Andrew Skene, parson of Turriff, at Turriff, 3rd June,

1666.
1666 — Andrew Skene, rector, in Turriff, to William Lumsden of

Leach, of tenement in Aberdeen. John Skene, witness.
1667 — Disposition Rice Joans, in Turriff, of a tenement in favour

of John Skene in Turriff. Andrew Skene, parson of Turriff,

witness.
1672 — John Skene at the Mill of Turriff, in favour of William Coutts

in Caminter.

1688 — Mr. Andrew Skene, lawful son to John Skene, in Turriff.
1704 — Andrew Skene, eldest son to John Skene, in Turriff.
III. "Jean Skene married one John Skene" (MS.A). She seems to

have married Richard Jones, in Turriff.
1688 — Alexander Leask, rector, in Turriff. Joanna Skene, relict of

Richard Jones, in Turriff.

SKENE OF PRERAU. 65

Patrick Skene is mentioned, in 1633, as Patrick Skene in Auchorie,
and probably died not long after.

II. — MR. ANDREW SKENE,

parson of Turriff, was, in 1665, infeft in the lands of Craigytocher, Over
and Nether Bridgend, and with right to feal and divot from the lands of
Fintry and Doorlathers, and any others belonging to late Patrick Forbes
of Gask. He died in the year 1678.

A monument was erected to his memory, consisting of a mural tablet,
still in a good state of preservation, built into the inside wall, on the north
side of the old parish church of Turriff, with the following inscription : —

M. S.
MR ANDREAS SKEIN VIR CANDORE EXIMIVS

VERBO ET OPERE PR^IPOTENS

CATHEDRAE TVRRIFENSIS DECVS EXVVIAS

MORTALITATIS PRATER QUAS NIHIL MORTALE

HABVIT POSVIT IN SPE

ANNO 1678 APRILIS.

He appears to have had a son,

III. — MR. ROBERT SKENE,

who had, by his wife, Barbara Douglas, as appears from parish register —

I. John Skene, born 28th December, 1671.

II. Anna Skene, born 9th August, 1673.
III. William Skene, born I4th June, 1676.

IV. — JOHN SKENE

occupied successively the farm of Doorlathers, Bogues of Lathers, Bogues
of Raclach, all adjacent to each other, and in the parish of Turriff. He
had, as appears from the parish records, the following children : —
I. John Skene, born in Doorlathers, 29th December, 1707.

II. James Skene, born in Doorlathers, ist July, 1711. (Cf7crn*fcJ/i<'«/

III. Andrew Skene, born in Doorlathers, nth April, 1713.

IV. George Skene, born in Bogues of Lathers, 24th April, 1715. .
V. Agnes Skene, born in Bogues of Raclach, I3th June, 1717. ! jy u.

VI. Isabella Skene, born in Raclach, 24th May, 1719.

K

v

66 SKENE OF PRERAU.

VII. Alexander Skene, born in Bogues of Raclach, igth March, 1721.
VIII. Peter Skene, born in Bogues of Lathers, 3ist May, 1723.

John Skene appears, after the birth of Peter, to have removed to
Midmar.

V. — PETER SKENE,

the youngest son, left Midmar to seek his fortune in Holland, where a
number of Scotchmen had settled as merchants, and became a burgess of
the town of Venloo.

He married on 3ist May, 1751, Sarah Catharine Landmeter, and is
described in the marriage register as " Peter Skene from Midmar, in the
province of Aberdeen."

He had by her four children —

I. Henry Skene, born in 1752, died at Venloo without issue.
II. Alexander Skene, born in 1755.

III. William Skene, born zoth November, 1757 ; lieutenant in the

Navy, married Henrica Adela Guichenon de Chastillon, and had
by her —

1. Peter Skene, born 22nd June, 1788 ; married Helena Maria

Daemen, and had an only son, Peter Ludwig William Max,
born 24th June, 1843, officer in the Dutch Army, died
December, 1885.

2. Max Skene, born 2Oth March, 1791.

IV. Johanna Skene, born 1761 ; married Francis William Guichenon

de Chastillon.

By two resolutions of the General Estates of the Netherlands, on I4th
January and 8th April, 1755, Peter Skene was appointed a civil officer
of the High Court of Justice, at Venloo. This office he retained till his
death. He married, 2ndly, on nth November, 1786, Elizabeth Passage,
from Nymmegen. He died on the 24th December, 1787.

VI. — ALEXANDER SKENE

was made a Doctor of Laws of the University of Duisbourg, 29th July,
1778, and Secretary of the Dutch Embassy at Cologne. There he married,
1st March, 1790, Johanna Jacoba Theodora Hoffman, daughter of
Geheimerath Hoffman of Prussia, by whom he had an only son, Philip
William, and two daughters, Louisa Jacoba and Johanna Carolina.

SKENE OF PKERAU. 67

VII. — PHILIP WILLIAM SKENE,

born at Cologne, I3th June, 1790, served in the army of the Netherlands ;
married at Verviers, Belgium, Jeanne Catherine Hauseur, I3th April,
1812. He left Verviers, after the revolution, in 1830, and went to Brunn,
the capital of Moravia, in Austria, where he settled with his family, and
founded there a cloth manufactory. He had five sons —

I. William Skene died without issue, in America.
II. Alfred Skene, born at Verviers, I5th May, 1815.

III. Charles Skene died in 1855, leaving issue —

1. Charles Skene married, and has issue.

2. Jenny, married to Baron Kurt Gablenz.

3. Mary married her cousin, Alfred Skene.

IV. Adolf Skene fell in the battle of St. Lucia in Italy, 1849.

V. August, born in 1829, knighted 1880, married Auguste von Schoeller,
Vice-President of the " Banque des pays de 1'Autriche," has issue
four sons and two daughters.

VIII. — ALFRED SKENE

was an officer in the Austrian Imperial Dragoons; married, 1846, Francisca
de Rosenbaum, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel de Rosenbaum. He
left the army, in 1847, to assist his father in the great business he had
established in Briinn : was 1864-1866 Provost of the City of Brunn,
and 1861-1885 member of the Austrian Reichsrath. He was proprietor
of the estate and cloth manufactory of Alexavitz and the sugar refinery
at Prerau, Moravia. He was a man of great energy and consummate
ability. He attained a position of commanding influence in all matters
connected with trade and manufactures, was recognised in the Austrian
Parliament as the great authority in such matters, exercised much
influence over the administration of the finances of the empire, and left
a large fortune, entirely gained by honourable enterprise. The editor had
the privilege of knowing him well at this time, and this account of him
is consistent with his personal knowledge. He married, a second time,
Louisa von Blumendorf, died I4th May, 1887, in his 72nd year, and left
two sons and one daughter —
I. Alfred Skene.

II. Louis Skene married, in 1880, Janka, Countess Firmian.
III. Gabrielle Skene married, 1872, Baron de Widman, Imperial
Governor of Tyrol, Austria.

SKENE OF PREKAU.

IX. — ALFRED SKENE

married, in 1873, his cousin, Mary Skene, and is present proprietor of
Pawlowitz-Prerau, and member of the Landtag of Austria. He is now
the representative of this branch of the family.

Arms of Mr. Andrew Skene and Jean Coutta his Spouse, from a Stone in
Turriff Churchyard.

CHAPTER III.

SKENE OF DUMBRECK.

I. — GILBERT SKENE IN TILLIBIRLOCH,

second son of Alexander Skene XI. of Skene, commonly called "the
little laird," married Barbara Forbes, daughter of Robert Forbes of
Echt, by whom he had three sons and three daughters —
I. Alexander Skene in Dumbreck.

II. John Skene, died unmarried, in 1627, when Alexander Skene, in
Dumbreck, is executor to umquhile John Skene, merchant
burgess of Aberdeen.

III. Robert Skene, ancestor of the family of Newtyle.

IV. Margaret Skene married John Burnett
V. Elspeth Skene married Andrew Gray.

VI. Agnes Skene married Thomas Spens.

John Forbes of Echt, the only son of Robert Forbes of Echt, and
brother of Barbara, died without issue, in 1609, when the unentailed
portion of the estate fell to Alexander Skene, consisting of Culquhorsie
and Dumbreck, and the entailed portion to Robert Forbes of Finnersie,
the heir male.

On 2nd January, 1610, there is an inhibition at the instance of John
Forbes of Finnersie, against Alexander Skene, on contract made at
Edinburgh on the ipth December, 1609, between the said Robert Forbes
as only nearest and lawful heir of tailzie, to umquhile John Forbes of
Echt, on the one part ; and Alexander Skene, eldest lawful son of umquhile
Gilbert Skene of Tillibirloche, procreated between him and umquhile
Barbara Forbes, his spouse, who was only lawful sister to the said
umquhile John Forbes of Echt, and so the said Alexander, as only nearest

70 SKENE OF DUMBRECK.

apparent heir of line to the said umquhile John Forbes of Echt, on the
other part ; by which contract the said Alexander, as apparent heir of line
foresaid, for certain causes therein specified, became bound to have him-
self duly retoured as nearest heir of line foresaid, and by special provision
has declared that he has no right nor title to the lands and barony of
Echt, except the lands of Culquhorsie and Dumbreck, and pertinents
thereof: and a corresponding inhibition by Alexander Skene against
Robert Forbes.

On 2/th July, 1610, there is an advocation to the Court of Session of
an action pursued before the Commissary of Aberdeen, at the instance of
Alexander Irving, advocate, and others, cautioners and sureties for Robert
Forbes of Echt, against John and Robert Skene, Margaret Skene and
John Burnet her spouse, Elspeth Skene and Andrew Gray, her spouse,
and Agnes Skene and Thomas Spens, her spouse, decerning them to free
and relieve the said parties of their cautionary obligation, &c.

Alexander Skene, the eldest son, was thus the heir of line to his
uncle in heritage ; his younger brothers and sisters representing him
in the moveable estate.

On 24th October, 1610, there is an obligation to Robert Skene, son
to umquhile Gilbert Skene, of Tilliebirloch, at Aberdeen, November 1688,
before which date both Gilbert Skene and his wife were dead.

II. — ALEXANDER SKENE OF DUMBRECK.

Prior to his father's death, Alexander Skene had married Elizabeth
Mercer, relict of John Deanes, and in his right possessed the Mylne of
Hall Forest, also called the Mylne of Durno. In 1605 there is a Remov-
ing, by Elizabeth Merser, relict of John Deane and Alexander Skene,
at Mylne of Hall of Forest, and her spouse ; and again, on I4th June,
1606, Removing Elspet Mercer, relict of umquhile John Deanes, and
now spouse of Alexander Skene, at Mylne of Durno.

On 27th February, 1611, there is a special retour — Alexander Skene
films legitimus primogenitus quondam Barbare Forbes sororis unice
germane quondam Johannis Forbes de Echt haeres dicti Johannis Forbes
de Echt avunculi in terris de Culquhorsie cum outsett vocato Dumbreck
de Kirkton de Echt, terris de Hillside in Baronia de Clune.

And on i6th December, 1633, Alexander Skene, in Dumbreck, and
his spouse, are infeft in the town and lands of Dumbreck.

SKENE OF DUMBRECK. 71

He married ist, Elizabeth Mercer, by whom he had one son —
I. Alexander Skene in Cairnday.

He married 2nd, " Agnes Keith, daughter of Mr. Gilbert Keith of
Affrosk, on whom he begat —

II. Robert Skene of Dumbreck, who married Marjorie Mollyson,
daughter of Thomas Mollyson, town-clerk of Aberdeen, by whom
he had three daughters —

1. Isobell Skene married William Tosh.

2. Janet Skene married William Jobson.

3. Margaret Skene married John Smyth.

III. Mr. Gilbert Skene, Minister at Cariston" (MS.A).

1 6th April, 1656 — Obligation Robert Skene in Dumbreck,
sone lawful to umquhile Alexander Skene of Dumbreck and
Alexander Skene in Cairnday, his brother. Witness, Gilbert
Skene, student in the Old College of Aberdeen.

I4th December, 1653 — Obligation Gilbert Skene of Dyce, to
Mr. Gilbert Skene, sone lawful to umquhile Alexander Skene of
Dumbreck,
" and six daughters —
IV. Janet Skene married Alexander Burnett of Sluie" (MS.A).

1637 — Contract of marriage between Mr. Andrew Burnett of

Sluie, son of the minister of Strachan, and Janet Skene, daughter

of umquhile Alexander Skene of Dumbreck, with consent of

Anna Keith, her mother.

V. " Isobel Skene, married to John Keith, Chamberlain to the

Countess Marischall.

VI. Elspett Skene married to Andrew Forbes, portioner of Kinellar.
VII. Jean Skene married William Bruce, Notary Public.
VIII. Helen Skene married to Alexander Fraser of Corskil.
IX. Katharine Skene married to one William Forbes " (MS.A).

III. — MR. ALEXANDER SKENE.

<fThe lands of Dumbreck and Culquhorsey, in the parish of Echt,
continued in the family for several generations, until carried off by the
Forbeses of Echt, by a comprising" (MS.D). It is in connection with
this, probably, that we find, in 1638, a decreet of Mr. Alexander Skene,
eldest son to deceased Alexander Skene of Dumbreck, against Arthur

72 SKENE OF DUMBRECK.

f

Forbes, now of Echt, son and heir of deceased Robert Forbes of
Echt, to implement a contract; and on 2ist May, 1656, he appears as
Mr. Alexander Skene in Cairnday ; and again, on I2th April, 1676, there
is a bond by Mr. Alexander Skene, eldest son to the deceased Alex-
ander Skene of Dumbreck, now in Cocairdie.

" He was married to Jean Leslie, daughter of Patrick Leslie of
Kincraigie, and was father to George Skene that was late minister of
Kinkell, near Aberdeen " (MS.D).

IV. — GEORGE SKENE, MINISTER OF KINKELL.

He was twice married, 1st to Mary Gordon, daughter of Francis
Gordon of Craig, by whom he had —
I. Francis Skene.

He married, secondly, Margaret Skene, daughter of Mr. Robert
Skene, Rector of the Grammar School of Aberdeen, by whom he had —
II. Agnes Skene, married to Mr. John Burnett, minister at Cluny.

III. Mary Skene.

IV. Katharine Skene.
V. Helen Skene.

VI. John Skene, Librarian of Marischal College and University,

1736-1750.

There is a monument in the old church of Kinkell, bearing the
following inscription : —

JACET HIC SEPVLTA DNA:
MARIA GORDON MRI: GEO:

SKENE PASTORIS VXOR
QU;£ OBIIT AUG. I 1712 ^TATIS 32

Mr. George Skene, himself, died in April, 1724; and, on I2th August,
1724, the inventory of the goods, &c., of the deceased Mr. George Skene,
minister at Kinkell, was given up by Margaret Skene, his relict, and
confirmed to Francis, John, Mary, Katharine, and Helen Skene, his
children, and Mr. John Burnett, minister at Cluny, husband to Agnes.

V.— MR. FRANCIS SKENE

was admitted, i6th March, 1734, one of the regents in Marischal College;
and on the classes being fixed in 1753, became Professor of Civil and
Natural History. He taught altogether for 41 years.

SKENE OF DUMBRECK. 73

In 1724 he served heir to George Skene, his father, minister of
Kinkell.

He married, i$th May, 1740, Mary Reid of Mounie, by whom he had:
I. George Skene, born I4th April, 1741.
II. William Skene, born ipth November, 1743 ; died I3th Nov., 1769.

III. John Skene, born 2nd August, 1744.

IV. James Skene, born 25th August, 1746; took degree of M.D. in

1766, and settled in Charlestown, Carolina.

Mr. Francis Skene died on I3th February, 1775, aged 71; and his wife
on 3ist March, 1781, aged 60.

VI. — DR. GEORGE SKENE,

M.D., 1755, was a Physician in Aberdeen, and on 8th October, 1760, at
the age of nineteen, was elected Professor of Natural Philosophy in
Marischal College. On his father's death he was transferred to the Chair
of Civil and Natural History, which he held until compelled by his
increasing medical practice to resign in 1788. "He was a genuine
scholar, of good ability, great shrewdness and sense, and witty"
(Knight's Mar. Coll. Collections).

He married, on 26th October, 1769, Margaret, daughter of Charles
Gordon of Abergeldie, and had by her the following children : —

I. John Skene, born 23rd August, 1770, died young.
II. Francis Skene, born 22nd November, 1771, died young.

III. Emilia Skene, born 3Oth May, 1773 ; married, 4th October, 1794,

Captain Edmund Filmer, by whom she had Sir Edm. Filmer, Bart.

IV. Mary Skene, born 2Oth January, 1775, died 2nd September, 1795.

V. Charles Skene, born 2ist July, 1777, who carried on the line of
. this family.

VI. Mary Anne Skene, born 25th February, 1779, died I3th April, 1863.
VII. Elizabeth Skene, born 9th October, 1780, died 27th February, 1839.
VIII. Margaret Skene, born 23rd August, 1782, married Arthur Ander-
son of Deebank, and died 25th April, 1821.

IX. Andrew Skene, born 26th February, 1784, M.A., of Marischal
College in 1802, passed advocate, distinguished himself at the
bar, and became Solicitor-General for Scotland. He died at
Edinburgh, 2nd April, 1835.

74 SKENE OF DUMBRECK.

X. William Skene, born 26th February, 1784, was a Colonel in the East
India Company's Service ; married Miss Campbell of Lochnell,
and died without issue in 1854.

XI. Alison Skene, born 9th November, 1786, died in England in 1839.
Dr. George Skene died, after a short and acute illness, on 2 5th March,
1803, aged 61; and his wife on i6th January, 1802, aged 51.

VII. — DR. CHARLES SKENE,

M.A., 1795, M.D. (Edinb.), 1799, was a distinguished Physician in Aber-
deen, and also 1823-1839, Professor of Medicine in Marischal College.
He married, on i8th June, 1808, Margaret Ann Anderson, daughter of
Anderson, Esquire of Linkwood, Elgin, by whom he had the
following children : —

I. Mary Skene, born 25th May, 1809, died 22nd May, 1882.
II. George Skene, born 8th May, 181 1, was an Ensign in the East India
Company's Service ; died at Bechampore, India, 4th June, 1831.

III. Charles Skene, born 9th October, 1812, M.A. of Marischal College

in 1830, captain in 79th Regiment Cameron Highlanders, and
afterwards Superintendent of Indians, Canada.

IV. Andrew Skene, born 22nd April, 1814, assistant-surgeon in the

52nd Regiment ; died at Brecon, in Wales, 23rd January, 1846.
V. Margaret Skene, born 23rd June, 1815, died 9th November, 1818.
VI. Alexander Skene, born loth February, 1816, was captain in the
East India Company's Service, married, in India, Beatrice
Marjory Herschel Cumberlege, daughter of Colonel Cumberlege
of the Madras Cavalry ; both were killed in the Indian Mutiny,
on 8th June, 1857, with their two children —

1. Mary Isabella Frances Skene, born 29th July, 1854.

2. Beatrice Harriet Annie Skene, born nth December, 1855.

VII. Harriet Skene, born 26th August, 1818, died i6th October, 1866.

VIII. William Skene, born I4th November, 1819, died on 3Oth of

same month.

Dr. Charles Skene died on nth June, 1844, aged 66 ; and his wife on
1 9th November, 1819, aged 31.

VIII. — CAPTAIN CHARLES SKENE
now represents this family.

SKENE OF NEWTYLE.

I.— ROBERT SKENE,

third son of Gilbert Skene of Tilliebirloch, by his wife Elspett Forbes,
appears first at Milne of Commeris, one of the Tanistry lands adjoining
Tilliebirloch, and afterwards at Slydie of Erdifork, in the neighbouring
parish of Midmar. In 1589 he married Janet Forbes, and had two
sons —

I. Robert Skene.

29th June, 1589 — Robert Skene and Jonat Forbes mariet.
In 24th October, 1610, there is an obligation to Robert
Skene, son to umquhile Gilbert Skene of Tilliebirloch, at
Aberdeen, November, 1608.

On 1 5th November, 1615, there is an obligation by George
Williamson, burgess of Aberdeen, to Robert Skene at the Mylne
of Commeris, in name and behalf of Robert Skene, his eldest son.
II. Alexander Skene, at Mylne of Commeris.

On 1 6th June, 1616, there is an obligation to Alexander
Skene, son to Robert Skene, at the Mylne of Commeris, for
money lent at Kirkton of Echt.

Before 1620 Robert Skene had left Commeris, as on i6th June in that
year, Alexander Skene, son of Robert Skene, " olim in Comeris," is
procurator for Alexander Skene of Skene. He died in 1625.

II. — ROBERT SKENE.

On 2 ist September, 1615, Sir James Skene of Curriehill, Alexander
Skene of that ilk, and Mr. Andrew Skene, senior, their cousin, of Chapel-
ton, were admitted burgesses of Aberdeen, " gratis gratia concilii ; " and,
at the request of Sir James Skene of Curriehill, "Robert Skeyne,

76 SKENE OF NEWTYLE.

paynter and glasinwricht," was admitted freeman, and " Robertus Skeyne
films ..." was admitted burgess of Aberdeen " gratis absque solutione
ullius compositionis et hoc gratia ex rogatu honorabilis viri Domini
Jacobi Skeyne de Curriehill." This last was the above Robert, as he is
called younger, burgess of Aberdeen. Thus, on 2$th March, 1630, there
is a decreet Robert Skene, younger, burgess of Aberdeen, eldest son to
the deceased Robert Skene in Slydie, of Erdifork, against W. Gordon of
Abergeldie, on a bond to the deceased Robert Skene, dated 29th May,
1618, and again in a similar decreet, on ipth July, 1634, and again on
22nd July, 1642.

He married, in 1618, Marjorie Forbes ; and, on 1st April, 1629, there
is a sasine in favour of Robert Skene, merchant burgess, and Marjoria
Forbes, of a house " in vico lemurum ex occidentali parte."

He seems to have been a prosperous man, as on i/th September,
1628, he mortifies 100 merks for decayed gild brethren, and, in 1631,
threescore six pounds thirteen shillings iiijd. for the maintenance of one
of the ministers of the burgh, to serve the cure at the Kirk of Futtie ;
and by his last will he left 1000 merks to the Box of the Gild Brethren
of Aberdeen.

In 1633 he was treasurer of the burgh. He had by his wife, Marjorie
Forbes, the following children : —

I. Christian Skene, born 2Oth September, 1619.
II. Alexander Skene, born 2/th October, 1621.

III. William Skene, born 8th May, 1624.

IV. Marjory Skene, born 8th September, 1628.
V. James Skene, born I4th February, 1631.

He died in 1643, an<3 a flat monument, in St. Nicholas Churchyard,
bears the following inscription : —

HEIR LYES VNDER THE HOIP
OF A BUSSED RESVRECTION ROBERT SKENE HER

CHAND BVRGES OF ABD
WHO DEPAIRTED THIS LYFE THE 14 OF NO 1643

ALSO MARIORIE FORBES HIS SP
OVS WHO DEPAIRTED THE IO OF

SEPT 1650

AS ALSO IAMES SKENE WHO DEPARTED

THE 8 DAY OF AUGUST 1694 AND OF

AGE 63 YEARS

SKENE OF NEWTYLE. 77

with a shield, bearing the arms of Skene of Skene, differenced, and impaled
with those of Forbes of Tolquhon, and the letters R. S. ; M. F.

III. — MR. ALEXANDER SKENE OF NEWTYLE.

On 1 5th January, 1625, Alexander Skene, eldest son of Robert
Skene, burgess of Aberdeen, is admitted burgess "jure paternitatis et
dispens. cum jure jurando quia pupillus est et infra aetatem " ; and, on
2Oth June, 1648, he served heir to his father, Robert Skene, and is infeft
in the tenement " in vico lemurum."

On 26th August, 1646, he was married at Kirkaldie to Lilias Gillespie,
daughter of Mr. John Gillespie, minister of Kirkaldie who died soon after.

In 1656 we find him one of the magistrates of Aberdeen ; and in
1657 he acquired, from Sir Alexander Forbes of Foveran, the lands of
Newtyle, in the Parish of Foveran.

In 1669 " Alexander Skene, a magistrate in Aberdeen, his wife Lilian
became a quaker, also Alexander Skene himself. He narrates of him-
self that having once before his conversion to quakerism bitterly reviled
the quakers, he became seized with the complaint called Cynicus
Spasmus, by which his mouth continually turned about, which lasted
sometime" (MS.E). In 1677 he published a pamphlet with the title
" The Way Cast up," and on the 5th of the fifth month, 1679, he wrote
an address to the Presbyterians, entitled " A Plain and Peaceable Advice
to those called Presbyterians in Scotland," by Alexr. Skene (London, 1681).

His other literary works, including MS.A., are noticed in the
Introduction.

The arms of "Mr. Alexander Skene of Newtyle" are thus recorded
in the Lyon Register : " Parted per chief azur and gules three skenes
argent hefted and pomelled or, surmounted of as many woolf-heads
couped of the third." Crest : " A dexter hand holding a corona triumph-
alis." Motto : " Sors mihi grata cadet."

By his wife, Lilias Gillespie, who died in. 1697, he had the following
children : —

I. Robert Skene, born 29th October, 1647 ; died young.

II. John Skene.
III. Lilias Skene, baptised 3ist August, 1651.

78 SKENE OF NEWTYLE.

IV. Alexander Skene, baptised 6th September, 1653 ; died young.
V. Cristen Skene, baptised ist October, 1654; married, in 1673,

Andrew Jaffray of Kingswells.

VI. Rachel Skene, baptised nth December, 1656; died in 1661.
VII. Patrick Skene, baptised 27th June, 1659.
VIII. Anna Skene, baptised 1st June, 1661.
IX. Jean Skene, baptised i8th March, 1662.
X. Elizabeth Skene, baptised 3Oth May, 1669. X

*^- In 1680 he sold the estate of Newtyle, reserving certain liferents, and
in 1 68 1 there is a Ratification to William Gordon, under the reservations
conceived in favour of Mr. Alexander Skene, late of Newtyle, and Lilias
Gillespie, his spouse, and after their decease to Alexander^ Udnie of that
ilk and his heirs, of the town and lands of Newtyle ; also of a croft, lately
occupied by John Skene, son to the said Mr. Alexander Skene ; all
conform to the rights and dispositions made to the said Alexander
Forbes and Alexander Skene, by the deceased Sir John Turing of
Foveran, reserving to Alexander Skene and his wife, liferent of part of
the lands, and of the Manor House of Newtyle, conform to contract of
alienation, dated 1680, between the said Mr. Alexander Skene and LUias
Gillespie, and the said John Skene and Helen Fullerton, his spouse, on
the one part, and William Gordon and Agnes Blackburn, his wife, on
the other.

IV. — JOHN SKENE.

In 1659 John Skene, eldest lawful son to Mr. Alexander Skene,
Baillie, is admitted a'burgess of Aberdeen. " He was also a quaker, and
became governor of New Jersey, in America, and died in 1687. He
married Helen Fullerton, and a daughter of John Skene, son to Baillie
Skene, in Aberdeen, laird of Newtyle, was married, anno 1699 or 1700,
to Obadiah Haig, who died on his journey to Jersey " (MS.E).

V. — JAMES SKENE,

younger son of Robert Skene and Marjorie Forbes.

Like his brother, Alexander, he was admitted a burgess when under
age, as on i8th September, 1635, when only four years old, "Jacobus

SKENE OF NEWTYLE. 79

Skeyne, filius legitimus Roberti Skeyne mercatoris burgen. de Aberdeen
recept. et admiss. in liberum burgensem et fratrem gildae jure paternitatis
et dispens. cum jure jurando quia pupillus est et infra aetatem."

In the " Account of Learned Men and Writers in Aberdeen," after a
short notice of Baillie Alexander Skene, there is the following notice of
him — " His brother, James Skeen, was ane excellent Poet in the Scottish
language. He wrote the Decalogue, the Lord's Prayer, and the Creed,
in metre, printed by John Forbes, Aberdeen."

In the Diary of Alexander Jaffa-ay of Kingswells, he mentions that
there were two James Skenes, in Aberdeen, who were enemies of the
quakers, and who were known as White James and Black James.

This James Skene was White James.

In 1666 we find him occupying the position of Lyon Depute.

He married Jean Hay, and had by her the following children : —

I. Robert Skene, baptised 23rd March, 1654. On 2Oth Sept., 1659,
Robert Skene, eldest son of James Skene, burgess of Aberdeen,
admitted in nonage and minoritie. He died on I9th October,
1660.

II. James Skene, baptised 2nd September, 1656; died 23rd May,
1669.

III. Lilias Skene, baptised 27th Sept., 1657 ; died 3rd November,

1660.

IV. John Skene, baptised 3ist Oct., 1658. One of a series of silver

archery medals preserved in the Grammar School, Aberdeen,
bears on the obverse the arms (with a crescent for difference)
crest, and motto of Skene of Newtyle ; and on the reverse the
inscription " loannes Skeene octavo vicit, 1674. Virtvs vera svis
marte vel arte favet" Another shows the arms of Skene of
Skene with a fourth skene fessways in base and a crescent for
difference ; the reverse being inscribed " Andreas Skeene quarto
vicit 1667." This Andrew may have been one of the Ruthrieston
Skenes.
V. Alexander Skene, baptised I2th February, 1660; died 2Oth

March, 1661.

VI. Jeane Skene, baptised loth April, 1661.
VII. William Skene, baptised 26th June, 1662.

80 SKENE OF NEWTYLE.

VIII. Robert Skene, baptised i6th Nov., 1663.
IX. Andrew Skene, baptised 2ist Feb., 1665.
X. George Skene, baptised 28th October, 1666.
XI. Anna Skene, baptised 28th June, 1668.
XII. Charles Skene, baptised i$th August, 1669.
XIII. Christian Skene, baptised 2Oth October, 1670.

His death is recorded on the tombstone — Also James, died 1694,
aged 63.

VI. — WILLIAM SKENE,

his eldest surviving son. On 27th Sept., 1686, there is a sasine on a dis-
position by James Skene, merchant, in Aberdeen, in favour of William
Skene, his eldest lawful son, of some woods, crofts, and parcels of burrow
land at Newburgh, Sheriffdom of Aberdeen. Disposition dated at
Newtyle, 6th August, 1686.

He was a writer in Edinburgh, and was made a macer of the Court
of Session on 5th August, 1685. He married, in 1688, Christian Burd,
.daughter of Captain Edward Burd of Foord, by whom he had two
sons : —

I. Edward Skene, who died in infancy in 1690.

II. Arthur Skene, who died in 1700.

On 29th December, 1730, Isobell Skene served heir in general to
William Skene, her brother, macer in the Court of Session, son " quond.
Jacobi Skene mercatoris in Aberden."

VII.— MR. ROBERT SKENE,

eighth child of James Skene, was minister of the Gospel. He had a son,
John, who was Kintyre pursuivant, and predeceased him in the month of
November, 1706. His will was confirmed on 22nd February, 1711, of
the deceased John Skene, Kintyre pursuivant, and eldest lawful son to
Mr. Robert Skene, minister of the Gospel, residing in Edinburgh, who is
cautioner for his executor.

i

t

SKENE OF NEWTYLE.

8l

"On 23rd June, 1721, Mr. Robert Skene, minister of the Gospel,
died 22nd and buried 23rd, foot of Halyeard's ground ; and on 23rd Sept.,
in the same year, Anna Skene, daughter to umquhile Mr. Skeen, minister,
died 22nd and buried 23rd, east Halyeard's ground " (Edin. Session
Records).

Arms of Robert Skene and Marjory Forbes his Spouse, from a Stone in
St. Nicholas Churchyard, Aberdeen.

M

CHAPTER IV.

SKENE OF DYCE.

I. — MR. PATRICK SKENE,

fourth son to Alexander Skene XL of Skene, commonly called the " little
laird," by Elizabeth Forbes, his wife. Married on 3Oth May, 1591,
Elspett Mercer, daughter of Laurence Mercer, burgess of Aberdeen ;
and, on loth September, 1592, is admitted a burgess of Aberdeen.

On 22nd May, 1594, there is a sasine by which " Providus vir
Wilelmus Jak, burgen. de Aberdeen," grants " totam et integram terram
suam anteriorem australem superius de present! occupat. per magistrum
Patricium Skene burgen. dicti burgi, vizt, aulam Cubiculum ly forgalrie
cum solio et ly shop & jacen. in vico furcarum ad dandam sasinam
prefato Magistro Patricio Skene et Elizabethe Merser ejus sponse."
He had by Elspett Merser the following children : —
I. Alexander Skene, who succeeded him.

II. Laurence Skene. 2Oth September, 1619, Laurentius Skene filius
legitimus secundo genitus magistri Patricii Skene burgess of
Aberdeen, admitted jure paternitatis. In August, 1629, we find
Laurence Skene as servitor to Mr. Alexander Skene, writer,
who was brother to Sir John Skene of Curriehill, receiving a
gift of the Escheat, which pertenit of before to Thomas Smyth
in Bandache ; and again, on I3th June, 1630, as servitor to
Mr. Alexander Skene, writer, of the Escheat which pertenit
to Patrick Leyth of Lickliehead.

III. Gilbert Skene, who carried on the line of this family.

SKENE OF DYCE. 8 3

%

IV. John Skene. He became servitor to the Earl Marischal ; and,
on 29th September, 1629, Joannes Skene, servus comitis Mares-
calli, is admitted a burgess of Aberdeen.

He is said by Mr. Alexander Skene to have " married, but
had no children," but this is a mistake. He married Helen Durie,
daughter of a burgess of Dunfermline ; and, in 29th March, 1639,
there is a decreet, John Skene, brother-germ an to Gilbert Skene
of Dyce, and Helen Durie, his spouse, against G.eorge Durie,
burgess of Dunfermline.

He appears, in 1666, as musician burgess of Dunfermline,
and had a daughter, Anna Skene, married to Ninian Robertson,
Baillie of Kyngarne.

V. Bessie Skene " married ist, Thomas Forbes, called ' Dobrie,' a
Polis word signifying good, to whom she bare a son and two
daughters. Her son's name was Robert Forbes of Rubislaw,
present provost of Aberdeen " (MS.A). " After Thomas Forbes's
death, Bessie Skene, daughter to Mr. Patrick Skene, married
George Johnstone of Cairnie, Baillie of Aberdeen, to whom she
bare two sons and two daughters "(MS.A).

VI. Margaret Skene " married .Mr. Black, burgess of Aberdeen, and
thereafter to Alexander Burnett of Shedockslie " (MS.A). In
the Burgh Propinquity Book it is declared, on 5th July, 1658, that
" Margaret Skene, spouse of William Black, burgess of Aberdeen,
was second lawful daughter of Mr. Patrick Skene, burgess of
Aberdeen, who was fourth lawful son to Alexander Skene of
that ilk, procreat betwixt the said Mr. Patrick and Elspet Merser,
his spouse, who was lawful daughter to Laurence Mercer, burgess
of Aberdeen. Gilbert Skene of Dyce, witness."
VII. Isobell Skene " married Andrew Knows of Pittside" (MS.A).
VIII. Agnes Skene " married James Innesof Tilleburies" (MS.A.)

Mr. Patrick Skene died in 1635, and, on 3ist August, was "buried
in the auld kirk."

II.— MR. ALEXANDER SKENE.

On isth May, 1638, Mr. Alexander Skene served heir to Mr. Patrick
Skene, burgess of Aberdeen, his father, but lived only three years after,
as on 2nd September, 1641, " Mr. Alexander Skene was buried."

84 SKENE OF DYCE.

Laurence Skene, the second son, appears to have predeceased him,
and the line of the family was carried on by Gilbert, the third son.

III. — GILBERT SKENE OF DYCE

was a burgess of Aberdeen, and married, in 1628, Marjorie Buchan,
daughter of William Buchan of Auchmacoy, who succeeded to one half
of the lands of Dyce.

On 8th December, 1628, Gilbert Skene, burgess of Aberdeen, is
infeft in the just and equal half of the barony of Dyce, and also in the
Kirkton of Dyce, and on 6th January, 1629, in the half town and lands
of Pitmedden.

By Marjorie Buchan he had the following children : —

I. Alexander Skene, born ist April, 1630.
II. Gilbert Skene.

III. Mr. Patrick Skene, writer, in Edinburgh.

IV. Margaret Skene " married Mr. William Moir, Doctor of Physick "

(MS.A). She appears to have married secondly to Gordon of
Gordon's Mills, as in the Burgh Propinquity Book, on 24th July,
1695, "Proved by Alexander Skene of Dyce, &c., that Gilbert
Gordon of Gordonsmill's mother was Margaret Skene, lawful
daughter of the deceased Gilbert Skene of Dyce, procreat
betwixt him and Margary Buchan, daughter of William Buchan
of Auchmacoy."

He married secondly Barbara Forbes, daughter to William Forbes of
Cotton, by whom he had —

V. Mr. William Skene, Schoolmaster at Haddington, afterwards one
of the Masters of the High School of Edinburgh, who married
Helen Pitcairn, and died in November, 1717.

The Testament testamentar and Inventory of the Goods, &c.,
of the deceased Mr. William Skene, Master of the High School
of Edinburgh, who died in the month of November, 1717, was
given up by himself upon the tenth of September same year,
in so far as regards the nomination of his only Executor; and by
Mr. Wm. Forbes, advocate, professor of law in the University of
Glasgow, his cousin, whom he nominates his only Executor, in so
far as concerns the Inventory. In his Will, dated at Edinburgh

SKENE OF DYCE. 85

2oth Sept., 1717, he leaves a legacy to John Skene of Dyce, his
nephew.

Gilbert Skene of Dyce died in March, 1665, and was succeeded by
his son.

IV.— ALEXANDER SKENE OF DYCE— 1665-1704.

He married, in November, 1652, Ann Johnston, daughter of Dr.
William Johnston of Caskieben; and, on 24th April, 1655, there is a
sasine Alexander Skene, younger, of Dyce, and Ann Johnston, his
spouse, of the half of the lands of Beildeston.

He seems to have quarrelled with the Forbeses of Rubislaw, his
relations, as in 1665 William Forbes of Cothellmill becomes surety for
Alexander Skene of Dyce, Gilbert, and Mr. Patrick Skene, his brothers-
german, that Robert Forbes of Rubislaw, Thomas, his son, and others,
shall be harmless kept.

In 1672 Alexander Skene of Dyce, and Gilbert Skene, his brother,
sell the feu-right of the lands of Pitmedden.

The arms of " Alexander Skene of Dyce, lineallie and lawfullie
descended of the familie of Skene of that Ilk," are thus given in the
Lyon Register: "Gules three Skenes argent pomelled and surmounted
of alse many woolf s heads couped or, within a bordur ingrailled of the
second." Crest : " A Garb proper." Motto : " Assiduitate."

There has been preserved an old Bible, printed in 1559, which
belonged to the Dyce family, in which Ann Johnston, the wife of
Alexander Skene of Dyce, records the family history, continued by her
son, John. Her record is as follows : —

" loth April, 1630, my husband, Dyce, was born.

2nd March, 1636, I was born.

nth month, 1652, we were married.

In 1664 we had 7 houses burnt, with their furniture.

3rd month, 1665, my husband's father died.

nth month, 1673, my mother died.

1 2th month, 1654, Barbara Skene was born.

7th month, 1660, John Skene was born.

loth month, 1662, Alexander Skene was born.

nth month, 1663, Andrew Skene was born.

5th month, 1665, Margaret Skene was born.

86 SKENE OF DYCE.

6th month, 1668, Ann Skene was born.

9th month, 1669, William Skene was born.

nth month, 1670, Gilbert Skene was born.

5th month, 1674, Patrick Skene was born.

7th month, 1677, Robert Skene was born."

His eldest son, John, thus continues the record —

" 1 5th of nth month, 1688, my mother died.

Barbara Skene married to Forbes of Achortes in her 2ist year of
age.

Andrew was 15 years and one month old when he chose his own
employment.

William was 17 years and two months when he went to Edinburgh.
He died 1690.

Gilbert was seventeen years old when he went to Ireland.

4th of 1st month, 1704, my father died.

29th October, 1709, my sister, Barbara, died.

Robert was 15 years old when he went to his apprenticeship, 1693.

Andrew was married 1687.

Patrick Skene went to Dantzick last day of ist month, 1689."

On 2Oth October, 1741, the Testament Dative and Inventory of the
Goods, &c., of the deceased Robert Skene, late of Maryland, who died
abroad upon the day of , 1736, is given up by Patrick

Skene, sometime postmaster of Zamosky, kingdom of Poland, now
residing in Aberdeen, brother-german to the said deceased Robert
Skene, only Executor Dative decerned as nearest of kin to him by
Decreet of the Commissaries of Edinburgh, 27th July, 1701. Among
the debts given up is the balance of the fifth part, or share of the
executry of the deceased John Skene of Dyce, his brother-german.

Alexander Skene of Dyce, who died on 4th January, 1704, was
succeeded by his eldest son.

V. — JOHN SKENE OF DYCE — 1704-1729

served heir to his father on 28th July, 1704 ; and, on I2th January, 1705,
there is a charter of resignation Joannis Skene de Dyce ville et terrarum
de Kirkton de Dyce, &c.

He thus continues the record in the old Bible : —

SKENE OF DYCE.

"I went to Lisbon 1 5th July, 1680, entered prentice to Robert Farquhar,
merchant and burgess in that city, where I served him and his heirs ten
years, and aftenvards I served my cousin-german, Gilbert Moir. I was
married, 2Oth January, 1709, with Margaret Farquhar, daughter to my
former master, Robert Farquhar, and his spouse, Anna Marianna
Morison, relict of Alexander Summer, merchant, and collector of the
king's revenues in Wilker, with whom she had three children — two are
alive. Alexander, the youngest, and Anna Catherine, the eldest, and
Lord grant them grace that they may serve thee always. I lived in
Radinegria.

Anno 1710 my wife was delivered of a son, John ; Godfathers, Gilbert
Moir and John Farquhar; Godmothers, Anna Marianna Farquhar and
Elizabeth Morison.

2nd May, 1711, had a daughter, Anna; Godfathers, Arthur Forbes
and Wm. Caw; Godmothers, Eliza Achum, S. Middleton.

Another daughter, Margaret, born 1712.

My son, John, died 1714. Margaret died 9th October, 1719. Alex-
ander Sumriler, my stepson, of the king's footguards, died 1729."

John Skene himself died in the same year, and was succeeded by his
brother., heujinj -Ct{ no

VI. — ANDREW SKENE OF DYCE — 1729-1732.

He was a merchant in Edinburgh, and in 1689 married Marion
Russell, only daughter of John Russell, citizen of London, in which year
there is a charter, by the provost and baillies of Edinburgh, to her as heir
served and retoured to the late John Russell, her father, and to Andrew
Skene, her husband, of portion of the land of Nethrogall, in Monimail.
By her he had a son —

I. Alexander Skene (baptised I7th June, 1694; Mr. William Skene,

master of the High School, is a witness), and a daughter —
II. Mary Skene, second wife of Robert Gumming of Birness, by whom
she had two daughters —

1. Barbara married Dr. James Gordon of Straloch, or Birness,

ancestor of General John Gordon Cumming of Pitlurg, and

2. Another daughter married James Gordon of Banchory, ancestor

of James Gordon of Craig.

. (-Str fflfrn • s^tAJtT a i

88 SKENE OF DYCE.

He acquired various lands in the parishes of Old and New Machar,
Aberdeenshire.

On 26th July, 1712, there is charter of sale — Andree Skene merca-
toris Edinburgensis de terris de Clubsgovill.

On 24th May, 1714, there is a sasine of Andrew Skene of Parkhill,
in the lands of Clubsgovill Manor place thereof, Parkhill and fishings
thereof, in Old and New Machar.

On 1 2th February, 1729, there is a charter of resignation and sale —
Andree Skene de Lethinty et Alexandri Skene filius ejus unici legitimi
natu Ville de Lethintye — and in the same year he serves heir to John
Skene of Dyce, his brother, in the lands of Dyce, and is confirmed as
his Executor Dative.

He died on 27th December, 1732, and was succeeded by his only son.

VII. — ALEXANDER SKENE OF DYCE — 1732-1743.

On 28th February, 1733, Alexander Skene of Parkhill gave up an
inventory of the goods, &c., of the deceased Andrew Skene of Lethintie,
as his only son and sole Executor.

His last will was dated on 27th June, 1731, by which he left the estate
of Lethintie to Andrew Skene, second son to the said Alexander.

In 1741, there is a discharge by Margaret Forbes, spouse of Alexander
Skene, formerly of Parkhill, now of Dyce, of the sum, in a bond, to
Andrew Skene of Lethintie, his father.

By his wife, Margaret Forbes, he had two sons —

I. John Skene, who succeeded him.

II. Andrew Skene, who succeeded his brother.

VIII. — JOHN SKENE OF DYCE — 1743-1747

served heir in 1743 to Alexander Skene of Dyce, his father.

He had a natural daughter, Margaret Skene, who married William
Smith, and had three sons —

I. Andrew Smith, afterwards Skene of Lethintie.
II. John Smith, a captain in the navy.
III. Adam Smith, advocate, in Aberdeen, and two daughters.

SKENE OF DYCE. 89

IX.— ANDREW SKENE OF DYCE— 1747-1815.

In terms of his grandfather's will, he succeeded, after his father's
death, to the estate of Lethintie, and on I2th February, 1745, there is
a charter of resignation — Andreae Skene filii legitimi natu secundi
demortui Alexandri Skene de Dyce vill. et terr. de Lethintie.

On 2Oth February', 1747, the inventory of the goods, &c., of the
deceased John Skene of Dyce, is given up by Andrew Skene of Lethentie,
now of Dyce, his only brother, with concurrence of Margaret Forbes,
Lady Dyce, his mother.

He died in January, 1815, at the age of 82, and thus terminated the
family of Skene of Dyce in the male line.

Andrew Skene, the last laird of Dyce, settled the succession to his
estates by two deeds of entail, dated ipth Feb., 1794. By the first he
settled the estates of Dyce, Parkhill, and others upon a series of heirs,
the institute being John Gordon Cumming of Pitlurg, and among the
substitutes, the Skenes of Skene, Dr. George Skene, physician in
Aberdeen, and the Skenes of Rubislaw. By the second deed of entail
he settled the barony of Lethentie and others upon a series of heirs, the
institutes being Margaret Skene, relict of William Smith, and the heirs
male of her body, and among the substitutes, Dr. George Skene, physician
in Aberdeen, Captain James Skene, uncle to the laird of Skene, and
James Skene of Rubislaw.

Under the first deed General Gordon Cumming of Pitlurg succeeded
to the estates of Dyce and Parkhill, and assumed the name of Skene,
quartering the differenced arms of Skene of Dyce.

Under the second Andrew Smith, eldest son of Margaret Skene or
Smith, succeeded to the estate of Lethentie, and changed his name to
Skene.

x

CHAPTER V.

SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE.

I. — JAMES SKENE IN BANDODLE,

second son of Alexander Skene IX., of Skene " by Lord Forbes' daughter."
He was a Notary Public, and the first of the sons of the family who
bore the designation of " in Bandodle," the Tanistry lands having been
acquired by his father.

In 1538 he appears as uncle and curator to Alexander Skene of that
ilk, his nephew, and in 1543 witnesses two charters as Notary Public.
In the same year James Skene in Bandodle is infeft in the Sunny third
of the lands of Blackball.

He married Janet Lumsden, daughter of Lumsden of Cushney; and,
on 2Oth May, 1546, there is crown charter of confirmation " Jacobo Skeyne
in Bandodill et Jonete Lumsdein eius coniuge super cartam illis
factam per Andream Fraser de Staneywood 13 Maij 1546 de toto et
integro annuali feodo seu feudifirma Triginta quinque Mercarum sex
solidarum et octo denariorum monete Scotie dicto Andreas heredibus
suis et assignatis annuatim solvend. nomine feudifirme de totis et
integris terris de Westercorse et Norham in parochia de Coule per
honorabilem virum Willelmum Hurry de Pitfechie necnon superioritate
diet, terrarum."

The author of MS.B gives the following account of his family : —

" But to return to Skene, he purchased the lands of

Ramore, and married Burnett, daughter to Leyes. His name

was Mr. James, who begot six sons on her, whereof one was Sir John
Skene, first, Lord-Advocate, and thereafter, when he came from Den-

SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE. 9!

mark, on being secretarie to that embassy, with the Lord Marischall, he
was made Lord-Register, and married al his children nobilie. He had 5
elder brothers, viz., the Guidman of Ramoir, and the Commissar of
Aberdeen, and the Commissar of St. Andrews, and two Doctors of
Phisick, viz., the one Professor of the College of St. Andrews, and the
other the first Professor of Medicine at Aberdeen. Both of them were,
upon their coming from France, falling short of money at London, had
only a quardegue [quartecu] by them, and resolving to kill or cure where-
ever they came, were heard to say one to another, Let us spend this, and
then revenge Pinkie and Flowden, and being arraigned before the K.,
King James preferred the on to be his ordinar, the other his extrordin-
arie Daughter [Doctor], and recommended them to St. Andrews and
Aberdeen, for the love he bore to Sir John, their brother, who was the
youngest of the sex, and went in and out first, and the eldest last.
Their mother, finding her husband and Mr. James a bon compagnon,
and haueing his friends with him, sat up at night drinking. She retired
herselfe to a Buss of Birkis, in respect the Drink was almost done in
the house, save only a tunned coug, and took herself to pray for her hus-
band and familie, and thereafter she fell asleep, and being with chyld, it
quickens, and she starts up and went to her husband, and told him that
she would never grudge at his good fellowship any more, for God had
revealed it to her that she was with a son, whose name was to be John
who should be a father to the other fayve — and then brought forward
the Tuning skell couge quhich was formerlie absconded from her hus-
band, and began her own hans in kelder" (male child in the womb).

Like most family traditions, this account is not strictly correct, and
James Skene, the father, seems to be confounded with Mr. James Skene,
his eldest son.

His wife was, we have seen, not a Burnet but a Lumsden.

There is among the Curriehill papers a " genealogy of Sir John
Skene, Clerk Register, Lord Curriehill," in which his descent is correctly
stated. "The Laird of Skene was married to my Lord Forbes's
daughter, and she had to him the Laird of Skene, the elder brother, and
the Laird of Ramore, the second. The Laird of Ramore was married to
the Laird of Cushnie, chief of the name of Lumsden, his daughter, in
Aberdeen, who bore to him the Laird of Ramore and Sir John Skene,
Clerk Register."

92 SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE.

The story of the two doctors, also, rather falls through, for there was
certainly only one of the sons who was a doctor and " mediciner to his
Majestic," and there was at the time no Professor of Medicine in St.
Andrews ; but another of the sons, Duncan, was incorporated in
St. Mary's College of St. Andrews in 1559. He was a Notary Public.
He may, however, have been his brother's companion on this occasion,
and made the remark, as he was noted for his witty sayings. He was
Notary to the Edzeill and Crawfurd family, and in their correspondence
there is frequent allusion to "Mr. Duncan Skene's daft diximes."

The following description of the " tunned coug " is given in " An
Account of Scotland in 1679, by Thomas Kirke, a Yorkshire squire" —
" Their drink is ale of bear malt, and tunned up in a small vessel called a
cogue ; after it has stood a few hours, they drink it out of the cogue,
yest and all."

In MS.B the five elder brothers of Sir John Skene alone are given,
but he had four younger brothers, as we shall see, making in all ten
brothers, sons of James Skene of Westercorse.

Prior to the sixteenth century there was little outlet for the sons of
such families, except to enter the church, or to have their names inscribed
in the rental books as kindlie tenants of some outlying farm, which their
descendants, if the laird was embarrassed, acquired in property, or else
they descended to the condition of ordinary farmers; but in the beginning
of the sixteenth century the increasing trade of the country, and the new
life and new ideas infused into society by the Reformation, sent the
younger sons to seek their subsistence in other fields. Those who would
have entered the church became notaries public. Others either became
burgesses of the county towns, or entered into the increasing trade
between Scotland and Poland, in which Aberdeen took a large share,
whence, if they were prosperous in trade, they again emerged and
founded new county families, by purchasing land ; while the foundation
of the College of Justice, as well as of the College of St. Mary's at
St. Andrew's in this century, afforded a new outlet for their energies in
which they might acquire fame or fortune.

The history of these ten sons of Mr. James Skene, by his wife, Janet
Lumsden, affords an apt illustration of the above remarks. They were —

I. Mr. James Skene, who succeeded his father.

II Mr. William Skene.

SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE. 93

On 1 3th April, 1540, the Bishop of Aberdeen admitted,
among others, as Notaries —

Magister Jacobus Skeyne,
Magister Wilhelmus Skeyne.

On i;th September, 1549, "Magister Willelmus Skene"
entered King's College as a student in theology, and in the same
year he is ordered by the Bishop to be ready to take Priests
Orders, at Easter, 1550, to take Minor Orders between this and
the Feast of All Saints, the Subdiaconate at Christmas, and the
Diaconate and Presbyterate, between that date and the said
Easter.

In 1556 "Magister Gulielmus Skene in utroque jure licen-
tiatus " is incorporated in St. Mary's College, St. Andrews.

In 1563 he became one of the Visitors of St. Salvator's
College. In 1564 he was appointed Commissary of St. Andrews;
and in 1565 "Magister Gulielmus Skene Juris licentiatus, Sti.
Andree Commissarius et conservator privilegiorum " is elected
Dean of the Faculty of Arts. In 1579 he was transferred to St.
Salvator's College.

He married Margaret Martin, relict of Wm. Arthour, and
died on 2nd September, 1582. On i/th February, 1586, the will
of Mr. William Skene, Commissar of St. Andrews, is confirmed
by Margaret Mertoune, his spouse, as executrix dative.

In his work, " De Verborum Significatione," Sir John Skene
refers to a work " Mri. Wilielmi Skenei fratris mei Commissarii
Sancti Andree ; " and Sir James Melville says, in his Memoirs,
"Commissare Wilyeam Skene was ane man of skill and guid
conscience in his calling, learnit and diligent in his profession,
and tuk delyt in nathing mair nor to repeat ower and ower again
to anie schollar that wad ask him the things he had been
teaching."

III. Mr. Alexander Skene. He appears to have been an alumnus
of the University of Paris, as in an edition of Vaus' Grammar,
published in Paris in 1553, there is an address " Alexandri
Skeyne Juventuti Aberdonensi Grammatice studiosi," dated
Lutetie, 16 Calend. Julii, MDLIII."

In 1563 he was an advocate before the Lords of Council, in

94 SKENE OE WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE.

Edinburgh, and married Margaret Cockburn, relict of James
Lawson of Hieriggis, as on I3th April, in that year, there is a
contract between William Lesly of Balquhane on the one part,
and Mr. Alexander Skene, advocate, before the Lords of Council
and Session in Edinburgh, for himself and in name of Margaret
Cokburne, his spouse, on the other; and, on 9th March, 1568,
there is a contract between Johrl Lawson of Boghall, son and
heir of umquhile James Lawson of Hieriggis, Margaret Cokburne,
mother of the said John and Mr. Alexander Skene, her spouse,
on the one part, and James Wylie Skynnar, burgess of Edin-
burgh, and Margaret Leslie, his spouse, on the other.

In 1574 he became a burgess of Aberdeen, and acquired part
of the salmon fishings of Midchyngill, in the river of Dee; and in
a sasine in his favour, on 8th April, 1575, of a land on the north
side of Castle Street, Aberdeen, among the witnesses is Magis-
tro Johanne Skeyne fratre germano dicti magistri Alexandri.

On ist October, 1576, the Council Records of Aberdeen
contain the following : — " The said day the Provost, &c., grantit
and geiff license to Maister Alexander Skene, burgess of the
said Burgh, and Advocat, admitted to our Souerane Lords
Sessioun, before the Lords of Counsell, to duell and remain
absent of this Burgh, within the Burgh of Edinburgh, for the.
space of three years, notwithstanding he be obleist be the
Statutes, &c., to duell and remain within the same, in respect he
is presently ane heritable possessor of ane half nettis fishing of
the Mydchingill, &c., especiallie because the said Alexander
procuris for them before the Lords ;" and, on 9th October, 1579,
this permission is renewed for three years.

On 6th March, 1584, there is an obligation by Alexander
Quhitlaw of Ester Liffe, and others, to Mr. Alexander Skene
in Edinburgh, brother-german to Mr. John Skene, Advocat.

On 6th July, 1586, "Mr. Alexander Skeyne, Advocat, before
the Lords and Burgess of Edinburgh and Aberdeen, departit."

He left no issue, as on I2th July, 1 586, there is a decreet at the
instance of Mr. John Skene, advocate, against Mr. James Skene
of Westercorse, his brother, in which Mr. John Skene, as heir of
provision, sues Mr. James Skene, as heir of conquest of their
brother, Mr. Alexander Skene, advocate.

SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE. 95

Sir John Skene thus alludes to him in his work "De Verborum
Significatione," under the word Bothua, " ut in lib. M. Alexandri
Skenaei fratris mei germani quondam in supremo Senatu
Advocati."

IV. Robert Skene. ist October, 1571, Robertus Skeyne admitted

Burgess of Aberdeen: Alexander Cullen, Cautioner.

In the deed by which Jacobus Nicolson resigns, on iQth Oct.,
1574, the half fishings of Mydchingill to Mr. Alexander Skene,
the witnesses are " Alexandro Cullen, Roberto Skeyne, burgen.
de Aberdeen."

And on 24th July, 1575, Robert Skene is witness to a contract
between Alexander Forbes of Auchintoull, and Mr. Alexander
Skene, advocate, in which he is designed brother-german to the
said Mr. Alexander. He was ancestor of the Skenes of Belhelvie
and of Rubislaw.

V. Mr. Gilbert Skene applied himself to the study of medicine, in

which he took a doctor's degree, and in 1536 was appointed
mediciner or professor of medicine in King's College, Aberdeen.
A memorandum in the records of King's College says, " he
entered in Principal Anderson's time, and continued likely till
after the Reformation, or the Assembly visitation in 1569."

It was while occupying this position of professor of medicine
in King's College, that he published the little tract on " The
Peste," which was printed,, as the title bears, at Edinburgh in
the year 1 568.*

In the same year he became one of the ordinary regents of
the College; but, in 1571, there is a presentation, dated 6th
November, by the rector, principal, regents, &c., of the College
of Aberdeen, with collation of William, Bishop of Aberdeen,
to Maister Gilbert Skene, doctor in medicine, of the Burse of
medicine, otherwise called a prebendar of the said College, with
the manse, hous, place, yardis, and croftis pertaining thereto; and
on 2Oth August, 1587, he, with consent of the masters, disponed
the mediciner's manse to Mr. Thomas Lumsden, rector, of
Kinkell.

* This tract, with another, was reprinted for the Bannatyne Club, under the title of " Tracts
by Dr. Gilbert Skeyne," with a prefatory notice of Dr. Gilbert by the editor of this work, and
the above notice necessarily corresponds with it.

96 SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE.

In 1569 he married Agnes Lawson, as appears from a
contract, on 25th November, between Mr. John Spens of Condie,
and Mr. Alexander Betoune, Erchdeine of Lawtheane, on the
one part, and Mr. Gilbert Skene, Doctoure of Medicine, and
Agnes Lausone, his future spouse, on the other. She was, as
appears from another contract in 1583, relict of John Uddart,
burgess of Edinburgh.

In 1571 Gilbert Skene, Doctor of Medicine, and Agnes
Lawsone, his spouse, are infeft in the lands of Mekill Wardes,
in the barony of Pitsligo.

In 1575 he appears to have finally settled in Edinburgh, as
in that year he purchased from Mr. John Melrose a house in
Niddry Street, Edinburgh. Here he practised as a doctor, and
must have risen to some celebrity, as on i6th June, 1581, there
is in the Privy Seal Record, " ane letter makand mentioun that
our Soueraine Lord understanding that his wellbelovit Maister
Gilbert Skene, doctour of medicine, has bestowed his haill aige
bygane in ze studic of guid letters, and in speciale of medicine,
and appointing him his own physician ; " and, in the Act of
Revocation of the Collectojy made by James VI. in 1581, there
is specially excepted "the gift of pension to our wellbelovit
Maister Gilbert Skene, our Mediciner, of the soume of Twa
hundreth pundis money of our realme." He seems to have
lived uncomfortably with his wife, and finally separated from her,
as on 1582 there is an action of adherence at the instance of
Agnes Lawson against Mr. Gilbert Skene, her spouse.

In 1593 Dr. Gilbert Skeyne sells his house in Niddry Street
to his brother, Sir John Skene, for an annuity of 200 merks,
from which we may infer that he had retired from practice. The
house is described as lying on the south side of the Kings Hie
Street, in the Vennel called Niddrie's Wynd, on the east side of
the passage entrance of the same.

Dr. Gilbert Skene died in 1599, leaving no family, but sur-

• ,T vived by his widow, Agnes Lawson, who alleged that she had

been named executrix, but was unable to procure a nomination ;

and, on 2Oth July, 1599, his nephew, Robert Skene, son of his

eldest brother, Mr. James Skene of Westercorse, was decerned

SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE. 97

Executor Dative, and gave up an Inventory of his goods and
gear ; and, in 1602, another nephew, James Skene, brother's son
to Mr. Gilbert Skene, is decerned Executor ad omissa.
VI. Mr. John Skene, afterwards Sir John Skene of Curriehill, ancestor

of the Skenes of Curriehill and Halyards in Mid-Lothian.
VII. Mr. Duncan Skene. In 1559 Duncanus Skeyne is incorporated in
St. Mary's College, St. Andrews. On 9th June, 1567, there is an
obligation by William Richeson of Cranstoun, Riddell, Princi-
pale, and Thomas Hunter, burgess of the Canongait, suretie to
Mr. Duncan Skene, brother to Mr. Alexander Skene, advocat.

In 1591 Mr. Duncan Skene, Notary Public, is infeft in an
annual rent of £40 from the lands of Balnabriech in Forfarshire ;
and, on nth March, 1594, there is decreet at the instance of Mr.
Duncan Skene, brother-german to Mr. John Skene, Clerk of
Register, against James Guthrie of Eister Balnabriech, and
Christian Barroun, his spouse, and James Guthrie, their son and
heir, for payment to him of two annual rents, one of ^40, and
the other of 40 merks, furth of the lands of Eister Balnabriech,
due for the years 1592-93-94, to which annual rents he has right,
by alienation and disposition, by the said James Guthrie, to him
and his heirs lawful, to be gotten of his body ; whom failing, to
John Skein, lawful son to the said Mr. John Skein, his heirs and
assigns, and concerning which there are two contracts between
the said James Guthrie, his spouse and son on the one part, and
Mr. Duncan Skene on the other part, both of the date at Balna-
briech, 1 2th June, 1589, and registered in the Books of Council
and Session, nth February, 1594.

Mr. Duncan Skene appears, in several deeds, as a Notary
Public, and seems to have acted in that capacity to the Edzell
and Crawford families, and to have been resident at one time in
the family of Lord Ogilvie, as appears from the papers of these
families. In a letter from Lord Ogilvie to Sir David Lindesay,
which is in Mr. Duncan's handwriting, and dated Farnwell, ist
March, 1586, he adds a postscript for himself, to Sir David —
" My Lord, my maister is sumquhat mair coleragious sen he cam
haim furth of Ducheland, nor of befoir, swa I dar nor will nocht
be hamlie witt his Lordschip with my daft diximes. I had

O

98 SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE.

never ane busines heid. Albeit it be gryt, thair is mair wit
about it nor within ye sam."

Mr. Duncan Skene died unmarried in 1602, and, on nth
June in that year, there are, in the Curriehill papers, the original
minutes of Court, in the service of Mr. John Skene, younger, as
air of tailzie and provision to the said umquhile Mr. Duncan
Skene. George Skene is Dempster of the court.

VIII. Mr. Thomas Skene was a writer. He first appears in the Council
Register of Aberdeen, and gives evidence of an apparently
turbulent youth. There is on i/th December, 1574, the Baillie's
decern — Gilbert Henrie to pay to Thomas Skene, ten shillings
scots, and in May, 1574, the Baillies decern and ordain Wilyam
Wishart to refund, content, and pay to Thomas Skene the soume
of thirty-five shillings, probably connected with said business ;
but, on loth September, 1575, Thomas Skene confessit striking
Harie in ye arme with ane whinger, wherefore he was in

unlaw, and William Foremen became suretie for the modification
of his unlaw.

After Sir John Skene became Clerk Register, we find that
Thomas had been made servitor to the Master of Elphinstone, and
participated in the grants which, through Sir John's influence,
were so freely bestowed upon different members of the family. In
the Privy Seal Record there is, on 5th February, 1594, ane letter
maid . . . givand, grantand, and disponand, to his lovit
Thomas Skene, servitor to Alexander, Master of Elphinstone,
during all the days of his lifetime, all and haill the vicarage,
pensionarie of Pittintagart, with the manse and glebe, &c., at his
hieness disposal, by the decease of umquhile Mr. William Hay,
parson pf Turriff. Thomas Skene married a Mowat of Balqu-
hollie, and had three sons —

I. Mr. James Skene, writer, in Edinburgh. In 1601 he became
servitor to Mr. Robert Learmonth, advocate, son-in-law of
Sir John Skene, and in 1600 he was present at the death-bed
of James Skene of Westercorse (Acts and Decreets, 8th Feb.,
1603). In 1620 he married Anne Learmonth, his master's
daughter, by whom he had a daughter, Helen ; and after her
death he married a second time Elizabeth Mowtray.

SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE. 99

In 1650 Mr. James Skene, served heir to Barbara
Mowat, wife of Mr. Andrew Oswald, advocate, "filiae
avunculi."

On I3th Sept., 1655, James Skeyne, writer, and Elizabeth
Mowtray, married; and on 3<Dth May, 1656, James Skeyne,
son to umquhile Thomas Skeyne, writer, and Elizabeth
Mowtray had a son, James. His father died soon after, as on
i/th Jan., 1658, umquhile James Skene, writer, and Elizabeth
Mowtray, a son, John ; but this family came to an end in the
same year, as on I ith Nov., 1658, there is a sasine on precept
by the provost and baillies of Edinburgh in favour of Jeane
Skene, father's sister, and heir to the deceased John Skene,
procreated betwixt the deceased James Skene, his father,
and the deceased Elizabeth Mowtray, spouses, and Patrick
Hamilton of Greine, her spouse, of a tenement in the village
of Leith.

2. Robert Skene was admitted a Notary Public on I5th July, 1598,

and settled at Turriff, probably owing to the connection of
his mother's family with that part of the country, as there
is an obligation by Walter Mowatt to Robert Skene in
Turriff, dated at Turriff, 8th December, 1607.

In September of the same year he was admitted a
burgess of Aberdeen, but his name occurs among the
burgesses "rure manentes."

There is a sasine in 22nd May, 1616 — Robertus Skene,
in villa de Turriff, of a tenement in Aberdeen, formerly
belonging to Thomas Skene, burgess of Aberdeen, in which
Mr. James Skene, son of Robert, is a witness. This line
cannot be traced further, but part of the protocol books of
Mr. Robert and Mr. James Skene, both Notaries in Turriff,
has been preserved.

3. Thomas Skene. He was admitted a burgess of Aberdeen on i6th

July, 1602, and on 25th February, 1603, there is a sasine by
Thomas Skene and Isobel Anderson, his spouse, referring to
contract of marriage between them, with consent of Robert
Skene, in villa de Turriff, his brother-german. He died,
without issue, before 1616.

4. Jeane Skene married Patrick Hamilton of Greine.

IOO SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE.

IX. Andrew Skene. He appears as a burgess of Aberdeen as early
as the year 1564, and in 1571 he married Bessie Annand, of the
family of Annand of Ochterellon, and settled in Many, near the
northern boundary of Belhelvie, as on ist March in that year,
" Andreas Skeyne, in villa de Many," resigns, in the hands of the
superior, for new infeftment to himself and Bessie Annand, his
spouse, " terra sua per Alexandrum Quhytcross nunc occupata
in vico inferiori ecclesie ex boreali parte inter terras Georgii
Wischart et Thome Merscone."

He appears sometimes in Aberdeen, and sometimes among
the "absentes," down to 1589, when, on i$th October, in that
year, " Andrew Skeyne, burgess of Aberdeen, departit."

He had a son —

I. George Skene. He appears, in 1602, as Dempster of court, in
the service of Mr. John Skene, son of Sir John Skene of
Curriehill, to his uncle, Mr. Duncan Skene, and in the same
year is executor, as brother's sone, to Patrick Skene, another
brother of Sir John Skene.

In 1611 we find him living at Knockhall, which then
belonged to Lord Sinclair, and in that year he is a juror in
the service of idiotcry of William Skene, son to Mr. James
Skene of Westercorse.

In 1613 we find him, in the Aberdeen Council Register,
called burgess, chamberlain to Lady Sinclair ; and, on 22nd
January, in that year, there is an action by George Skene,
brother's son to Sir John Skene of Curriehill, against Alex-
ander Innes, in Garnwatter, for spuilzie, in August, 1612,
furth of the lands of Quoren, in the parish of Urquhart, of a
black horse and a mare.

In 1619 he becomes servitor to Turing of Foveran, and
in 1621 there is a precept by Turing of Foveran to George
Skene in Auchnacant, and we find him there in 1623, with
Barbara Anderson, his spouse.

In October, 1626, there is the redemption of ane tene-
ment of land caleit the Stanehouse of Ellon, granted by
George Skene in Auchnacant, to Mr. Gilbert Annand, a
connection through his mother ; and the last notice we have
of him is in 1635.

SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE. K)l

X. Patrick Skene. On i/th May, 1580, " Mr. John Skene, Advocatus
coram Dominis Concilii, Patricias Skene ejus frater germanus
gratis gratia Concilii," admitted burgesses of Aberdeen.

Nothing is known of his history, except that he was twice
married — first to Marjorie Hurrie, a daughter, probably of
Hurrie of Pitfichie, who possessed Westercorse, under the Skenes
as superiors, and whose death is thus recorded —

1 7th July, 1585, Marjorie Hurre, spouse of Patrick Skene,
buried in the kirk; and, on loth January, 1586, we have Patrick
Skene and Marjorie Forbes mariet

In 1589, Patrick Skene and his spouse are warned to remove
from a house in the Gallowgate pertaining to David Fergusone.

He had no family, and died in 1601, as on 2pth July, in that
year, there is an edict, at the instance of Mr. Patrick Forest
against the executors, the spouse, bairns, if there may be, intro-
mitters with the goods and gear of umquhile Patrick Skene,
burgess of Aberdeen. Compeirit Mr. Patrick Forest, procurator
for George Skene, brother's sone to the defunct, desiring him to
be decerned executor dative to him.

Mr. James Skene of Westercorse had two daughters —
XL Bessie Skene, who married William Elzenor, burgess of Aberdeen,
by whom she had two sons and one daughter —

1. Robert, burgess of Aberdeen.

2. John, " incola villae de Turriff," admitted burgess in 1607.

3. Bessie, married to Patrick Skene, in Bandodle.

24th November, 1579, sasine by William Elzinor in favour of
" probe adolescentule Bessete Skene, sue future conjugi jam in
sua virginitate existen." of a tenement in Upper Kirkgate.

I7th March, 1585, Bessie Skene, spouse to William Alshenour,
burgess of Aberdeen, departit

XII. Mirabell Skene "married Forbes, burgess of Aberdeen, and

had a son, David, who lived with Earl Marischall ; who had a
daughter, Lucia Forbes" (Curriehill papers). Her daughter,
Jean, is mentioned in 1613, as "sisters dochter to defunct" Dr.
Gilbert Skene.

As previously mentioned in the account of the " little laird," James
Skene, who was his uncle, and had been his curator, led his retainers to
the battle of Pinkie, and was slain there in 1 547.

102 SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE.

II. — MR. JAMES SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE,

the eldest son, succeeded his father, who, before he went to the battle of
Pinkie, transferred his estate to his son, as appears from a crown charter
of confirmation, " Magistro Jacobo Skeyne filio Jacobi Skeyne in Ban-
dodil super cartam sibi factam per dictum Jacobum Skeyne in Bandodil
de data 26 Februarij, 1547, de toto et integro annuali feodo triginta
quinque Mercarum &c. de terris de Westercorss et Norham necnon
superioritate dictarum terrarum."

He afterwards acquired the lands of Ramore, in Kincardineshire,
and Mr. James Skene of Ramore is witness to a crown charter on 1 3th
December, 1578.

On 1 8th January, 1587, there is an action at the instance of Mr.
James Skene of Westercorse against Alexander Cuming of Culter, to
find they have done wrong in demolishing the briggis callit Bowbrig,
lying betwixt his lands of Carnyguhen, Ramoir, &c., on the north side,
and his lands of Catterloche on the south. Mr. John Skene is his
procurator.

He was twice married, 1st, to Janet Burnet, second daughter of
Alexander Burnett of Leys, by whom he had the following children : —
I. Alexander Skene. On 27th April, 1582, "Mr. Alexander Skene,
filius et heres apparen. Magistri Jacobi Skene de Westercorse
gratis gratia Concilii," admitted a burgess of Aberdeen. He
died in the same year, as on 4th November, in that year,
" Mr. Alexander Skene de Prestoun Burgensis de Aberdeen ac
Advocatus coram Dominos Concilii " resigns the fishings in Mid-
chingill "in favorem her. masc. de corpore quondam Magistri
Alexandri Skene junioris Burgen. de Aberdeen, filii et heredis
apparentis Magistri Jacobi Skene de Westercorse ac patruelis
ipsius Magistri Alexandri Skene senioris resignantis." Witness,
Mr. James Skene of Westercorse.

II. Gilbert Skene, also a burgess of Aberdeen; and, on 4th May, 1591,
" Magister Gilbertus Skene Burgen. de Aberdeen frater germanus
ac heres quondam Magistri Alexandri Skene junioris Burgen.
de Aberdeen " is infeft in the fishings of Midchingill. He suc-
ceeded his father.

SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE. 103

III. Robert Skene. 5th April, 1606, sasine to Robertus Skeyne filius
legitimus quondam Jacobi Skeyne de Westercorse of the lands of
Rannaloch, upon disposition to him by James Skene, son and
heir of Sir John Skene of Curriehill.

He was twice married, ist to Janet Skene one of the three
daughters and co-heiresses of Arthur Skene of Auchtererne, by
whom he had a son, Alexander, who served heir to his mother in
1621 ; and 2nd to Helen Robertson, relict of John Vaus, por-
tioner, of Brochton, as appears from a notice of her in that year,
and Robert Skene of Rannaloch, now her spouse. In her right
he appears to have obtained property in Auchtermuchty ; and,
in 1620, he conveys Rannaloch and Brochholls, in the parishes of
Kincardine and Cluny, to Alexander Skene of Skene, and after
that date is usually designed as Robert Skene of Auchtermuchtie.
In the years, from 1597 to i6ii,he appears as servitor to
Sir John Skene of Curriehill. In 1599 he is designed son to
James Skene of Raemoir, and in 1600 and 1601, brother's sone
to Sir John.

IV. William Skene. On I3th November, 1611, "Gulielmus Skeyne
filius Jacobi Skeyne de Westercorse," is cognosced as "non compos
mentis fatuus et naturaliter idiota," and " Robertus Skeyne de
Auchtermuchtie ejus fratri germanus primogenitus " is appointed
tutor as "propinquior consanguineus ex parte patris dicto
Gulielmo." Among the jurors is George Skene in Knockhall.
V. Janet Skene married, ist, Patrick Innes of Tibbertie ; and 2nd,
on nth February, 1625, to John Forbes of Byth, Mr. John
Skene, Clerk of Session, and Mr. James Skene of Ramore, being
consenting parties.

Mr. James Skene of Westercorse and Ramore married a second
time Elizabeth Strathauchin, as appears from a redemption by Alexander
Cullen, provost of Aberdeen, of a tenement, over which 300 merks
had been lent by Magister Jacobus Skene de Westercorse et Elizabeth
Strathauchin ejus sponsa. He died in June, 1600, and his testament
dative is confirmed in October, 1600, his son, Robert Skene, being
appointed sole executor.

104 SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE.

III. — MR. GILBERT SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE.

On 3oth September, 1600, there is a retour — " Magister Gilbertus
Skene heres masculus Magistri Jacobi Skene de Westercorse patris in
annuo feodo &c. de terris de Westercorse et Norham necnon superioritate
dictarum terrarum."

In loth November, 1602, he is infeft in the lands of Kebety, in the
parish of Midmar, and in 1612 we find him designed Mr. Gilbert Skene
de Ramore.

He appears to have married a daughter of Forbes of Corsinday. He
died in 1616, and was succeeded by his son,

IV.— MR. JAMES SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE,

who was then probably under age. He was admitted a burgess in 1618,
but it was not till 2Oth July, 1620, that there is a retour Magister Jacobus
Skene heres Magistri Gilberti Skene de Westercorse patris in dime-
dictate ville et terrarum de Corsinday, dimedietate terrarum de Muirton
et Little Corsinday, dimedietate terrarum de Badenley, et terrarum mo-
lindinarum, terris de Kebetie cum pastura in foresta Coraenie in baronia
de Cluny.

On 27th July, 1622, there is a similar retour in the lands of Wester-
corse and Norham.

Ramore was probably liferented by his mother, as it is not till 9th
January, 1664, that "Jacobus Skene de Ramore heres Gilberti Skene de
Ramore patris " is infeft in " terris de Caernquhin Ramore Catterloch et
Tillibo."

He was succeeded by his son.

V. — ROBERT SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE.

On 1 8th November, 1661, there is a sasine in favor of " Robertus
Skene nunc de Ramore nepos quondam Magistri Gilberti Skene de
Westercorse films quondam Jacobi Skene quondam de Ramore," in the
lands of Carnquhine Ramore Catterloch et Tilnabo Molendini de Ramore.

SKENE OF WESTERCORSE AND RAMORE. 10$

"Robert Skene of Ramore descended of a second brother of the
Laird of Skene " records arms in the Lyon Register : " Gules three
daggers argent pomelled and surmounted on the poynts with alse many
woolfs heads couped or, all within a bordur invecked of the second."
Crest : " A birk-tree environed with certaine ears of oats all growing out
of a mount proper." Motto : " Sub montibus altis."

He was three times married, ist, to a daughter of Rait of Halgreen,
2nd, to Barbara, daughter of William Forbes of Cotton, and relict of
Gilbert Skene of Dyce, and 3rd, to a daughter of Robert Irvine of Cults.

By his first wife he had an only daughter, Margaret Skene, who
married James Hog of Blairiedryne, and brought the estate of Ramore
into that family.

On 8th August, 1685, there is a sasine in favour of Margaret Skene,
spouse of James Hog of Blairiedryne, and in 1691 there is a sasine in
favour of James Hog of Blairiedryne, in the lands of Ramore, &c.

SKENE OF CURRIEHILL.

I.— MR. JOHN SKENE,

sixth son of James Skene of Westercorse, and afterwards Sir John Skene
of Curriehill.

The following account of his career is given by Sir John Scott of
Scotstarvet in his " Staggering State of the Scots Statesmen for one
hundred years, from 1550 to 1650," in his usual depreciatory style : —

" Sir John Skeen succeeded to be Clerk Register after Alexander
Hay, and was preferred to the place by the moyen of my Lord Blantyre,
his brother-in-law ; for their wives were two sisters.

" He was well skilled in the laws before he was advanced to that
place, and got a sole gift for printing the Acts of Parliament and Regiam
Mafestatem, by which means he acquired a great deal of money from the
country, for all heritors of land were obliged to buy them; but it did
little good; for albeit he lived many years in the place, yet did he
purchase but few lands, only he bought Curriehill and Ravelrig, of no
great value ; all which was sold by his son, Sir James.

" He resigned his place to his said son in his old age ; but Haddington,
by his power, forced his son, Sir James, to resign the same in his favour,
and got him made an Ordinary Lord of Session, which place Sir James
brooked till his death, and was made president of the Session by King
Charles. But being of a generous disposition, and having small means,
he behoved to sell and dispone all, both in town and country, for
defraying of his debts.

" Sir John's four daughters had little better success ; only Sir
William Scott's wife [the author's mother], who got nothing by her
father, had best success. But the other three — one of them married to
Robert Learmont, advocate, the second to my Lord Fosterseat, and the

SKENE OF CURRIEHILL. IO/

third to Sir Robert Richardson of Pencaitland — their sons have dis-
poned all their fathers' lands, and nothing is left thereof at this day."

The history of Sir John, as well as of his son, Sir James, can be
traced from tfce infancy of the former, and it will be seen that the author
of the " Staggering State " has rather distorted the facts in order to point
the moral of his piece.

We have first, two notices, which may relate to Sir John in his early
school days. On I3th July, 1541, the Town Council of Aberdeen "divide
the Sang skuill between Sir John Futtie and John Black, singar, his
depute ; the said John to have power to puneis and correct his awin twa
brothers, Alexander Grayes twa sones, ane Skene and ane Lummisden,
barnis of the said skuill, reserving the punysment of the remanent barnis
thereof to the said Sir John himself, as superior thairof." 24th January,
1549, "Gilbert Kintor . . . conuikit ... for ye inpading of daue
andersoun Doctor in ye grammer skuhill of ye said bur1 in sanct nicklace
kirk of ye said bur1 villand to haue strikin him And als ye said daue
anderson and Jon robertsoun ar conuikit be ye said some be ye mov1 of ye
said chancelar for ye out feching of ye barnis of ye said grammer skuhill
and ye invading of ye said gilbert kintor and dauid kintor his broder throw
ye qlk invading ye said dauid kintor was strikin and strublit be ane scolar
callit skeyne wl ane tre." Here we have him first in the Sang school, along
with a Lumsden (and Sir John's mother was a Lumsden), and no doubt
much benefited by the punishment and correction he received from Mr.
John Black ; and then we find him leading the bairns of the Grammar
School, and showing his prowess in defending their master. Mr. Grant,
in his History of the Burgh Schools of Scotland, adds, " Tradition
says that the scholar called Skeyne was the famous Sir John Skeyne,
Clerk of Register, so well known to the students of Scots law and
history " (p. 63), and the dates accord ; for, after passing through the
course of studies at King's College, Aberdeen, he went to the University
of St Andrews; and in 1556 Johannes Skene was incorporated in St.
Mary's College. After taking his degree of Master of Arts, he was, in
1565, Regent of St. Mary's College, and one of the electors of the
Rector.

Dempster, who was personally acquainted with him, says, in his
Ecclesiastical History, " adolescentiam in Norwegia, Dania, Sarmatiaque
magna parte consumpsit, ubi et linguas didicit exactissime boreales et

108 SKENE OF CURRIEHILL.

mores polivit, et ingenium, ad magna surgens, ex virtutis et honesti
praescripto formavit, vir candore animi et humanitate incomparabili,
jurisprudentiae ac rei antiquariae peritissimus."

He alludes to this journey, himself, in his work, "De Verborum
Significatione," " Ane pedder is called ane Marchand or Creamer quha
bearis ane pack or Creame upon his back quha are cald bearares of the
pudill be the Scottismen of the Realme of Polonia; quhairof I saw ane
great multitude in the toune of Cracovia, Anno Domini 1 569."

On 1 9th March, 1575, Mr. John Skene was admitted advocate; and,
in 1577, he married Helen Somerville, eldest daughter of Sir John
Somerville of Camnethan by his second wife, Catherine, daughter of
John Murray of Falahill ; her sister, Dame Nicolas Somerville, being wife
of Walter, Lord Blantyre.

Mr. John Skene seems s6on to have risen to great practice at the
Bar, but according to the custom of the time, instead of being paid by
fees as at present, he engaged " to procure " in all causes affecting a
client, for a fixed annual payment. Thus we find a decreet, at the
instance of Sir John Skene, advocate, against George Meldrum of Fyvie,
for payment to him of 90 merks, as arrears of yearly pension of 20
merks, granted by the said George Meldrum to the said Mr. John " for
service alreddie done, and to be done be ye said Mr. John to ye said
George, in his office of procuratioune, in all his honest and lefull causses
before the said Lords, and that for all his lifetime conform to the letter
of pension subscribed by the said George Meldrum at Edinburgh, 2oth
May, 1580, and which arrears are for the years, 1588-89-90-91-92, &c."

In loth June, 1577, he was granted an annual pension of ten chalders
of meal out of the revenues of the Abbey of Aberbrothock for his
labours in connection with a plan for forming a general digest of the
Scottish laws; and in 1587 he was named a member of a commission to
examine the statutes passed in the Scottish Parliament.

In 1589 Sir James Melville who, having been selected by the king to
form an embassy to Denmark to conclude a marriage with one of the
princesses, was directed " to chuse any man of law that ye please," for
the purpose of discussing the question about the ylles of Orkney, says,
as in his memoirs, " when I schew his Majestic that I wald tak with me
for man of law Mester John Skein, his Majestic thocht then that there
were many better lawyers. I said, that he was best acquanted with the

SKENE OF CURRIEHILL. IO$

conditions of the Germanes, and culd mak them lang harrangues in
Latin, and was a gud, trew, stout man, lyk • a Dutche man. Then his
Majestic was content that he suld ga ther with me" (p. 566).

Mr. John Skene accordingly went to Denmark as one of the Ambas-
sadors, and in the deed of agreement between the Scottish Ambassadors
and the Danish Government regarding the Orkney Isles he is a party
as " Joannes Skynaeus, juris consultus et supremi serenissimi Scotorum
Regis Senatus Advocatus " (Privy Council Register, IV., p. 223).

In the following year he accompanied Colonel Stewart on an embassy
to Germany. He was also ambassador to the States General in 1591.

In 1 592 a commission was appointed by the Parliament to " survey
the lawes and actis made in this present Parliament, and all utheris
municipall lawes and actis of Parliament bygane," " and to consider
quhat lawis or actis necessardlie wald be knawin to the subjectis," and to
cause the same to be printed. Sir John Skene was one of the Commis-
sioners, and the task was committed to him.

On ist April, 1593, "ane letter was maid under the Privy Seal,
appointing Mr. Johnne Skene one of his Majesties Advocates, because
of the infirmity of Mr. David McGill"; and, on I9th September, 1594,
there is a similar letter " makand and constitutand Maister Johnne Skene
his hienes Clerk of his Register."

In 1598 the first part of the Acts of Parliament, from James I. down-
wards, compiled by Mr. John Skene, was published, and to this was
appended his treatise " De Verborum Significatione," a most useful work,
invaluable to the student of ancient Scottish history, and a monument
of his learning and industry.

In 1604, by which time he had been knighted, Sir John Skene was
named one of the Commissioners for the Union of Scotland and
England, and in 1607 he completed his treatises of the "Regiam Majes-
tatem" and " Quoniam Attachiamenta," and presented them to the Privy
Council. In the letter recommending the work to James VI., he is
termed "the Clerk of your hienes' Register in this estaitt, ane wyse,
learned, and worthy clerk," and they add, that " the meanness of his
estate and fortune not answerand to his witt, ingyne, and literature,
may not furneische him moyane to publeis this wark, albeit compiled
and digested be his travillis and studie."

1 10 SKENE OF CURRIEHILL.

In consequence of this appeal a sum of money was directed to be
paid to him by the sheriffs, baillies, stewards, and other judges, as well as
by the prelates, earls, lords, and barons of the Realm, and a Commission
was appointed in order to fix this sum.

Among the Curriehill papers is the following receipt, " I, Sir John
Skene of Curriehill, grantis me to have receivit fra Sir Patrick Home of
Polwart, knight, the soume of ten pundis money, and that for his part of
the taxation grantit be the Estaittis for imprenting of the auld lawes.
Subscrivit with my hand at Edinburgh, the tent of March, 1609, S. John
Skene, with my hand."

Sir John Skene held the office of Clerk Register till the year 1612,
and we find him employing several of his relations as servitors or clerks.
Among them were Mr. Andrew Skene, ancestor of the Skenes of Hal-
yards in Fife, Mr. Robert Skene, son of his brother, Mr. James Skene
of Westercorse, and throughout the whole time, James Skene, son of his
brother, Robert Skene. The Record of the Privy Seal is full of grants
to these servitors of escheats and nonentries, bringing with them con-
siderable sums of money, in which it is probable Sir John himself
benefited to no small degree, but his means, which must have been con-
siderable, were not invested to any great extent in land.

In 1582 he had a crown charter " de loco vocat lie Craig de Blan-
tyre," in Lanarkshire.

In 1 596 there is a crown charter to him and Helen Somerville, his
wife, of the lands of Rannalloch, in Aberdeenshire.

In 1 598 there is a charter to him and Helen Somerville, his wife, of
the dominical lands of Reidhall, in Midlothian ; and in 1 599 a charter to
them of these lands, along with the east half of Gorgie. In 1604 he
purchased the lands of Curriehill for 20,000 merks ; and there is a
charter to them of the lands of Hill, commonly called Curriehill, in
Midlothian, from which he took his title.

Sir John Skene's official life closes in 1612, when he resigned the
lucrative and important office of Clerk Register, in favour of his eldest
son, Sir James Skene, who was, however, persuaded to accept the office
of an Ordinary Lord of Session instead, to the great annoyance of
his father. Spottiswood, in his history, gives the following account : —
"Sir John Skene of Curriehill, in 1611, on account of his age and
infirmity, intending to resign his situation of Clerk Register in favour of

SKENE OF CURRIEHILL. Ill

his son, Sir James Skene, sent him to London with a letter of resignation,
to be used only if the king should be willing to admit him. He was
induced, however, to give in the resignation and accept a seat on the
bench as an ordinary judge, when the more lucrative office was conferred
on Sir Thomas Hamilton" (p. 517).

The resignation had proceeded upon a " Bond by Mr. James Skene,
eldest lawful son to Sir John Skene of Curriehill, mentioning that his
said father had resigned his office of Clerk of Register, to the effect the
said Mr. James might be provided thereto, therefore the said Mr. James
binds himself to pay to his said father all fees during his life, dated at
Edinb., i6th March, 1606; Witnesses, Mr. Alexander Skene, son lawful
to said Sir John; Robert Skene, son lawful to umquhile Mr. James Skene;
and James Skene, servitor to said Sir John." This proceeding on the
part of Sir James caused at once misunderstanding between them, which
was eventually settled, and as part of the settlement, Sir John took out
on 28th May, 1614, a crown charter to himself, Helen Somerville, his wife,
and Sir James Skene, their son, of the lands of Curriehill. The letters
relating to this disagreement will be found in the appendix.

Sir John Skene had by Helen Somerville, his wife, four sons and four
daughters —

I. James Skene, afterwards Sir James Skene of Curriehill.
II. Mr. John Skene of Halyards, ancestor of the Skenes of Halyards,

in Midlothian, who carried on the line of this family.
HI. Mr. Alexander Skene. On 24th October, 1593, there is a contract
between Mr. John Skene, one of our sovereign Lord's Advocates,
and Helen Somerville, his spouse, on the one part, and Mungo
Russell and Gideon Russell, his son, and apparent heir, on the
other part, by which they were bound to infeft the said Mr. John
Skene and his spouse in liferent, and Mr. Alexander Skene,
their third son, and his heirs ; whom failing, to John Skene,
his brother, and his heirs ; in an annual rent of 100 merks, &c.

Among the Curriehill papers is an obligation by Mr. Alex-
ander Skene and his son, John, to John Skene of Halyards,
for 600 merks, to obtain Mr. John being admitted an assistant
and successor in the office of keeper of the register of Hornings,
with his father in 1631 ; and a bond for a sum of money due by
Mr. Alexander Skene, brother to Halyards, Joneta Syme, his

112 SKENE OF CURRIEHILL.

wife and John Skene, his eldest son, keeper of the register of
Hornings, to Jean Haliburton, relict of Samuel Somerville, in
1632.

The testament dative of umquhile Mr. Alexander Skene,
writer, in Edinburgh, who died, 22nd March, 1638, given up
by Janet Syme, his relict, spouse, and executrix dative, decerned
to him by decreet of April, 1638, confirmed 3rd April, 1638.

IV. Mr. William Skene. On 3rd December, 1600, Mr. John Skene,

Clerk of Register, and Helen Somerville, his spouse, " for the
natural luif and affection, and natural kyndness which we beir to
our weil belovit son, William Skene, being as yet unprovidit of
ony living or moygane be us, and to ye effect he may have ane
reasonabill beginning to preif to seek the knowledge of guid
science, and be brocht up in vertew and leirning," infeft him in an
annual rent of 60 bolls victual.

On i6th March, 1615, there is a decreet, at the instance of
Mr. John Skene of Curriehill, one of the Privy Council, against
Mr. Alexander Skene, sone lawful to the said Sir John, and
brother and apparent heir to umquhile Mr. William Skene,
youngest lawful son to the said Sir John, &c.

V. Jane Skene married Sir William Scott of Ardross, Director of

Chancery, and their daughter, Eupheme, Countess of Dundonald
(wife of the ist Earl), was the lady referred to on page 6. Her
sister, Helen Scott, married William, 2nd Lord Blantyre.
VI. Margaret Skene married Mr. Robert Learmonth, advocate, brother

to the laird of Balcomie.

VII. Catharine Skene married Sir Alexander Hay, Lord Foresterseat
A daughter of this marriage was wife to Sir Archibald Johnston,
who had by her Elizabeth Johnston, Lady Strathallan, wife of
General Viscount Strathallan.

VIII. Euphemia Skene married to Sir Robert Richardson of Pencaitland.
Sir John Skene died in year 1617.

1 7th June, 1717 — Comperit Helen Somerville onllie executrix testa-

mentar nominat be umquhile Sir John Skene of Curriehill, knight, her

spouse, quha producit inventer of his guidis and geir, and maid faythe, &c.

Spottiswoode, in his Church History, speaking of his death, says,

" he was much regretted by all honest men, for he had been a man much

SKENE OF CURRIEHILL. 113

employed and honored with diverse legations, which he discharged with
good credit, and now, in age, to be circumvented in this sort by the sim-
plicity or folly of his son, it was held lamentable" (p. 517).

II. — MR. JAMES SKENE,

afterwards Sir Jame* Skene of Curriehill, was admitted advocate on 6th
July, 1603. On 3 ist August, 1605, he was infeft in the lands of Rannaloch,
on a disposition by Mr. John Skene, one of the ordinary Clerks of Session.

On 2nd December, 1608, his father resigned in his favour the office of
Clerk to the Bills, to which he was this day admitted. He was also
conjoined with his father in the office of Clerk Register, but when his
father resigned that office in favour of his son, in 1612, he accepted
instead the position of an ordinary Lord of Session.

In 1619 a warrant was sent from the king "to warn Sir James Skene
before the Lords of Secret Council to hear and see himself depressed for
not communicating kneeling at Easter ; and, on 24th June, 1619, the
Lords of the Privy Council, by command of the king, called Sir James
Skene of Curriehill before them, and verie straitlie layed to his charge his
disobedience to his Majestie's command and direction in not communi-
cating with the rest of his Majesty's Council and Session in the kirk of
Edinburgh, at Easter last, and for going to ane other kirk," &c. He
pleaded that in that week he was Ordinar in the Utter house, and engaged
on Saturday in examining witnesses, &c., which had prevented his
attending the preparation sermon ; and he denied attending ane other
kirk. The proceedings are printed in the appendix. It was generally
understood that he was influenced by his wife, who was of a Puritan
family.

On I4th February, 1626, he was promoted to the chair of President
of the Court of Session ; and, on 2nd January, 1630, he was created a
baronet by patent to himself and his heirs male whomsoever, which is
recorded in the Register of Signatures on 26th January, 1630.

Sir James Skene married, on 7th December, 1603, Janet Johnston,
daughter of Sir John Johnston of Hilton and Sheen, by whom he had
eight sons, of whom two only survived, the rest having died young ; and
three daughters who were married. His sons were, as appears from the
Session Registers —

Q

U4 SKENE OF CURRIEHILL.

I. John Skene, baptised 24th April, 1608 ; died young.
II. John Skene, afterwards Sir John Skene of Curriehill, Baronet,
baptised 2ist October, 1610.

III. James Skene, baptised 2Oth April, 1615 ; died young.

IV. William Skene, baptised loth October, 1616 ; died young.

V. Thomas Skene, afterwards Sir Thomas, baptised 25th June, 1618.
VI. William Skene, baptised ipth December, 1620; died young.
VII. James Skene, baptised nth June, 1621 ; died young.
VIII. Samuel Skene, Baptised 2$th March, 1624 ; died young.
His daughters were —

I. Rachel Skene, baptised i6th February, 1612, married Sir Archi-
bald Douglas of Cavers.
II. Euphame Skene, baptised 9th March, 1613, married Sir Archibald

Inglis of Ingliston.

III. Helen Skene, baptised 24th October, 1619; married, first, Sir

Robert Bruce of Broomhall, Lord of Session (and by him was

mother of Sir Alexander Bruce, who succeeded as 4th Earl of

Kincardine) ; secondly, the Honourable Sir Charles Erskine of

Alva, fifth son of John, seventh Earl of Mar ; and thirdly, Sir

James Dundas of Arniston, one of the Lords of Session.

Sir James Skene died on 25th October, 1633, when his death is thus

recorded by Sir James Balfour, in his Annals : — 2Oth October, 1633, dyed

Sir James Skene of Curriehill, Knight and Baronet, President of the

College of Justice, interred in the Greyfriars. He died, however, on i6th,

and was buried on 2Oth October.

The testament testamentar of umquhile Sir James Skene of Curriehill,
Knicht Barronet, President of our soverane Lordis College of Justice, who
died on the i6th October, 1633, was given up by himself on 4th October,
1633, as concerns the nomination of his executors, legacies and debts,
and by dame Jonet Johnstone, his relict, in name and behalf of Thomas
and Helen Skenes bairnes lawful to the defunct, so far as concerns the
inventory of his guids and geir, quhilk bairnes are onlie executor testa-
mentaris nominat to their said umquhile father In this latter will. By
his latter will he desires his body to be buried " in the kirk called the
Grayfreir kirk, besyde the sepulcher of my umquhile father," and he
nominates his said children, Thomas and Helen, his only executors. It is

SKENE OF CURRIEHILL. 11$

dated at Edinburgh, 4th October, 1633, and is witnessed by Sir Samuel
Johnstone of Slains, advocate, and Mr. Archibald Johnstone. Confirma-
tion dated 2ist November, 1633.

His monument is on the outside of old Greyfriars Church, and bears
the arms of Skene of Curriehill, and the following inscription : —

HIC CITVS EST HONORABILIS VIR DNS
JACOBVS SKENE DE CVRRIHILL MILES ET

BARON ETA AC PRECES COLLEGII
IVSTITLE QVI OBIIT 15 DIE MENSIS
OCTOBRIS ANNO DNI 1633
SWE 54

III. — SIR JOHN SKENE OF CURRIEHILL, BARONET.

On 1 6th December, 1636, he served heir to his father in the lands of
Hill, commonly called Curriehill, in the Bailliry of Balernoke, in which
he is styled " Dominus Joannes Skene de Curriehill haeres legitimus et
propinquior haeres dicti quondam domini Jacobi Skene de Curriehill
militis Baronetae sui Patris"; and, in December of the same year, there is
a disposition by Sir John Skene of Curriehill, Knight, Baronet, of the
lands of Curriehill, in favour of Mr. Samuel Johnstone.

Sir John married Rachel Spiers, and after he sold the estate " he
levied a regiment of men upon his own charges, and went to Germany
and died there, leaving no children" (MS.B).

" Sir John Skene of Curriehill, who married Rachel Spiers, by whom
he had only one son, who died in infancy. He afterwards raised a
regiment of foot upon his own charges, with whom he went to Germany,
where he died without surviving issue" (MS.D).

IV.— SIR THOMAS SKENE, BARONET.

" The President's second son died unmarried " (MS.B).

" Sir John of Curriehill had Sir James of Curriehill, who was Presi-
dent of the Session, and had Sir John and Sir Thomas, who dyed
without issue" (MS.C); "and in him ended the whole male line of Sir

SKENE OF CURRIEHILL.

James S'kene, eldest son of the Lord Register. The representation,
therefore, devolved upon the descendants of his uncle, Mr. John of Hal-
yards before mentioned " (MS.D).

o/ S/> ^awes 5Ae/?e o/1 Curriehill, from a Stone in Grey friars Churchyard, Edinburgh.

ii'fj(t«' -T"»>W«S- fi.'^r t'i- u

K !* '"-/.'"'X' I /V

5,1 :.w-i^dwj

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN MIDLOTHIAN.

I.— MR. JOHN SKENE,

second son of Sir John Skene of Curriehill, Lord Register. " He being
also a man of great knowledge in our laws, was appointed Clerk of the
Bills, and one of the principal Clerks of Session."

On 5th March, 1614, Sir James Skene, on becoming a Lord of
Session, resigned the Clerkship of the Bills to him.

" He afterwards acquired the lands and barony of Halyards, in
Lothian, which became the chief title of his family " (MS.D).

There is a charter under the great seal, " Magistro Johanni Skeen de
Halyards urii Clericorum Collegii Justitiae terrarum Baroniae de Hal-
yards, &c.," dated 24th March, 1650. " This was part of the ancient
lordship of Listen, in the parish of Newliston, the original domain of the
knights templars, afterwards of the lordship of St John of Jerusalem "
(MS.E).

He must have been a person of some accomplishment, as he is
undoubtedly the author of the MS. collection of old Scottish airs, which
has been printed by the Bannatyne Club, under the title of the Skene
MS. It is supposed to have been written between 1615 and 1620, and at
the end of the first part are the words, " Finis quod Skine," written in a
hand which bears a strong resemblance to many specimens of his which
have been preserved. The names " Magister Johannes Skeine," and
" Magister Johannes Skeine, his book," appear on two of the fly-leaves.
The editor adds, " the work bears internal evidence of its having been
got up by a person of taste and judgment, exhibiting occasionally a
simplicity, a beauty, and even a degree of elegance which, from anything
we have seen of the productions of that age, we could scarcely have
expected" (p. 15).

Il8 SKENE OF HALYARDS IN MIDLOTHIAN.

Mr. John Skene married, on 29th June, 1603, Alison Rigg, sister to
William Rigg of Athernie, merchant burgess. Their contract of
marriage, dated 4th June, 1603, is among the Curriehill papers.

By her he had three sons and six daughters —

I. John Skene, who succeeded him.

II. James Skene, born iyth April, 1622 ; and

III. Alexander Skene, born 2oth May, 1625, who both appear to have

died young.

IV. Helen Skene, born pth May, 1605, married John Coupar of Gogar.
V. Margaret Skene married William Fairlie of Bruntsfield.

VI. Katharine Skene married Sir William Murray of Hermiston,

second son of Patrick, first Lord EHbank.
VII. Jean Skeen married Sir Alexander Belches of Tofts, one of the

Senators of the College of Justice.
VIII. Janet Skene, born 5th December, 1618, married, first, Major

Home of Carlensyde ; and secondly, William Row.
IX. Alison Skene died unmarried.

Mr. John Skene of Halyards died in December, 1644. His will is
here given, as a specimen of the language used in wills at that time : —
" I, Mr. John Skene of Halyards, one of the ordinar Clerks of Sessione,
knawing nothing to be more certain nor death, the manner, time, and
place to be most uncertain, mak my Testament and latter will as after
followes. I thank my God and Jesus Christ for his. manifold mercies
towards me, but above all, for that great work of my redemptione, pur-
chased to me in the blood of Jesus Christ, his onlie son, my Lord and
Saviour, of whom onlie depends the salvatione of my soull. I mak,
nominat, and constitute Mr. John Skene my onlie executor and universall
legatour and intromitter, for his owne use, with my haill goods, geir,
debts, soumes of money, and other moveabills perteining to me, the tyme
of my deceis, quhan it sail be at the pleasure of God ; and I leave,
assigne, and dispone my haill moveabill goods, soumes of money, to him
with my blessing, perteining to me at the tyme of my deceis, and leaves
the samyne in universall legacie to him, and maks him universall legator
thereof, secluding all others, with power to him to intromitt therewith,
use, and dispone thereupon at his pleasure, and to give up inventory,
confirm this my testament. Item — I leave the soume of 300 merks to
the poor of this burgh of Edinburgh. Item — I leave the soume of
other 300 merks to the poor of the kirk and parish of Kirkliston, to help

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN MIDLOTHIAN. 119

to be one stock for maintenance of the poor, to be employed at the
sight of the gentlemen and minister, and kirk-session thereof. I leave
to William Somerville, my servant, ;£ioo, and ordain my said executor
to pay the said legacies within one half year after my decease. In
witness whereof, I have written and subscribed these presents with my
hand, at Edinburgh, the 26th day of April, 1641. Sic subscribitur Mr.
John Skene, with my hand."

II. — MR. JOHN SKENE OF HALYARDS

succeeded his father in 1644.

"The said Mr. John's eldest son, Mr. John Skene of Halyards,
married Mary Ker, daughter to Ker of Mersingtone, who had

two sons and two daughters" (MS.B).

Her marriage took place on I4th October, 1641, and she was daughter
of James Ker of Mersington.

The sons were —

I. John Skene, who succeeded him.

II. Thomas Skene, who was an advocate, and married, on 6th April,

1677, Beatrix Hepburn, daughter of the Laird of Brunston, by
whom he had three sons and two daughters —

1. Charles Skene, born ist December, 1681, a sailor. Is mentioned,

in 1714, as on board a third-rate man-of-war.

2. Francis Skene, born 5th September, 1684, an officer in the Royal

Fusiliers, served in America, in 1737, where he died.

3. James Skene, mentioned in 1734-

4. Elizabeth Skene, born 25th May, 1678.

5. Catherine Skene, born 2Oth November, 1680.

Thomas Skene died in November, 1700, and, on I4th
November, 1701, this testament dative and inventory is given
up by Beatrix Hepburn, his relict, as only executrix dative, in
virtue of the contract of marriage, dated 6th April, 1677, and in
consideration of adecreet obtained by him on i6th August, 1701,
against Charles, Francis, James, Elizabeth, and Katharine Skene,
lawful children to the said deceased Mr. Thomas.

III. Alison Skene "married Mr. Alexander Swinton, Lord Mersington"

(MS.B). One daughter of this marriage, Mary, married Brig.-
Gen. Bruce of Kennet, and another daughter, Helen Swinton,

120 SKENE OF HALYARDS IN MIDLOTHIAN.

married Colonel Charteris of Amisfield, and was mother of an
only child, Janet, wife of James, 4th Earl of Wemyss.
IV. Helen Skene married Hugh Brown, apothecary chirurgeon of

Edinburgh (MS.B).

On 3 ist July, 1666, there is a disposition by Mr. John Skene of
Halyards, with consent of Mary Ker, his spouse, to John Skene, his
eldest lawful son, of the lands of Halyards, with the principal messuage
and manor place thereof, in the barony of Listoune and shire of
Edinburgh.

He died before 1669, and was succeeded by his eldest son.

III. — JOHN SKENE OF HALYARDS.

There is, 22nd December, 1669, a renunciation by George Drummond
of Carlowrie, in favour of John Skene, now of Halyards, of the lands and
barony of Halyards, in the parish of Kirkliston, and shire of Edinburgh,
held in reversion for the sum of 2500 merks, contained in bond of date
2nd December, 1664, granted by the deceased Mr. John Skene of Hal-
yards, with consent of Marie Ker, his spouse, and the said John Skene,
now of Halyards, designed in said bond their eldest lawful son and
apparent heir.

John Skene originally studied law with Mr. David Wilson, writer, in
Edinburgh, to whom he was bound apprentice in 1662, but afterwards
entered the army, and is styled major in Sir William Douglas' regiment
in 1688.

He married Janet Drummond, daughter to Drummond of Carlowrie,
and had by her four sons and five daughters —

I. John Skene, born i6th February, 1675. He was an ensign in
Lord Lindsay's regiment, and " was murdered by a Frenchman,
by stabbing him in the heart, after the said ensign Skene's sword
was broken, for which the said Frenchman was condemned, by a
Council of War, to be shot to death in the Links of Leith, who
thereafter got his pardon by the moyen of Sir Thomas Living-
stoun, but was banished Scotland by the Privy Council, by the
intent of his relations and friends. He (Ensign John) was not
married " (MS.B). The duel took place at Kirkaldy in 1696.
II. George Skene, who succeeded his father.

III. Charles Skene, born 28th November, 1682, went to Virginia as a
merchant, in 1704, and was never heard of again.

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN MIDLOTHIAN. 121

IV. Hugh Skene, born 3rd April, 1617, was ensign in General Lauder's
regiment, and married in Holland Petronella van Sorgen. He
died in garrison at Tournay, on 25th July, 1724, and had by her
two sons —

1. John Skene died at the age of 4, on 23rd February, 1726.

2. Dromondus Skene died at the age of 5, on 6th December, 1727.
V. Eupham Skene married Mr. John Wilkie, minister of the gospel

at Uphall.

VI. Janet Skene married Robert Kincaid of Over Gogar Mains.
VII. Helen Skene died unmarried.

VIII. Elizabeth Skene married the Rev. William Russell.
IX. Beatrice Skene died unmarried.

" John Skene having entered into some unsuccessful speculations with
his brother-in-law, Drummond of Carlowrie, both became insolvent about
the year 1680" (MS.E). His estate was eventually evicted from him in
the year 1694, and was purchased, at a judicial sale carried on before the
Lords of Session by his creditors, by his brother, Thomas, who resold it
in 1696 to Mr. Marjoribanks.

"It was sold to his brother for the sum of 36,446 merks, and resold
to Mr. Edward Marjoribanks, merchant, in Edinburgh, for 44,000 merks."
The decreet of sale is dated in 1696.
John Skene died in 1717.

"27th February, 1717, John Skene of Halyards buried the 27th, 2
foot north Swintons, rough ston, aged ."

IV. — GEORGE SKENE,

eldest surviving son of John Skene of Halyards, was a lieutenant in the
Fusiliers, which was Brigadier Row's regiment.

He married Elizabeth Currie, and had by her two children —

I. John Skene.

II. Elizabeth Skene.

He was wounded at the battle of Hochstedt, of which he died in
1733, and in 26th February, 1744, the testament dative of the deceased
Lieutenant George Skene of the royal regiment of Scots Fusiliers, who
died at Bath, 6th June, 1733, is given up by Elizabeth Skene, his daugh-
ter, with consent of Elizabeth Skene, alias Currie, his relict, as his
curatrix.

R

122

SKENE OF HALYARDS IN MIDLOTHIAN.

V. — JOHN SKENE.

On 2nd February, 1756, the testament dative of the deceased
John Skene, only lawful son of Lieutenant George Skene of the royal
regiment of Scots Fusiliers, who died in the Canongate, nth March,
1737. gyven up by Elizabeth Skene, only child, in life, of Lieutenant
George Skene, decerned executrix dative to the deceased John Skene,
her brother-german ; and with him died the last male descendant of Sir
John Skene of Curriehill.

On 22nd December, 1787, his sister, Elizabeth Skene, laid before the
Faculty of Advocates a petition praying for some help, as the great-
great-grand-daughter of Sir John Skene of Curriehill, who was the
Lord-Advocate in the year 1592, and received from them a pension of
£10. " She had likewise a pension of £20 a-year from Government.
After reaching an advanced age she died unmarried, and on i8th
January, 1796, the Faculty, on a representation by Mr. Russell, of
Selkirk, nearest relation of Mrs. Elizabeth Skene, lately deceased,
defrayed the expenses of her funeral.

Arms of Skene of Halyards in Lothian, from the MS, of Sir David Lindsay the Younger
(styled in error, Skene of Skene).

SKENE OF BELHELVIE.

I. — ROBERT SKENE,

son of James Skene, in Bandodle, afterwards of Westercorse, first
appears in the Council Register of Aberdeen, on 23rd January,
1567, when he constitutes Mr. William Davidson his procurator,
in all his actionis and caussis, and specialie agains Patrik Mahiwir; and
on 1st October, 1571, he is admitted a burgess of Aberdeen.

In 1572 he appears among the absentes in the burgess roll: his
reason being that he had now settled in Belhelvie. This appears from
an entry in the Council Register, on pth March, 1572, when the magis-
trates give a decreet against Patrick Mamvir, for a debt due to Robert
Skeyne in Bahelvie, payable either to him or to Andrew Skeyne in
Aberdeen, who we have seen was his brother.

The parish of Belhelvie consists of — ist, the barony of Belhelvie,
possessed at this time by the family of Glammes, and afterwards by that
of Panmure. 2nd, a few separate properties, as Many, Colpnay, Pettens,
and 'Westbourne belonging to the town, Blairtoun and Hophill, and the
Kirktown of Belhelvie. The barony is the southern part of the parish,
and extends to a small stream at Eggie. Through the centre of the
barony a stream flows through a ravine past the present Belhelvie
Lodge. It rises in the farm of Craigies, and passes through Whytecairns,
Overhill, Old Overtown, Upper Potterton, Mylne of Potterton, and
Mylneden, where it falls into the sea, and south of Mylneden, along the
shore, were the farms of Fife and Blackdog. These farms, with the
exception of Craigies, were the possessions of the Skenes in Belhelvie.
The Mylne of Potterton, with Overhill and Old Overtown, was then
known as the Over Mylne, and Mylneden as the Nether Mylne.

124 SKENE OF BELHELVIE.

Robert Skene possessed the former. He was twice married, ist, to a
daughter of David JEdie, merchant, burgess of Aberdeen, by his wife
Isobel Forbes, by whom he had —

I. Robert Skene, who went to Poland, and in 1593 was made a
burgess of Posen. The following entry appears in that year
in the records of the town of Posen — " Significamus tenore
presentium quibus expedit, quod coram nobis, Proconsule,
Advocate, Scabiciis totaque Communitate Civitatis nostrae suae
Regiae Majestatis Posnaniensis personaliter comparens

Nobilis Robertus Skin, Scotice Skene, vocatus,
annorum circiter 43 habens, supplicavit nos, ut eum ad communi-
tatem nostrae civitatis Posnaniensis cum omnibus juribus, quibus
alii concives et incolae ejusdem civitatis gaudere agnosceremur.
Nos petition! ejusdem nobilis Skin (Skene) annuentes, ejusdem
authoritate nostra ad communitatem aliorum Incolarum nostrae
civitatis Posnaniensis associamus dando et concedendo eidem
omnibus privilegiis juribusque civitati nostrae servientibus a die
hodierna uti frui et pro semper gaudere."
(sequuntur subscriptiones.)

II. Gilbert Skene. There is a decreet against Gilbert Skene, in Over-
hill, for a spulzie committed in 1584. He is again mentioned as
in Overhill in 1597, with Robert Skene, his son, and likewise in
1602.

He appears to have married Marjory Rolland, and to have had
two sons, Andrew Skene and Robert Skene, as we find the half
lands of Overhill occupied, in 1602, by Andrew Skene and
Marjory Rolland, his mother, and a fourth part by Robert Skene.

In 1603 we find Robert Skene in Overtown of Belhelvie, and
Andrew Skene, another son, we find, 1609, 'm Overhill of
Belhelvie.

III. David Skene appears to have gone as a young man to Poland,
and was admitted burgess of Posen in 1586.

" Actum feria sexta post festam Sancti Bartholomaei Apostoli
Anno 1586 David Skin Scotus jus civile suscepit die et anno
quibus infra" (Extractum ex libro Albo civitatis Posnaniensis).

SKENE OF BELHELVIE. 12$

He returned, however, as early as 1593 to Belhelvie, as in
nth June, 1597, there is a horning against David Skene at the
Mylne of Potterton, on a bond, dated at Aberdeen, 7th June,
1 593, and served personalie upon him at his dwalland place of
the Mylne of Potterton in the end of 1 596.

In 1606 there is a bond by David Skene, at the Mylne of
Potterton, as principal, and Robert Skene and Andrew Skene,
in Townhill of Belhelvie, as cautioners.

David Skene was twice married : first to Udnye's sister, by
whom he had —

1. Thomas Skene, mentioned in Potterton, in 1623, with a house.

He was an elder of the Church of Belhelvie from 1623 to
to 1632, and again from 1643 to 1645, when he was returned
as ruling elder to the Presbytery.

In 1629, on the failure of the sons of Gilbert Skene in
Overhill, he succeeded to the possessions of Overhill and
Overtown, and in 1638 we find him in Milnden. He
married Sara Leask, a daughter of William Leask of Leask
and Isabell Ogilvy, his wife, by whom he had —

/. Robert Skene, born in Potterton, in 1621. He was ancestor
of the Skenes of Rubislaw.

2. John Skene, born there in 1628.

j. Hew Skene, born in Overhill in 1631.

^. A son, born in Old Overton in 1632.

5. Alexander Skene, born in Old Overton in 1636.

6. Anna Skene, married in 1639 to Alexander Forbes in

Foveran, Thomas Skene, in Milnden, her father.

2. David Skene, second son of David Skene at Mylne of Potterton,

went to Poland and became a merchant in Zamoski. He
married Margaret Chalmers, daughter of Robert Chalmers,
merchant, Dantzig, and had two sons and one daughter —

/. George Skene, born in Zamoski I7th September, 1644.

2. Alexander Skene, birth not recorded.

J. Katharine Skene, born in Zamoski 3rd October, 1646,
married David Adie of Newark.

126 SKENE OF BELHELVIE.

David Skene at the Mylne of Potterton married a second time
in 2Oth August, 1606, Claris Seaton, by whom he had one son
and two daughters —

3. George Skene, afterwards Sir George Skene of Rubislaw.

4. Jeane Skene, married 8th May, 1637, to Alexander Clarke, son

to William Clarke in Haltoun.

5. Marjory Skene married, 8th July, 1627, Alexander Hay in

Foveran.

IV. John Skene, fourth son of Robert Skene in Belhelvie, appears, on
9th July, 1595, in Potterton, and on I2th March, 1598, in Whyte-
cairns. He is last mentioned in 1599, and appears to have died
without issue.

V. Thomas Skene is mentioned in the Privy Council Records as
tenant, on i6th February, 1601, of Whytecairns, along with
Gilbert Skene of Overhill, Robert Skene, his son, and David
Skene, at the Mylne of Potterton. He is ancestor of the Skene<.
of Blackdog, &c.

VI. Violet Skene married, in 1602, John Forbes.

Robert Skene, in Belhelvie, married, secondly, on 6th July, 1574, at
Forbes, Margrett Forbes, and had by her one son and one daughter —

VII. James Skene, who became servitor to Sir John Skene of Curriehill.
He received numerous grants of escheat in the Privy Seal
Records, and in one on 6th July, 1597, he is termed "James
Skene, son to umquhile Robert Skene of Overmylne." In
another, on loth March, 1598, he is termed "James Skene,
lawfull sone to umquhile Robert Skene, burgess of Aberdeen."
On 2Oth June, 1599, he witnesses a deed by Mr. John Skene,
Clerk Register, in which he is designed " brother sone to the said
Sir John Skene;" on 27th January, 1604, he is decerned
executor, as brother sone to Dr. Gilbert Skene, Sir John's
brother; and again on i6th June, 1617, Robert and Janet Skenes
are mentioned as " brether bairnes to the defunct" Dr. Gilbert
Skene. He died in October, 1651, having married Jean Hamil-
ton, and had by her —

SKENE OF BELHELVIE. 127

1. Jean Skene, born I2th January, 1626.

2. James Skene, born 24th March, 1628.

1652. Testament dative of umquhile James Skene, writer in
Edinburgh, who died in October, 1651, given up by James Skene,
younger, sone lawful to the said umquhile defunct.

James Skene, younger, writer in Edinburgh, died before 1673,
when we find, in the Curriehill papers, a bond, by John Skene
of Halyards, to John Skene, sone to the deceased James Skene,
younger, writer in Edinburgh ; but with this notice we lose
all farther trace of his descendants.

VII I. Janet Skene.

Robert Skene, in Belhelvie, died before the year 1 597, and probably
in the year 1593, as in that year we find a change taking place in the
position of his family. Robert becomes a burgess of Posen in that year,
and David returns from Poland, and becomes permanent occupier of the
Overmylne, or Mylne of Potterton.

II. — THOMAS SKENE, c?j ^

the youngest son by the first marriage, appears to have succeeded his
brother John in the occupation of Whytecairns. The notices of this
family are somewhat scanty, and are mainly derived from the parish
records of Belhelvie. He seems to have been succeeded by

Lri£L -30! J; nfioT .V

.£. i' ' / inocf .'• •*""«'

III.— GILBERT SKENE,

probably his son. In 1624 we find the marriage of Gilbert Skene and
Margaret Smyth ; and in 1626 we have mention of Gilbert Skene in
Whytecairns. His successor was

IV. — PATRICK SKENE

in Whytecairns, who died in the year 1704, leaving three sons —
I. James Skene.

128 SKENE OF BELHELVIE.

II. Andrew Skene in Whytecairns, married on 8th July, 1704, Eliza-
beth Perry (James Skene, cautioner for the man), and had a
daughter, Margaret, and a son, John, born I2th April, 1710.
III. Patrick Skene settled in Old Aberdeen, and married in I7th June,
1701, Elspeth Rhind, heiress of Thomas Rhind, merchant, by
whom he had —

1. George Skene, born in 1706.

2. Thomas Skene, born I3th January, 1713. In 1774 Thomas

Skene, merchant, Old Aberdeen, only living son of Peter
Skene, merchant there, and Elspeth Rhind, served heir to
his mother. He was one of the magistrates of Old Aberdeen,
and was well known as Baillie Skene of the Auldtown.
He died without issue in 1797.

\

V. — JAMES SKENE

removed, in 1707, to the farm of Blackdog, leaving Whytecairns to his
brother Andrew. He had the following children : —

I. Patrick Skene, born in Whytecairns gth July, 1699.
• II. Alexander Skene, born in Whytecairns i6th March, 1701, died in
April, 1703.

III. Isobell Skene, born in Whytecairns 8th April, 1703.

IV. Thomas Skene, born in Blackdog i6th October, 1707.
V. Jean Skene, born in Blackdog 22nd November, 1709.

VI. Margaret Skene, born in Blackdog 25th May, 1712.
VII. Elizabeth Skene, born in Blackdog 24th October, 1714.

VI.— PATRICK SKENE
in Blackdog, was succeeded by his son.

VII. — THOMAS SKENE
in Blackdog, had two sons —

SKENE OF BELHELVIE. 129

I. Thomas Skene.

II. Alexander Skene, an officer in the army, who married Katharine
Anderson, daughter of John Anderson, farmer, Slains, and had
two sons and one daughter —

1. Thomas Skene, who died.

2. Alexander Skene, who settled in Australia

3. Margaret Skene married George Auldjo Esson, accountant in

bankruptcy, Edinburgh.

He married, 2ndly, Margaret Auldjo, daughter of George
Auldjo of Portlethen ; and died 2ist May, 1865.

I

VIII.— THOMAS SKENE

removed to the adjacent farm of Fyfe, and married Elspett Browne, by
whom he had a large family.

I. Thomas Skene married Mary Gilderoy, and had by her —

1. Isabella Skene.

2. Thomas Alexander Skene, grain merchant.

II. David Skene in Langseat, married Mill, and had by her —

1. Ann Skene.

2. Thomas Skene settled in Australia.

3. Elspett Skene.

4. Margaret Skene.

5. Eliza Skene.

III. Alexander Skene, farmer in Fife.

IV. William Skene went, in 1839, to Australia, and became a member

of the firm of W. Robertson & Sons. In 1850 he dissolved
partnership, and became the proprietor of an estate near Hamil-
ton, which has since borne his name. In 1870 he was returned
as a member of the Legislative Council, by the electors of the
western province.

He married Jane Robertson, and died in March, 1877, leaving
the following children : —

S

I At 1 Honry Place, AborJe«n, O'i the ISth in»t., by th»
Rev. J*hn C*Uer, Oidmaohar Cathedral, ALEC K. KYI),
book-keeper (C. Napier & Co.), te JEAN ME, daughter of
the late Alexander :?kene, IJelhelvie, Abardeenshire.

130 SKENE OF BELHELVIE.

1. Thomas Skene.

2. Jane Catharine Skene.

3. William Robertson Skene.

4. Margaret Skene.

5. David Skene.

V. Jane Skene married John Crawford of Tarbathill.
VI. Eliza Skene married John Jenkins.

VII. Laurence Skene, bank agent in Portree, married Jane Tolmie, and

died, leaving four sons and two daughters.
Thomas Skene is now dead.

"v^JBTS*3

,-x$; . s, llS^xL

. ••.••

r'J •'•-•

SKENE OF RUBISLAW.

I. — GEORGE SKENE,

son of David Skene, at the Mylne of Potterton, by Claris Seaton, his
second wife, afterwards Sir George Skene of Wester Fintray and Rubis-
law, was born in the year 1619.

" His father and mother dying poor, David Skene, merchant,
in Poland, his elder brother, by the father's side, brought him over
to Poland, and bound him apprentice to Mr. George Adie, then
merchant in Dantzick, where he learnt his trade, by which he acquired a
handsome fortune there, and returned with it to Scotland. Purchased
the lands of Wester Fintray and Robeslaw, &c., and was made Provost
of Aberdeen, which he kept for 9 years, before the Revolution. As
Provost Skene never married himself, and his elder brother, David, and
his wife dying poor in Poland, he sent for his two sons and the daughter,
and brought them to Scotland, and put the eldest son, George, in fee of
his estate of Wester Fintray under redemption, and married the
daughter, Katharine, to David Adie, eldest son of Mr. George Adie, his
old master. His nephews, George and Alexander, turned out quite pro-
fligate and debauched, and to supply their extravagances broke open Sir
George's cabinet and robbed him, which, with their other conduct, so
disobliged him at them that he redeemed the lands of Wester Fintray,
and disinherited them, and they both went abroad and never returned,
and he then settled the lands of Fintray upon David Adie's daughter,
Giles, when she was married to the Laird of Skene, and the heirs male of
that marriage. Sir George Skene was born An. 1619, and died in April,
1707, aged 88" (MS.D).

This account is substantially correct. His father died in 1631, when
George was twelve years old. He was in Dantzig till about the year
1665, when he returned to Aberdeen.

132 SKENE OF RUBISLAW.

In 1666 he purchased the lands of Wester Fintray, in which he was
infeft pth July, 1666. On I7th September, 1668, he granted a charter
of these lands in favour of his nephew, George Skene, eldest son of
the deceased David Skene, merchant, burgess of Zamoski, in the king-
dom of Poland, and to the heirs male of his body ; whom failing, to
Alexander Skene, younger son of the said David, and the heirs male of
his body ; whom failing, to George Skene, eldest son of Robert Skene,
sometime treasurer of Aberdeen, and the heirs male of his body ; whom
all failing, to John Skene of that Ilk, and his heirs and assignees
whomsoever, bearing the surname and arms of Skene. The contract of
marriage, dated 8th February, 1690, by which Sir George narrates his
having redeemed the lands of Wester Fintray, and settles them upon
Giles Adie on her marriage with Alexander Skene of Skene, has already
been quoted in the notice of that family.

On 9th April, 1669, he obtained a disposition from Andrew Skene of
Ruthrieston and Robert Skene, Junior, his eldest son, of certain tene-
ments of land in the Guestrow of Aberdeen.

In 1676 George Skene became Provost of Aberdeen, which office he
held till the year 1685. In 1678, 1681 and 1685 he was sent by the town
as commissioner to Parliament. In 1681, when James, Duke of York,
came to Scotland, George Skene, with David Adie late Baillie, was sent
by the Council to Edinburgh to wait upon His Royal Highness in name
of the town, and to entreat his favour in what may concern the same ;
on which occasion he received the honour of knighthood. In 1685, the
Provost presented to the King an address on his accession to the throne,
as James the Second.

In 1687 Sir George Skene acquired the lands of Rubislaw, by adjudica-
tion, from the Forbeses of Rubislaw. They were conveyed to "Sir George
Skene of Fintray, knight, late Provost of Aberdeen, in liferent, during
all the days of his lifetime, and to George Adie, lawful son to David
Adie, of Newark, late Baillie of Aberdeen, procreat betwixt him and
Catherine Skene his spouse, his heirs male, and assignees therein specified,
in fee, heritably and irredeemably, but under reversion, redemption, or
regress, conform to the letter of disposition, granted hereanent, of the
date of the 29th October, 1687 years."

The lands were redeemed by an instrument of consignation and
redemption, in 1706, by Sir George Skene, against George Adie, in virtue

Sir George Skerte's House

SKENE OF RUBISLAW. 133

of the power received in the disposition to alter the destination upon
consignation of a certain sum; and by disposition, dated I3th December,
1706, Sir George Skene conveys the lands of Rubislaw to himself in
liferent, and to Mr. George Skene, his grand-nephew, one of the Regents
of King's College, in fee, and to the heirs male of his body ; burdened
with the sum of 14,000 merks, to be paid to Mr. David Adie, and an
obligation upon all heirs or singular successors succeeding to or endowing
the said lands, to bear the proper arms and cognisance of Sir George
Skene, and to assume the surname of Skene.

The arms, recorded some thirty years earlier in the Lyon Register,
are : " Gules a chevron argent betwixt three skens of the second hefted
and pomelld or, surmounted of als many woolfs heads couped of the
third tusked proper." Crest : " A dexter hand issuing out of ane cloud
reaching a garland of Lawrell fluctuated." Motto : " Gratis a Deo data."
On 24th March, 1707, Sir George Skene executed a will, nominating
Mr. George Skene, Regent, his executor and universal legator, and died
in the following April, and his death, with that of his nephew, Robert
Skene, is thus inscribed in the burial place of the Rubislaw family in
St. Nicholas Churchyard :

HlC IACENT CINERES DNI
GEORGII SKENE A FINTRAY ET
ROBSLAW MILITIS NOVEM QUONDAM
ANNIS PR^POSITI ABB QUI OBIIT 9
APRILIS 1707 ^TATIS 88
AC ETIAM ROBERTI SKENE MERCATORIS
SUI NEPOTIS QUI OBIIT 30 OCTOBRIS

1693 ^TATIS 72.

This Robert Skene was eldest son of Thomas Skene, who was
eldest son of David Skene, at Mylne of Potterton, and half-brother of
Sir George. On ist April, 1662, Robertus Skene mercator films legitimus
quondam Thomae Skene de Belhelvie is admitted a burgess of Aberdeen.
He became treasurer of the town of Aberdeen, and married Janet
Jaffray, daughter of John Jaffray of Delspro, Provost of Aberdeen, by
whom he had —

I. Janet Skene, baptised 9th May, 1665 ; married, 27th January,
1694, George Gordon, son of Alexander Gordon, Provost of
Aberdeen.
II. George Skene, baptised 24th June, 1666.

134 SKENE OF RUBISLAW.

II.— MR. GEORGE SKENE OF RUBISLAW — 1707-1708,

at the time he succeeded to the estate, in 1707, was Professor of
Philosophy and Regent of King's College, Aberdeen, an office which he
had held since 1686. "His stipend, as Professor of Philosophy, was .£175
Scots, 1 5 bolls of bear, and 9 bolls of meal. The ancient mansion which
he inhabited in Old Aberdeen, opposite the College, was taken down in
1816. He married his cousin, Catharine. Adie, and had a numerous family.
Tradition reports his having been visited, a year after his marriage, by
three heavy misfortunes at the same time. A careless nurse overlaid his
eldest son, by which the infant was smothered; the woman fled in the
middle of the night and never more heard of. His house was consumed
by fire, and the family obliged to take shelter with their neighbours. The
third misfortune I do not recollect" (MS.E).

He had by Catherine Adie, daughter of David Adie of Newark, his
wife, the following children : —

I. George Skene, who succeeded him.

II. Robert Skene died unmarried in March 1709.

III. Janet Skene married John Anderson, Professor in Marischal

College.

IV. Katherine Skene married Alexander Thomson, advocate, in

Aberdeen, and died 4th March, 1776, aged 73.
V. Margaret Skene married Thomas Finnic of Wellbrae.

He died at Rubislaw on I2th December, 1708, having possessed the
estate only one year.

His death, and that of his wife, are thus recorded on the tombstone,
after that of his father, Robert : —

NECNON Mri

GEORGII SKENE DE ROBSLAW HUIUS
FILII QUI FATIS DECESSIT 12 DE
CEMBRIS 1708 ^TATIS 4!
ET CATHARINE &DIE SILE CONIU
GIS QU,E OBIIT 7 SEPTEMBRIS 1738
59

SKENE OF RUBISLAW. 135

III. — GEORGE SKENE OF RUBISLAW — 1709-1757,

served heir to his father, Mr. George Skene, Regent of King's College,
and likewise to his great-grand-uncle, Sir George Skene, both on I2th
February, 1709. The evidence taken in the latter service proves the
descent from David Skene of Mylne of Potterton as well as the family
of the latter.

" He married Helen Thomson, daughter to Portlethen, and step-
daughter to his mother, Catharine Adie. They were ten years married
without having any children, after which they had a daughter, Helen
Skene, to whom, as the estate was a male fee, it could not have descended,
so that her father executed a deed in her favour for 80,000 merks of
provision. As a son was afterwards born, of the name of George, this
precaution became unnecessary, and her provision was limited to 10,000
merks. She married, in 1753, James Duff, advocate, in Aberdeen,
youngest son of Alexander Duff of Hatton, of which marriage was
George Duff, captain in the navy, who was killed at the battle of
Trafalgar, where he commanded the Mars line-of-battle ship" (MS.E).
The tombstone record continues : —

AC GEORGII SKENE DE ROBSLAW EORUM
FILII QUI OBIIT 21 JULII 17 [57] yETATIS 58
NEC NON HELENE^E SKENE EJUS FILI^E
SPONS^E JACOBI DUFF ADVOCATI
ABREDONENSI QUAE OBIIT 12 MAR
ANNO MDCCLXIV /ETATIS 30
CUM HELENA THOMSON SPONSA DICTI
GEORGII SKENE JUNIORIS DE ROBSLAW QU.E

OBIIT 29no JULII 1768 ^ETATIS ANNO 68VO
George Skene of Rubislaw was succeeded by his son,

IV. — GEORGE SKENE OF RUBISLAW — 1757-1776,

born in 1736, and married to Jane Moir, eldest daughter of James Moir
of Stoneywood, whose history has been detailed in an interesting and
graphic narrative by the late Dr. John Brown, in the third series of his " Horae

136 SKENE OF RUBISLAW.

Subsecivae," p. 83, under the title of "A Jacobite Family:" — "Having
three daughters before a son was born, he entered into a treaty with
the magistrates of Aberdeen, superiors of the lands of Rubislaw, to
have the holding altered from a male fee to heirs whatsoever, which was
obtained upon payment of £250 sterling. It was intended by the late
Mr. Skene that his son should follow the profession of the law, with
which view, while a youth, he attended the office of his uncle, Thomson
of Portlethen ; but unfortunately his disposition was of too lively a cast
for so plodding a profession, and as none more congenial were suggested
to him, his circumstances being independent, he yielded to the con-
viviality of his disposition, giving up his time to gaiety and amusement,
and soon became the delight of the society he frequented in Aberdeen.
He sang well, played on various instruments, composed humorous songs,
caricatures, and lampoons, in which fun and good humour always pre-
dominated ; constantly inventing some amusing frolic, of which his uncle,
Portlethen, a pompous, portly man, and his cousin, Miss Finnic, a
starched, antiquated virgin, were frequent subjects. Indeed he not
unfrequently subjected the whole inhabitants of the town to his frolics,
by various successful and amusing hoaxes, which to this day continue to
afford merriment in the narration, by those of his contemporaries still in
life, who were witnesses of his inventive and good humoured disposition.
With a view to wean him from those unprofitable pursuits, his friends
prevailed upon him to go to Edinburgh, to study law, where he remained
for some time, but without much improving his taste for that dry pursuit ;
which, as happens not unfrequently with young men who have the mis-
fortune to possess a moderate independence, ended in a resolution to
abandon the attempt altogether, and rest satisfied with the fruits of his
paternal fortune. The remainder of his life was passed at Rubislaw, in
the fulness of convivial indulgence, which soon ushered in its train that
surly monitor the gout, whose attacks became so frequent and habitual
as to occasion his having recourse to the Bath waters, where the family
passed a winter; but without success, as a severe attack in the stomach
occurred in the year 1776, of which he died on the 24th January, at the
ageof4o"(MS.E),

His legal studies do not, however, seem to have been utterly fruitless,
for, as all the male representatives of the Curriehill family who stood
between that family and the Skenes of Rubislaw had become

SKENE OF RUBISLAW. 137

extinct, he appears to have formed a plan to prove his own representa-
tion of the family, and take up the dormant baronetcy. With this view
we find him having his papers examined by an antiquary and genealogist
of some local celebrity, the late Mr. Rose of Banff; but an accident which
befel the charter chest destroyed many of the family papers, and
prevents us from knowing more than the result of the examination.
"Upon the death of George Skene of Rubislaw, on 24th January, 17/6,
the charter chest was conveyed to Aberdeen, and deposited in the house
of the late Alexander Carnegie, Esq., Town Clerk. Being of iron, and
very weighty, it was left in a low, damp appartment, or rather cellar,
with an earthen floor, which, in the period of one-and-twenty years that
it was suffered to be exposed to damp, so completely rotted the bottom
of the chest, that upon its removal, the bottom remained on the ground,
reduced to an ochry clay, and with it a layer of about three inches thick
of the old family parchments and papers, in a state of destruction utterly
irredeemable, in fact resembling a mass of rotten tobacco, which fell to
pieces on being touched " (MS.E).

Mr. Rose, however, had noted some of its contents in his note
books, in which are the following entries : —

" Sir James Skene of Curriehill, created knight baronet, which I have
seen at Robslaw."

" Skene, Sir James, of Curriehill, knight and baronet, President of the
College of Justices, died at Edinburgh, interred in Greyfriars, 2Oth
October, 1633. Represented by Robslaw."

His early death probably prevented the claim from being prosecuted,
and the patent which seems to have come into his possession perished
with the rest of the destroyed papers.

George Skene of Rubislaw left the following children, by his wife,
Jane Moir, who died in Edinburgh on 2pth March, 1820, aged 79,
having been 44 years a widow.

I. Margaret Skene, born 4th September, 1767; married Colonel

Ramsay of the 2nd or Queen's Regiment of Foot, and had issue.

II. Helen Skene, born I3th August, 1768; remained unmarried, and

died at Florence in 1841.

III. Catherine Skene, born 2Oth Oct, 1769; married Sir Henry
Jardine, King's Remembrancer of Exchequer, and had issue.
She died in 1838.

T

138 SKENE OF RUBISLAW.

IV. George Skene, born I4th December, 1770.

V. Jean Skene, born 5th December, 1771 ; died in infancy at Rubislavv.
VI. Maria Skene, born 22nd December, 1773; died in infancy at

Aberdeen.
VII. James Skene, born 7th March, 1775.

V. — GEORGE SKENE OF RUBISLAW — 1776-1791.

"George Skene, a minor, succeeded his father in 1776, chose the
profession of the army, and was sent to Douay, in France, to promote
his studies at the military academy there, and upon his return got a
commission in the 46th Regiment of Foot, then in Ireland, where he
remained three years; and, having attained the rank of lieutenant,
returned to Scotland near the close of his minority, in order to be served
heir to his father, an event which, though then in the vigour of health
and youth, it was not his fate to accomplish. He had gone to Aber-
deenshire for that purpose, in summer, 1791, from whence he proceeded,
for his amusement, to visit the Highlands, travelling on horseback, in the
course of which he stopped at Nairn, on a very stormy night of rain,
when a family with ladies arrived late, whom, as the house was full, it was
impossible to accommodate ; and they, being averse to proceed further,
during bad weather, unfortunately applied to Mr. Skene to give up his room.
With this request he generously complied, though unwell at the time,
ordered his horse, and set off to ride to Inverness in a cold and stormy
night, where he arrived, drenched with rain. An access of fever was the
natural consequence, which he incautiously disregarded, and proceeded
next day to visit Beauly, where it became so violent that it was necessary
to send back to Inverness for a carriage to reconvey him there to Ettles'
inn, where, in two days afterwards, he expired in presence of Mr. Ettles,
the landlord, who narrated the circumstances afterwards to me. His
body was conveyed to Aberdeen, and interred in the family burying-
ground in St. Nicholas Churchyard, but a week after he had left that
town, in the bloom of health and youth, on the 3Oth September, 1791,
in his 2ist year" (MS.E).

SKENE OF RUBISLAW. 139

VI. — JAMES SKENE OF RUBISLAW — 1791-1864.

The following notice of Mr. Skene occurs in the opening address
delivered to the Royal Society of Edinburgh on Monday, the 4th Decem-
ber, 1865, by Sir David Brewster, who had been through life his personal
friend : —

"James Skene of Rubislaw was born on the 7th March, 1775. His
father died in the following year, leaving a widow and a family of seven
children. In 1783, Mrs. Skene removed to Edinburgh for their educa-
tion, and James, who was then the second son and youngest child, was
placed at the High School ; and was the last survivor of a host of
distinguished men who were his class-fellows.

" In 1791, after he had left the High School, he succeeded to the
family-estate of Rubislaw, by the death of his elder brother ; and at the
age of twenty-one, he was sent to Germany to complete his studies.
After acquiring a knowledge of the French and German languages he
returned to Edinburgh, and was admitted to the Scotch bar in 1797.
Here he formed an acquaintance with Sir Walter Scott, which ripened
into a close and life-long friendship. Mr. Skene had early shown a love
of art, and a singular talent for drawing, to which Sir Walter alludes in
the introduction to the 4th canto of Marmion, which is dedicated to Mr.
Skene —

' As thou with pencil, I with pen,
The features traced of hill and glen.'

"In 1797 Mr. Skene was appointed cornet of the Edinburgh Light
Horse, one of the earliest regiments of volunteers, which was organised
mainly by the efforts of Sir Walter Scott. After walking the Parliament
House for a few years, Mr. Skene revisited the continent in 1802, and
travelled over the greater part of Europe during the next few years. In
this journey he became acquainted with Mr. Greenough, President of the
Geological Society of London, and travelled for some time with that
distinguished geologist He thus acquired a taste for geology, and was
afterwards elected a member of the Geological Society.

"In 1806 Mr. Skene married Jane, daughter of Sir William Forbes
of Pitsligo, Bart, and settled on a small property he possessed in Kin-
cardineshire, where he spent the next eight years of his life.

140 SKENE OF RUBISLAW.

"In 1816 Mr. Skene returned to Edinburgh, for the education of his
children, when he joined the different literary and scientific societies,
which at that time were not in a very flourishing state. He became
a member of the Royal Society in 1817, and as Curator of their Library
and Museum, an office which he held for many years, he did eminent
service to that important department of the Society. He was also a
member of the Antiquarian Society, and took an active part in its reform
and restoration.

" During his residence in Edinburgh, Mr. Skene explored and
sketched the various buildings in the Old Town that were remarkable
for their antiquity or historical interest, and he has left a valuable collec-
tion of these sketches, which we trust may be given to the public.

" Mr. Skene held for many years the office of Secretary to the Board
of Trustees and Manufactures, and in this capacity he did much for the
promotion of the fine arts in Scotland.

" In 1838, when the health of some of his family required a warmer
climate, he went to Greece, and settled in the vicinity of Athens. In an
elegant villa, built by himself, he spent eight years ; and he has left
behind him a series of beautiful water-colour drawings, upwards of 500
in number, of the scenery and antiquities of that interesting country.

"On his return to England in 1844, ne t°°k up his residence in
Leamington. He afterwards went to Oxford, and resided in a curious
old mansion, called Frewen Hall, where he enjoyed the best literary
society in that seat of learning. After a residence there of nearly fifteen
years, he died on the 2/th of November, 1 864, in the goth year of his age.

" Mr. Skene was a man of very elegant tastes and numerous accom-
plishments. He had a great general knowledge of science as well as of
literature, and spoke with fluency French, German, and Italian. He was,
as Sir Walter Scott said, ' the first amateur draughtsman in Scotland,'
and was the author of two volumes of Illustrations of the Waverley
Novels. But though he used his pencil more than his pen, yet he made
several contributions to the Transactions of the Societies to which he
belonged, and was the author of the excellent article on painting in the
Edinburgh Encyclopaedia."

The preceding notice, though long, is valuable, as proceeding from the
pen of so eminent a man as Sir David Brewster, and has therefore been
inserted in place of an original notice of Mr. Skene, which would not

SKENE OF RUBISLAW. 14!

come so appropriately from his son. It may be added that the full page
illustrations to this volume are from his drawings.

His body was removed to Edinburgh, and interred beside the remains
of his wife, who died in November, 1862, in his burying-ground at St.
John's Episcopal Church there. He was survived by the following
children : —

I. George Skene, born at Edinburgh, 23rd October, 1807.
II. William Forbes Skene, born at Inverie, 7th June, 1809.

III. Eliza Skene, born at Inverie, 2ist October, 1810, married at

Athens in 1840, the Baron Charles de Heidenstam, Swedish
Minister at Athens, and died 2ist February, 1886, leaving issue.

IV. James Henry Skene, born at Inverie, 3rd March, 1812. He

entered the army, and after serving some years in the 73rd
Regiment, sold his commission, and settled in Greece, and in
1832 married Rhalou, daughter of Jakovaki Rizo Rangabe", the
head of an old and influential Fanariot family, by his wife, Zoe,
daughter of Eustache Lapati, Secretary of State for Moldavia.
He eventually became attached to the service of Lord Stratford
de Redcliffe, English Ambassador at Constantinople, and for
his services during the Crimean war was appointed Vice Consul
at Constantinople, and afterwards Consul-General at Aleppo,
from which office he retired in 1880, and died at Geneva on
3rd October, 1886. He was author of the "Frontier Lands of
the Christian and the Turk;" "Anadol, the Last Home of the
Faithful;" "Rambles in the Syrian Deserts;" and " With Lord
Stratford in the Crimean War." He left the following children: —

1. Felix James Henry Skene, Clerk in the House of Lords,

married, I5th December, 1871, Jane Elizabeth Huddleston
Hossack, second daughter of Angus Hossack, Esq., and has
issue, besides a son and two daughters died in childhood —

William Forbes, born 5th August, 1873.

James Henry, born 3rd December, 1877.

George Alexander, born 6th July, 1880.

Ethel Mary. Zoe. Olive Maud.

2. Reverend George William Charles Skene, Rector of Barthomley,

Crewe, married, in 1885, Mary Maud, daughter of the late
Honourable Edward Morris Erskine, Minister Plenipotentiary

142 SKENE OF RUBISLAW.

at Athens and at Stockholm, and widow of William John
Percy Lawton, Esq. of Lawton Hall.

3. Zoe Skene married, in 1855, the Reverend William Thomson,

D.D., Provost of Queen's College, Oxford, preacher of
Lincoln's Inn, and chaplain to the Queen ; in 1861 appointed
Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, and in 1862 Archbishop
of York, and has issue —

Wilfrid Forbes Home, born 2pth March, 1858, banker in

York.

Jocelyn Home, born 3ist August, 1859, Captain Royal
Artillery, married, in 1886, Mabel Sophia, daughter of
the Rev. Canon Paget.
Basil Home, born 2ist April, 1861, Commissioner of Colo,

Fiji.

Bernard Henry Home, born gth January, 1874.
Ethel Zoe, married, in 1887, the Rev. F. W. Goodwyn.
Zoe Jane. mOSUU$fhju> Pi i/c&Vtf /^d(^W>;^/£<?/
Beatrice Mary, married, in 1 886, Henry Edward, only son

of T. H. Preston, Esq. of Moreby Hall.
Alexandra. Madiline Ita Mary.

4. Jane Skene married, in 1863, the Reverend Lloyd Stewart

Bruce, Canon of York, and fourth son of Sir James Bruce
of Downhill, Bart She died in September, 1880, leaving
issue —

Robert Douglas, B.A., born 3Oth March, 1867.

Lloyd Hervey, born 2ist April, 1868.

Francis Rosslyn Courteney, born 1 4th August, 1871.

Wilfrid Montagu, born 26th October, 1874.

Ellen Mary.

Zoe Mary, married, in 1885, Rev. Charles Spencer,

Newham.

Irene Mary. Grace Guendolen. Rosamond Hilda.
Helen Jane Theodora. Edith Agnes Kathleen.

V. Catherine Skene, born at Inverie, 9th May, 1815, married in 1841
John Foster Grierson, Esq., Queen's Printer for Ireland, and has
one surviving son.

VI. Caroline Christian Skene, born at Edinburgh, 23rd November,
1818, married, in 1840, Alexandre Rizo Rangabe, her sister-in-

SKENE OF RUBISLAW. 143

law's brother, who has filled the office of Greek Minister at Paris
and at Berlin. She died in 5th December, 1878, leaving issue.
VII. Felicia Mary Frances Skene, born at Aix en Provence on 23rd
May, 1821, is unmarried, and resident at Oxford. She is
authoress of " Wayfaring Sketches among the Greeks and the
Turks;" "Use and Abuse;" "Hidden Depths;" "The Divine
Master ;" " The Lesters, a family record;" and other Novels and
Tales.

VII. — GEORGE SKENE OF RUBISLAW— 1864-1875.

George Skene, the eldest son, was educated at the High School of
Edinburgh, and on finishing his course there, having adopted the sea as a
profession, entered the sloop of war the Gannet, in which he served, as a
midshipman, for eighteen months. Having then, at the request of his
mother, given up the sea, he was sent with his brother, William, in 1824,
to Hanau, near Frankfort, for the prosecution of their education. In
1826 he was entered a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, and, in
1829, he passed advocate, and commenced practice at the Bar. In
1832 he married, on 26th April, Georgiana Monro, daughter of
Dr. Alexander Monro of Craiglockhart, Professor of Anatomy in the
College of Edinburgh. In 1837 he was elected by the Faculty to the
Chair of Universal History, in the University of Edinburgh, which he
held till 1841, when he was offered one of the Sheriffships of Glasgow,
which he accepted. In 1855 he was appointed Professor of Law in the
University of Glasgow, which chair he occupied till 1866, when he
retired and took up his permanent residence in Edinburgh.

By his wife, Georgiana Monro, he had the following children : —
I. James Francis Skene, born in 1833, and passed advocate in 1854.
He died on 22nd September, 1861, at the age of 29, on a voyage
home from Ceylon, which he had visited not long before.
II. Maria Isabella Skene remains unmarried.

III. J ane Georgina Skene married, 1 6th June, 1 864, George Michael Fraser
Tytler, secretary to the Bank of Scotland, younger son of James
Tytler of Woodhouselee, and died I4th June, 1871, having had
issue, besides two sons and a daughter who died in childhood —

144 SKENE OF RUBISLAW.

1. Maurice William, born i8th June, 1869.

2. Georgina Mabel Kate.

IV. Katherine Elizabeth Skene married, on 2Oth June, 1861, George
Chancellor, W.S., second son of Alexander Chancellor of Shield-
hill, who died in 3rd April, 1875.

His wife, Georgiana Monro, died in 4th June, 1868, and after her
death he married secondly, in 1 870, Catherine Elizabeth Tytler, daughter
of James Tytler of Woodhouselee.

After his retirement from the Professorship of Law, and his return to
Edinburgh, Mr. Skene devoted himself entirely to works of charity and
benevolence among the poor of the old town of Edinburgh, where he
was looked up to by all classes as a judicious and sympathetic friend and
helper. In the winter of 1870 he met with a severe accident, which
lamed him and impaired his health, and, in 1874, became aware that a
fatal disease was undermining his life, and that he could not survive
many months, a fate which he met with unusual calmness and fortitude,
and on 2nd January, 1875, he passed quietly away in the sixty-ninth
year of his age.

Mr. Skene was a man of much subtlety of intellect and of unusual
acquirements, which he united with an ardent temperament that led him
to the cultivation of strong religious principle, and to the exercise of an
untiring and self-denying devotion to works of charity and benevolence.

VIII.— WILLIAM FORBES SKENE

was educated at the High School of Edinburgh, and after a session at
Edinburgh College, was sent to Germany to prosecute his studies with his
brother, George. On his return he spent a session at St. Andrews, and
then, after serving an apprenticeship in the firm of Jardine and Wilson, of
which his uncle, Sir Henry Jardine, was senior partner, he passed Writer
to the Signet in 1832. In 1865 he received the degree of LL.D. from
the University of Edinburgh, and in 1879 that of D.C.L. from the Uni-
versity of Oxford. In 1881 he was appointed Her Majesty's Historio-
grapher for Scotland, an office which, with that of Her Majesty's Limner
for Scotland, held by Sir S. Noel Paton, is the sole remains of the
ancient Royal Household of Scotland. He has written "The High-

SKENE OF RUBISLAW.

145

landers of Scotland," 1837 ; "The Four Ancient Books of Wales," 1869 ;
"The Coronation Stone," 1869; "Celtic Scotland," 1880; "The Gospel
History for the Young," 1883 ; besides editing " The Dean of Lismore's
Book," " The Chronicle of the Picts and Scots," and three volumes of
" The Historians of Scotland." He is also editor of this volume.

He is now the male representative of the families descended from
James Skene, who was second son of Alexander Skene of Skene, by his
wife, a daughter of Lord Forbes.

Arms of Sir George Skene of Wester Fintray, from a Stone formerly in the
House of Rublslaw, now in the possession of the Editor.

U

APPENDIX N° I.*

SKENE OF RUTHRIESTON.

I. — ROBERT SKENE,

paynter and glassenwright, Aberdeen, on 2ist September, 1615, was
admitted Freeman, and that gratis, but payment of any composition at
the request of Sir James Skene of Curriehill.

He married Catharine Donaldson, and had by her —
I. Andrew Skene.
II. James Skene.

3Oth March, 1655 — James Skeyne, lawful son to the deceased
Robert Skeyne, glazier, was admitted a burgess of gild, James
Skene, burgess of Aberdeen, cautioner. This was the brother of
Newtyle, commonly called white James, and the James Skeyne
admitted was known as black James. He married in loth
February, 1657, Janet Lumsden, by whom he had three sons,
who died young, and three daughters.

2Oth June, 1685 — Christian, Elizabeth, and Margaret Skene,
lawful daughters to the deceased James Skene, elder, merchant
in Aberden, sell their right to the lands of Rudrieston to the
town.

III. William Skene died young.

IV. John Skene, a posthumous son.

9th December, 1635 — Robert Skene, painter, buriet

* The connection of the following families with that of Skene of Skene has not been
ascertained, and they are therefore inserted in an Appendix.

148 APPENDIX NO. I.

II.— ANDREW SKENE.

In 1637 Andrew Skene served heir to Robert Skene, vitrearius
burgen. de Aberdeen.

In 1642 Andrew Skene, eldest lawful son to umquhile Robert Skene,
glasenwright, burgess of Aberdeen, being past 14 years, chooses John
Forbes and Gilbert Skene, merchants, burgesses, for his curators.

There were at this time a considerable colony of Scotch merchants in
Holland, and for their protection a functionary, called the conservator of
Scotch privileges, was stationed at Campvere. It was an office similar
to that of the more modern Consul." We find Andrew Skene filling this
office from 1653 to 1665, and in 1664 Andreas Skene, mercator de
Campvere, is admitted burgess. James Skene, burgess, cautioner. In
1667 he was Dean of Guild of the town of Aberdeen, and acquired the
property of Rudrieston, and in 1667 Andrew Skene of Ruthrieston, and
Andrew, his son, acquired the lands of Pitmuxton, with the office of mair
of fee of the Sheriffdom of Aberdeen.

He married Christian Skene, daughter of Mr. Andrew Skene of
Overdyce, and widow of David Drummond, factor in Campvere, by
whom he had —

I. Robert Skene.
II. Andrew Skene.

In 1 2th October, 1667, is the admission of Robert Skene,
eldest son to Andrew Skene, Dean of Guild, as a burgess ; and
on 3rd June, 1672, of Andrew Skene, second son of Andrew
Skene of Ruthriestone, as a burgess.

In 29th July, 1673, there is a disposition by Andrew Skene
of Rudrieston, and Christian Skene, his spouse, and Robert and
Andrew Skene, his lawful sons, to John Moir, of the lands of
Rudrieston.

Robert Skene, the eldest son, appears to have predeceased
his father. On 25th June, 1667, he had married Margaret Far-
quhar, daughter of Alexander Farquhar, burgess of Aberdeen,
and had two daughters and one son —

SKENE OF RUTHRIESTON. 149

1. Christian Skene, born 6th April, 1668.

2. Margaret Skene, born 23rd September, 1669.

3. Andrew' Skene, born 24th December, 1670, who died young.

And in 1680 there is a discharge by Andrew Skene, younger
of Pitmuxton, to Margaret Farquhar, relict of deceased Robert
Skene, his brother.

Andrew Skene was succeeded in the estate of Pitmuxton by his
second son, to whom it had been conveyed in 1668.

III. — ANDREW SKENE OF PITMUXTON.

There is, on 23rd September, 1676, a discharge by Andrew Skene of
Pitmuxtone and Isobell Donaldson, his spouse, in favour of John
Donaldson, merchant burgess in Aberdeen, recorded ist May, 1680 ; and
in the same year Andrew Skene, younger of Pitmuxton, discharges
Margaret Farquhar, relict of the deceased Robert Skene, his brother, of
the effects and cabinet of papers he left with her three years ago, when
he went to Holland.

He had by her —

I. Andrew Skene.

II. Mary Skene,

and must have died before 1700, as on 3rd December, in that year, is a
marriage between John Clark, merchant, and Mary Skene, daughter of
the deceased Andrew Skene of Pitmuxton.

He was succeeded by —

IV. — ANDREW SKENE,

who was an apothecary in Aberdeen. He married Margaret Kirkton,
by whom he had —

I. Andrew Skene.
II. Alexander Skene.

In 1717 there is a charter to Andrew Skene, apothecary in Aberdeen,
and Andrew, his son, of the lands of Pitmuxtone.

He died in 1737, when his will is recorded. He was succeeded by
his eldest son.

I5O APPENDIX NO. I.

'*** V.— DR. ANDREW SKENE,

physician in Aberdeen ; and, in 1738, Andrew Skene, chirurgeon in
Aberdeen, eldest son of the late Andrew Skene, chirurgeon, and of
Margaret Kirkton, his wife, serves heir to his brothers.

He married Margaret Lumsden, a daughter of Lumsden of Cushnie,
and had by her the following children, mentioned in the Burgh Propin-
quity Book, 3rd April, 1765 : —

I. Mr. Andrew Skene, minister at Banff, died 2nd December, 1792.
II. Margaret Skene of Aberdeen, unmarried.

III. Dr. David Skene, physician, Aberdeen.

IV. Marjory Skene, married to Gilbert Jaffray in Kingswells.
V. Mary Skene of Aberdeen.

VI. Katharine Skene of Aberdeen.
VII. George Skene of Aberdeen.

On 24th August, 1767, died Dr. Andrew Skene, physician in Aber-
deen, in the 65th year of his age.

In 1769, Mary Skene married Andrew Thomson of Banchory.

VI. — DR. DAVID SKENE

died 27th December, 1770. A biographical sketch of David Skene, M.D.,
of Aberdeen, was read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, in 1859, by
Mr. Thomson of Banchory. He says, "From MSS. still existing [in Aber-
deen University Library] in every branch of natural history, which are
probably but a part of what he wrote, it appears that Skene pursued the
study of nature to an extent and with an accuracy previously unknown
in Scotland ; and from letters addressed to him by some of the most
eminent men of the time, it is evident that his merits were thoroughly
recognised by his contemporaries. His early death prevented his giving
any part of the fruit of his labours to the public."

SKENE OF AUCHTERERNE.

The property of Auchtererne, afterwards called Waterearn, is in the
parish of Logic Coldstone, and the Skenes seem from an early period
to have had a hereditary right to the vicarage of Logic, in connection
with which they had a possession called Tullinturk, in the neighbouring
parish of Kincardine O'Neill. It is extremely difficult to trace a
connected pedigree of this family.

In 1443 we find Robertus Skene, vicarius de Logymar; and, again, a
hundred years later, we have in 1551 Mr. Robert Skene, vicar of Logy;
and, in 1555, he appears as Mr. Robert Skene in Tullinturk. In the
register of the Privy Seal we find — " Preceptum legitimationis Jacobi
Skeyne, Arthuri Skeyne, Johannis Skeyne, Roberti Skeyne et Gilbert!
Skeyne bastardorum filiorum Magistri Roberti Skeyne, vicarii de
Logymar in communi forma apud Edinr. penult die mensis Februarii,
1SS3-" The first Skene of Auchtererne we find on record is —

I. — JOHN SKENE,

; ,

who married one of the two co-heirs of Auchtererne of that ilk. On
1 8th February, 1506, there was a charter to John Skene and Margery
Auchtererne, his spouse, one of the daughters and heirs of John
Auchtererne, and the heirs of the marriage; whom failing, the nearest
and lawful heirs of the said Margery, of the half of the lands of Auch-
tererne, with the half of the Blackmi^^

II. — JAMES SKENE IN TULLINTURK, AFTERWARDS OF AUCHTERERNE.

In 1536 James Skene in Tullinturk has the reversion of the half
of Garlogy, and, 3rd June, 1540, there is a charter to James Skene in

152 APPENDIX NO. I.

Tullinturk and his heirs, of the west half of Auchtererne and half
« Mill, on the resignation of John Skene and Margery Auchtererne, his
wife. Then on 7th December, 1543, there is ane brieve maid to
Maister Robert Skene, vicar of Logic, his airis and assignees, ane
er ma, of the gift of the ward of the west half of the lands of
Auchtererne, with the pertinents quhilk is pertainet to umquhile James
Skene, portioner of Auchtererne, while the said half lands shall happen
to be in the hands of the Queen, by reason of ward, thro' decease of
Marjoria Auchtererne, liferenter of the same, or of the said umquhile
James, till the lawful entry of the heir, being of lawful age; and also
of the marriage of William Skene, sone and heir of the said umquhile
James, and failing him, the marriage of any other heirs of the said James.

III. — WILLIAM SKENE OF AUCHTERERNE

married a sister of Patrick Forbes of Pittalochie, and had by her a son
and two daughters —

I. John Skene.
II. Janet Skene.
III. Eupheme Skene.

He died before 1571, as on 2ist November, 1571, then in the record
of the Privy Seal " ane letter maid to Maister Robert Skene, his airis
and assignees, ane er ma, of the gift of the ward of the west half of the
Mylne, Mylne lands, and Tullerbe of the same land, whilk pertainet to
umquhile William Skene, portioner of Auchtererne, and now thro' his
decease being, as when it shall happen to be, in our sovereign lord's
hands, by reason of ward, and also of the gift of the marriage of John
Skene, sone and heir of said umquhile William Skene."

IV. — WILLIAM SKENE IN TULLOCH, AFTERWARDS OF AUCHTERERNE,

was second son to Mr. Robert Skene, vicar of Logic, and married Janet
Skene, one of the daughters and co-heirs (through decease of her
brother John) of William Skene of Auchtererne, and afterwards his
widow, Margaret Forbes, her stepmother.

SKENE OF AUCHTERERNE. 153

In 1571 he acquires one half of one half of Auchtererne from
Eupheme Skene, the other co-heir.

On ist March, 1588, Alexander Skene, eldest lawful son of Arthur
Skene in Tullocht, has, in 1584, a 19 years' tack of the vicarage teinds of
Migvie.

In 1600 Arthur Skene appears as portioner of Auchtererne.

On 23rd March, 1593, there is on the register of the Privy Seal a
precept of a charter confirming a feu charter by Eupheme Skene, one of
the two heirs of William Skene, portioner of Auchtererne, proprietor of
the lands aftermentioned, with assent of George Forbes, her husband, to
Arthur Skene in Tulloch, and the heirs male procreated between him
and Margaret Forbes, his spouse, whom failing as their heirs whomsoever
of the half of the shadow half of the town and lands of Auchtererne, with
the half of the lands of Tulloch and Drumino.

In 1604 Arthur Skene, portioner of Auchtererne, conveys to
Alexander Gordon of Lesmoir, one half of the shadow half of Auchter-
erne, Tulloch, and Druminie.

Arthur seems to have had three daughters, one of whom, Janet,
married Robert Skene of Rannaloch, younger son of James Skene of
Westercorse, and had by him a son, Alexander.

V. — ALEXANDER SKENE OF AUCHTERERNE.

In 1621 Alexander Skene served heir to Janet Skene, his mother,
in the third part of the shadow half of Auchtererne, third part of
shadow half of Tulloch, and third part of the shadow half of Drummond.

Alexander Skene died in 1645.

There is the following tradition of him : —

" A younger brother of Skene of Skene got the lands of Auchtererne,
of whom is come Mr. Alexander Skene, who was a learned physician,
and dyed in Peterso, in Poland, who by solid argument caused a priest
burne his Byble. This man was the true heir of Auchtererne, some-
tyme called Wattererne, quhilk holdes in Barronie of the king, but now
is become vassal of the Earl of Marr and Aboyne, and the titles
theirof belonges to the house of Pitsligo, and titular and patron of
Colston" (MS.C). His daughter, Margaret Skene, served heir to her

V

154 APPENDIX NO. I.

father, Alexander Skene, who died twelve years before, in the same lands
in 1658.

In 1697 there is a disposition by Alexander Skene of that ilk, heir
served to John Skene, his father, narrating a disposition by Margaret
Skene, only lawful daughter of the deceased Alexander Skene, portioner
of Auchtererne, her father, dated i8th April, 1656, disponing to said
John Skene the third part of the lands of Auchtererne, Tullo, and
Drumon, and conveying the same to his brother, George Skene.

This was George Skene of Auchtererne, who, in 1720, purchased the
lands of Carraldstone.

APPENDIX N° II.

FOREIGN LETTERS, ADDRESSED TO SIR JOHN SKENE BETWEEN

1586 AND 1598.*

i.

S. D. Nobilis et Doctissime vir amice observande.

Veniam dabis ut spero huic importunitati literarum mearum, quas ad
te, licet gravioribus negociis satis occupatum, dare non dubitavi, partim
amicitiae nostrae initse erga, partim quoque ut tibi significarem me pictur-
arum illarum, nihil adhuc accepisse.

Nescio an pictoris culpa, an vero illius cui has ad me deferendas
dedisti accident, solum hoc sato me neque auditione quidem quidquam
hactenus de illis intelligere potuisse. Quidquid sit responsum tuum
omnino mihi erit expectandum antequam hinc discedam, quod ut ad me
quamprimum expedias te pro mea erga te observantia vehementer oro.

Ad iter meum quod attinet nolo te ignorare me id ex animo confecisse,
neque mihi in eo quidquam adversi accidit, praeterquam quod et Aerae et
Dublin! paulo diutius haerere coactus fui adversante vento. Redii tamen
in hanc urbem Deo beneficio salvus et incolumis.

Ea quae in perlustranda Scotia vestra mihi in mentem venerunt.
Ae'ram cum primum venissem tuo isti clienti meoque conductor! ad te
perferenda dedi : Sed ille nescio an sponte an vero oblivione literas
meas discedens in diversorio reliquit atque ad te vacuus rediit, quod ideo
addendum esse putavi, ne forte mea negligentia illud fuisse factum
existimes.

Caeterum abs te vir nobilissime peto me tui amantissimum ut redames,
et de me unice id tibi persuadeas, me non solum veram et sinceram
amicitiam tecum perpetuo colere velle, verum etiam per literas memoriam

* From the originals preserved in Her Majesty's General Register House, Edinburgh.

156 APPENDIX NO. II.

tui ad te testaturum esse quotiescunque occasio mihi se obtulerit. Oro
Deum ut te patriae et nobis amicis tuis diu incolumem servet, et te
tuoque omnes ab omni malo semper protegat.

Salutat te plurimum et officiosissime Lavinus noster. Vale. Londini
1 6 Cl. Octobris Anno salutis LXXXVI.

tui studiosissirnus.

CAROLUS BARO ZEROTINUS.

Nobilissimo et doctissimo viro domino Joanni Skenaeo amico
suo plurimum observando louinge Frende Sr. Johne Skene at
Edenbourge. Edimburg.

2.

S. D. An mea tibi postrema epistola reddita sit, nescio . sed cum
serenissimo Rege tuo in Dania te hyemasse non dubito fortasse occupa-
tiones obstiterunt, ne responderes . volui tamen ego ad te iterum paucis
scribere, offerente se occasione per D. Renecherum veterem amicum
nostrum istuc proficiscentem, quern etsi ubi carum esse per se non dubito,
vt mea causa tamen cum cuncta amplectione et ore docebit is te de
rerum nostrarum statu et rebus communibus eritque vice epistolae. Ubi
audiveris eum et cognoveris eius consilium ac rationes, bene feceris si et
ad Regis tui colloquium aditum ei aperueris . plura non potui per occu-
pationes. Bene et Feliciter vale: ac serenissimo Regi tuo me subiec-
tissime commenda 18 Junii Kal. Anno 90

CAS. PEUCERUS.

D.

Brevitatem epistolii excusabit

D. Renecherus.

Nobilitate doctrina, prudentia et virtute excellenti D. Johanni
Scheneio consiliario praecipuo serenissimi Regis Scotise etc. amico
veteri et carissimo.

3-
Monsieur,

I'esperoye de vous aller veoir et me resiouir auec vous du bon
estat de votre maison et accroissement d'honneurs dont Dieu et votre

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 157

Roy honorent voz vertuz, mais comme je pensoye monter a cheual, on
m'a coupe les estriers, comme vous dira Monsr le Docteur Moresin. Au
reste apres avoir fait plusieurs voyages en Italic et en France assez
hereusement, auec des Sre de plus grande marque que ceulx que vous
avez cogneu a Wittemberg, finalment m'estant retir£ a ma maison en
Sauoye auec ma femme, par la rage de la guerre i'ay este" mange et pille
de tous costez comme par trop voysin de Geneue, qui estoit le but et
siege de la guerre en ce paye la, et me defaillant 1'industrie de pouuoir
plus gouuerner ma barque parmy taut de tempestes, voyant que je ne me
pouuoye maintenir dauantage en ma maison sans naufrage de ma religion,
j'ay tout laisse par force. Et apres auoir seiourne 'plus de deux ans en
la maison du viceroy de Boheme en enseignant son filz le Baron de Neu-
hauss, desirant de reueoir les uniuersitez d'Allemaigne ennuye de leurs
quereles et combats en faict de la religion parmy leur gar aus, je suis
venu en Angleterre la ou j'ay este trompe de plus de la moiete. Et ne
scay encores quelle fin prendront mes affaires. Vous asseurant que si ce
n'eust este la singuliere bonte et courtoisie de Mr. Antoine Bacon (qui
m'a retire en sa maison me fauorisant plus que ie n'ay iamais merite en
son endroict, sinon en tant que 1'aymant et honorant de tout mon coeur,
il a pense de m'estre oblige par ses propres faueurs) ie n'auroye plus de
boys poure faire feu ou flesche. Et me semble que la fortune (si je
doits ainsi parler) deuroit estre lasse du jeu et laisser reposer ceste
pauure pelotte, qui ne scauroit plus rejaillir ny bondir. Mais ce sera
quand il plaira a ce bon Dieu, lequel je prie de vouloir continuer ses
faueurs en toute votre maison et vous donner un entier accomplisse-
ment des saincts et vertueux desirs que j'ay tousiours honore en vous.
Je vous prie aussi de vous vouloir resouuenir de 1'amitie que vous m'auez
porte a Wittemberg et m'aymer comme ie vous honoreray toute ma vie.
De Londres ce 22 de Nouembre 1594.

Votre tres affectione a vous obeir et seruir,

Le Doulx,

CATHARINUS DULCIS.

Beatus me, si rescripseris cum arnica significatione tuae erga me bene-
uolentiae sis fcelix cum dulcissimis tuis liberis.

Clarissimo viro domino Joanni Skynaeo, Magno Magnatorum in
senatu summo Scotiae, domino et amico summa fide obseruando.

Edimburgum.

158 APPENDIX NO. II.

4-

S. P. Quamvis Clarissime Et Doctissime Domine Skynae, amice
amantissime, ab eo usque tempore, ex quo primum noticia inter nos et
amicitia orta atque inita est, continuis itineribus et variis occupationibus
impeditus fuerim, quo minus aliquid ad te perscribere, minusque aliquid
non tarn de tua ipsius valetudine, quam de tuo tuorumq'ue reliquo statu,
quern secundissimum semper optavi, comperire potuerim ; Animo tamen
hoc maxime tempore, quo praesentium lator, minister meus, aliorum
expediundorum negociorum gratia in Scotiam ablegandus fuit, inprimis
incidit, ut quae tui status prsesens ratio ac conditio esset, intelligere
satagerem, tecumque, si omnia tibi ad nutum et voluntatem fluerent,
plurimum laetarer: Nee tamen intermitterem, quin a te amanter rogarem,
ut huic ministro meo, si forte tuo vel consilio vel auxilio in sibi com-
missi negocii expeditione indigeret, benevole succurrere promteque adesse
non gravarere, Tibique persuaderes, quicquid ei meo nomine praestares,
mihi fore acceptissimum, et me ad omnia amicissimi et tibi addictissimi
animi studia et officia semper paratissimum pollicereris. Quibus te
divinae Clientelae commendatum volo. Dabantur Hafniae Quarto Junii
Anno 1595.

Magtiae- et Amplitudinis

tuae observantissimus

HENRICUS RAMELIUS.

Clarissimo Et Doctissimo Viro Domino Johanni Skynaeo Juris
Utriusque Doctori, Et Parlamenti Edinburgensis Advocate, Amico
suo singulari.

5-

Salue quam plurimum mi nobilissime et charissime D. Skenaee.

Dici non potest quanta non modo iucunditate amictesimae tuae literae
me affecerint: sed etiam quam grata fuerit mihi presentia nobilissimi et
generosissimi uiri D. Vilhelmi Stuardi, qui easdem exhibuit. Cui sane
praesertim in tanta eius festinatione et meo quoque inopinato Praga
discessu, pro summis meis viribus conabar mea officia offerre, quod id
ipsum ipsemet uti spero fatebitur. Deduxi eum quoque ad supremum
Regni Bohemici prsefectum D. de Noua Domo, cujus amicitia illi spero
profuturam. Omnes sane hujus uestri hominis integritatem prudentiam

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 159

et dexteritatem amamus . quae ex ipso uultu et sermone apparet . ideo ut
saepe nostratibus dixerim Deum in locis illis Septentrionalibus et occi-
dentalibus hoc nostro seculo excitare et semare sibi homines, qui aliquando,
orientales et meridionales nationes ex Babilonica captiuitate, sint
liberaturi: et ueris Israelites contra blasphemiam et Tyrranidem Gog et
Magog et Dei istius Mauseos opem laturi in modo ista monstra et feces
Sathanae de quibus et tu quoque in literis tuis conquereris turbarent, hac
omnia. Sed turbabit et hos aliquando Dominus ille Jehoua Elohim
Spiritu uertiginis, ut in propriam perniciem suam turbata aqua ipsimet
in ea merguntur.

Hoc nunc dico Deum aliquid singulare meditari in hoc bello turcico,
ad quod tarn remotae gentes singulari zelo Dei pulsi ultro sua auxilia
ofTerunt, ueluti serenissimus Rex tuus et Moscouitarum Princeps . cujus
amplissimam legationem cum donis maximis que aliquot tunnus auri
superant. Dominus Stuardus vester hie Pragae uidit, et a me hesterna die
ad eos deductus fuit, de capta a Caesereano milite Arce Strigoniensi in
Hungaria, et de occupatis aliis tribus munitionibus etiam a milite nostro
in Croatia, et caesis plus quam decem millibus turcarum . adeo ut hoc anno
95, turcarum tarn a nostro quam a Transyluani milite ultra quinquaginta
millia saltern in acie periare paucis nostris Dei singulari protectione
desideratis. Nos itaque hie omnes jam a triennio in procinctu esse
cogimus, et plus arma quam literas et musas meditari ; sed hsec hactenus.

De felicissimo rerum tuarum statu, summa cum animi uoluptate
cognoui. Vere" ergo beatitude ilia a Regio Propheta Psal : 128 decantata,
tibi diuinitus contigit . in qua ut tibi dominus Deus ad ultimum uitae tuae
curriculum benedicat eum ex animo precor.

De mearum rerum statu scito, me post longas illas quindecim annorum
peregrinationes peragratis pene praecipuis Europiacis Regnis excepta
uestra Scotia et Hispania, etiam in Asiam excurrisso, ubi et nos per
literas ut scis salutauimus. Quo sane in loco cum per quinquennium
ab oratore Caesareo et ab ipsa maiestate Caesarea detinerer, et diutius
etiam detineri debebam, oblata insuper mihi spe obeundi muneris oratoris
seu legati Caesarei, malui potius Domi meae Arator, quam i bidem
Orator fieri, et bobus paternis ut Horatius canit paterna excolere rura,
proculque remotus talium ab aulis. reverse ergo mihi in Bohemiam,
sua Mtus- Caesarea obtulit et injunxit Sessionem in Senatu appelationum
Regni Bohemici, in quo adhuc haereo.

l6o APPENDIX NO. II.

Vxorem quoque singular! sorte diuina mihi datam duxi ex anti-
quissima et illustri familia Baronum a Wartumberg, ex qua aliquot
liberos suscepi, sed tantum filius et filia in uiuis sunt. Princius ad quern
per D. Stuardum literas quoque dedisti meus collega est . verum qui hanc
religionem Catolicam in qua tecum mecumque aeducatus fuit summo-
pere et deridet, et blasphemat, ita ut caute tibi imposterum ad ipsum
scribendum sit. Quod sane peccatum si per ignorantiam committeret
excusabilior forsan esset, uerum terrestria curat nostrum autem muni-
cipium mi D. Skenaee in ccelis est unde et illustrem ilium aduentum magni
illius Dei Saluatoris nostri expectamus, qui suas promissiones tanquam
DEUS ille mentiri nescius, suis temporibus suis adimplebit cultoribus.
uiderint ergo isti hypocritae et derisores Deumue an potius se ipsos fallant.

Nos interea licet corpore remoti, Spiritu tamen Christi aeterno et
indissolubili vinculo coniuncti, sanctorum illam communionem etiam in
hac mortalitate, insitando alii alios per literas seruabimus: recordaturi
aliquando etiam horam in ilia aeterna societate, ubi non opus erit Epistolis,
sed nos omnes erimus Epistola in Christo.

Ceterum id quod initio discendum erat . unice et Summopere tibi
commendo Magnif. et illustrem Baronem, Dominum Johannem Dionisium
a Zierotin, que tibi hasc emeas literas tradit. Est in haec familia ualde
illustris et in Bohemia et in Morauia . et uitricus huius D. Fredericus a
Zerotin Vice Rex Morauiae. Fratris etiam nomen et fama huius D.
Johannis non dubito quin tibi in Scotia sit nota, utpote qui haec loca
peragrauit. Et licet uterque non magnae staturae est; tamen in istis
parvis doliis non tam quantitas quam qualitas materiae spectanda est. In
summa adeo eum tibi commendo, ut neminem magis commendare quam
quid quid huic Baroni a te et a serenissimo Rege tuo gratiae et fauoris et
promotionis ad aliquid apud uos uidendum demonstrabitur . id nobis
universis factum puta . est etiam haec familia earum opum ut quosuis
illustrissimos Principes at uiros tante et pro dignitate in Domo sua
excipere posset ut interea taceam de pietate in Deum, et summa
constantia in ea retinenda, et promouenda. Bene et felicissime uale
uiueque aeternum mi D. Skenaeo. Datae 13 Septembris anno 95.

Tui obseruantissimus frater

VUENCESL. BUDOWEIZ
a Budoria.

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. l6l

Nobilissim et Magnifico uiro Domino Johanni Skenaeo,
Supremi Senatus Regni Scotiae assessori, et Archiuorum Regni
Praefecto, Domino et fratri suo antiqua fide et constantia charissimo
et obseruandissimo Edinburgum.

6.

S. Etsi pudet me quod tarn longo tempore nihil ad te scripsi,
confido tamen te pro humanitate et benevolentia erga me tua hanc inter-
missionem officii mei in scribendo minus grauiter laturum esse mihique
veniam daturum, praesertim cum neminem habuerim hactenus cui meas
tuto ad te darem.

Audio antem te in patria tua maxima authoritate, apud tuos popu-
lares ualere, et te in gratia serenissimi Regis uestri esse, ut et tibi
gratulor et mihi gaudeam. Amicorum commodis non minus ac meis
propriis libenter laetari soleo.

De me hoc tantum tibi dicere possum, me Dei beneficio in re me-
diocri uel ultra etiam mediocritatem Prage uiuere et artem medicam
exercere. Senex fere vxorem duxi ; et quidem diuinitus mihi con-
ciliatus has nuptias non possum dubitare, cum a Deo petiuerim bonum
coniugium, et huius donum esse hoc sciam referente etiam sapiente rogo.
Caeterum oro aeternum Deum ut te Reipub. conseruet, que tui similes
que paucos habeat audeo dicere, et tamen cuilibet nullo unquam tempore
magis fuit opus, quam in hac uicissitudine rerum omnium dum ruinam
omnia minantur et interitum.

Noua si que hie sunt ex illustri et generoso D. Barone Joh. Dionysio
fratre domini Caroli Zerotinij nostri cognosces. Commendare tibi eum
nihil attinet. Genus et heroica ipsius indoles dubio procul eum tibi satis

commendabunt. Bene et feliciter uale nobilissime domine Schinae

x
amice vetus ac obseruande. Dominus Deus te et omnes tuas actiones

perpetuo gubernet et incolumem diu conseruet. Datae Pragae 14 Septem-
bris 1595.

Tui obseruantiss.

Venceslaus Lauinius

AD. ROSEMBERGICUS.

Nobilitate virtute et eruditione praestantiss. domino Joh.
Schinaeo Serenissimi regis Scotiae consiliario digniss. domino et
amico veteri ac plurimum observando. Eidinburgi.

w

1 62 APPENDIX NO. II.

7-

Nobilissimo et doctissimo Domino Skeneae S. P.

Quam gratae imo quam gratissimas mihi fuerint Kterae tux, quas ad
me per nobilissimum virum D. Guilhelmum Stuardum dederas, puto te
iam ex response meo cognovisse Respond! enim per Generosum Baronem
D. Johannem Dionisium a Zerotin, quern tibi euntem in Scotiam com-
mendaueram, et adhuc unice commendo, non dubitans quin si ad vos
uenerit, haec commendatio aliquod ponderis sit habitura.

Scripsi ad te quoque de rerum mearum statu, turn etiam de bello
nostro contra Turcas. Ac quia nobilissimus et strenuus Eques D. Guil-
helmus Stuarduas nunc ad uos reuertitur intermittere nolui, quin eandem
aliquod literarum ad te darem.

Quantum uero ego in promovendo hoc tanto et tanti uiri negotio
laborauerim, uelim ut ex illo haec potius quam ex me cognosces. Quam
primum hue uenit, data ipsi fuit a sua majestate Caes : (ut aulico
stylo loquimur) audientia, et deinde excurrit ad uidenda nostrorum militum
prope Strigonium Castra, his peractis iterum Pragam uenit, quern ad
nonnullos praecipuos Regni nostri uiros ad contrahendam cum illis
noticiam et amicitiam deduxi . qui sane ob eximias heroicas dotes et
peritiam rei militaris, omnibus quam gratissimus erat, ut interea taceam
de ilia in tarn forti et strenuo milite et duce, morum suauitate, et in
primis uero pietate. O utinam non negligeremus hoc bonum, et utinam
plures eiusmodi essent . qui non modo hominibus sed potius Christo contra
blasphemas illas et crudeles gentes turicas militare uellent. Imo quid
nonnullae nationes christianae bellum contra Turcas gerendo efficiant, imo
quam potius turpiter perfide et scelerate ad hostes filii Dei deficiant et
nos prodant, id proh dolor experimus . modo oculos ad mare mediter-
raneum conuertito. Si ergo bellum contra turcas gerendum uti oportet
est occidentalis et septrionalis miles ad haec quam idoneus esset. Nam
huic militi nulla cum turca affinitas, et miles hie plus ferre et pati potest.
accedit ad haec quod ex ipsis fundamentis uerbi Diuini et non consuetu-
dine aliqua politica Christum et spem in eo repositam discunt et hac
scientia ueluti armis intrinsecis omnium fortissimis sese contra tantum
hostem muniunt, unde et ilia externa arma uerum suum robur et uim
sumunt . nam sine his omnia arma humana sunt instar machinae magnae,
ex qua quis solo tantum globo absque puluere iaculari cupit, et qui

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 163

quaeso fieri potest ut terrestre illud et tarn graue pelletur absque intrin-
seca in aliqua spirituali. Haec ideo hue addo ut demonstrem quantum
momenti sit christianum militem contra Turcas habere posse . alias certe
ob licentiam carnis facilis est ad hostes spontaneus lapsus. Ac certe si
Turca mutationem patietur sicuti aliquando id euenturum est idque
extrimissimis promissionibus Dei, necessum erit ut maior pietas si non
in plebeio milite et saltern in ducibus appareat, utque remotis super-
stitionibus in nomine sacro sanctae et incomprehensibilis Trinitatis arma
sumamus et alii aliorum tolleremus infirmitates, conuerso omni zelo
nostro contra communem nominis Christiani hostem . alia ab ipsis turcis
nobis malum et ruinam imminuerit. Sed haec hactenus, et quidem
properante calamo necnon propter uarias occupationes aliter scribere
licuit. De rebus Vngareis et aulae nostrae statu a domino Stuardo cog-
nosces. Plura scribere nox uelat Bene et felicissime uale mi charissime
D. Skense. Iterum uale, donee in aeterna uita aeterno nostro Seruatori
Christo uero Deo et uero homini coniungemus. Datae Pragae 21
Octobris an : 95.

Tui obseruandiss.

VUENCESLAUS BUDOWEIZ
Non perlegi. a Budoria Consil : Caes.

Nob ss : et praestantissimo uiro D. Johanni Skenaeo, sereniss :
Regis S/cotiae consiliario, et eiusdem Regni archiuorum prasfecto.
D. et fratri suo ueteri fide aeterna charis. et col.

Edinburgum.

8.

S. P. Et praeter votum et contra expectationem meam accedit, Vir
Clarissime, quod ego non iuerim in Scotiam, ut veteris ac antiqua fide
amici dulcissima consuetudine fruerer, lectissimam tuam uxorem viderem
ac communes utriusque vestram liberos pro mutuo amoris nostri affectu
amantissime amplecterer. Sed quae est rerum mearum constantissima
inconstantia, dum necessitate cogor obsequi illorum placitis qui non tam
mei quam sui commodi causa meam operam conducunt, factum est ut
post multos cogitationum velut aestus marini fluxus et refluxus, cum jam
cogitarem de discessu adscitus fuerim in familiam Illustris ac Inclyti D.
Domini Joannis Dyonisii Baronis e Zerotin qui et ipse cum non satis

164 APPENDIX NO. II.

fauentes Calydonios deos dicam an Nymphas? experiretur, ab itinere
retractus vi morbi, consilio medicorum et amicorum iter isthuc suum in
aliud tempus differet, ac ubi ex febri tertiana convaluerit propter metu
motuum qui etium hie timentur in Galliam profecturus est. Interea
tamen quo est heroico animo fratris Caroli quern nosci, aemulus in
amandis tui similibus hoc est viris cordatis synceris et grauibus, iussit ut
ego te ipsius nomine peramanter salutarem simulque omnia studia et
arnica officia offerem, Nobilis Henricus ab Eberbach ejus praefectus, vir
singular} fide et prudentia plurimam salutem quoque tibi adscribi iussit, ac
ad te transmittit literas communium nostrorum amicorum Dominorum
Budouitii et Lauinii cum aliquibus aliis ad Inclytum Stuardum quas oro
ut diligenter reddi cures. De rebus meis nihil laetum omnia redacta in
fiscum saubaudi ; noster Lodouicus Robineus in Pictonibus seu de la
Chauuiniere mortuus est, Musancherius viuit et valet. Si Deus volet nos
saluos esse Parisiis, illhinc diligenter de omnibus scribam quae putabo ad
nostram amicitiam pertinere. Caeterum oro Deum Optimum Maximum
ut tibi et totae familise bene faciat, Vale et ama. Londino, die festo
Sancti Georgii 1596.

T. A. studiosissimus et obseruantissimus.

CATHARINUS DULCIS.

Clarissimo viro Domino Joanni Skinaeo J. Cto- apud Scotos
magno Rotulorum Magistro, Domino et amico suo singulari fide et
obseruantia colendo.

Edimburgum.

9-

Serenissime Potentissimeque REX ac Domine Domine clementissime.

Gratissimis animis amplexi sumus Serenissimae Majestatis Vestrae
iusique justiciae et in nostrates favoris et clementiae studium quod miris
modis nobis praedicarunt cives nostri ejus navis exercitores et mercatores,
qvam subditi Illustris Domini Comitis Orcauen, praeteritis annis ad
Insulam Unstam Ditionis Majestatis Vestrae vi et manu caeperunt ac
spoliarunt. Nam quod eorum mandatarius Ornatissimus Joannes
Ehlerus, post peractam juris omnem feruie solennitatem nihilominus
sententia definitiva in causa rerum direptarum principali destitutus est.

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 165

Id potentiam adversarium potuisse, assensum suum nunquam accom-
modante Majestate Vestra sumus persuassissimi. Ipsa enim uti
accipimus . factum non solum serio adversata, et ad transigendum
de damnis illatis Dominum Comitem Orcanensem sedulo adhortata
est ; sed et arbitrium causae dirimendae benignissime ipsa suscepit,
et detrectante hoc Domino Comite praedicto Ehlero civi . . .
via aggrediendam gratiam authorit . . . et . . . tis tantum
studio proprio non aliquo ipsius mer . . . licita est. Nobis qvidem
nihil accidere gratius potuit gravi in tanta civium nostrorum adversitate,
habere eos propiciam Serenissimam Majestatem Vestram. Proinde ne
verbis aegrare posse immensum beneficium videamur, quas debere nos
gratias agnoscamus nihil hie dicimus, sed ut prioribus in nostrates benig-
nitatis studiis unum etiam hoc adjicere dignetur etiam atque etiam verbis
diligentissimis humilime rogamus. Nimirum ut authoritatem suam
Regiam apud augustissimum Sessionis Consilium, quo remissam earn
controversiam accepimus pro regia pietate interponat ne novum adoriendi
Processum et rem actam denuo agendi necessitas civibus nostris impona-
tur, sed revisis prioris judicii actitatis, qvod bonitas qvod aequitas qvod
immota justiciae Regula, qvod Gentis utriusque consvetudo, qvod denique
publicae tranquilitatis utilitatisque ratio svaserit et dictitaverit citra per-
sonarum respectum aliquem statuatur atque defmiatur ac tandem ali-
quando cives nostri benevolentiae potius et humanitatis officia meriti
aestimationem navis et rerum injuria ablatarum haud difficulter conse-
quantur ac tarn Justicia et dementia Majestatis Vestrae gravi propria
innocentia et meritis adjuti facultatibus suis redintegrentur. Ita DEUS
Optimus Maximus Serenissimam Majestatem Vestram diutissime salvam
et incolumem, Regia fortuna florentissimam et Regnandi prosperitate
gloriosissimam misericordissime tueatur. Nos vero quantum justiciae
commendatio potuerit ad clementiam, tantum collati in cives nostros
beneficii memoria ad humilimum ut obsequium afferat, sedulo sumus
effecturi. Ejusdem Majestatis Vestrae Gratiae et favori nos quoque humi-
lime commendamus. Datae Gedanidie xxiiiia mensis Anno Domini M°
D° xcvi°.

D . . . 'tisVr .J;r;.,

Obsequentissimi

Praeconsules et Consules

Civitatis Gedanensis.

l66 APPENDIX NO. II.

10.

Literae tuae, Vir Clarissime atque amplissime, mirum in modum me
oblectarunt, quod per eas intelligam mei apud Dominam tuam non
tantum conseruari memoriam verumetiam amicitiam obseruari ac coli
integram: qua in re faris quod humanitate tua atque candore insigni
dignam est: ego equidem quantum in me est lubentissime enitor ut
amicitia tua dignus reperiar, hoc enim me monent ac jubent amplis-
simae beneuolentiae tuae mihi praestitae testimonia, quae tenacissime
memoriae meae inherent, semperque dum viuam inherebunt atque d. Te-
obiunctissimum tenebunt. Quod legum regni editionem te moliri ais,
Jubente rege; Majestati suae, regno, omnibusque quorum interest, gratulor
quod te virum amplissimum eique rei omnibus modis quam maxime
idoneum, tarn doctrina quam facultate ac studio praestantem habeant, qui
id exequatur; tibi in hoc mugitanti, ut ex animo succedat exopto, ac
dolorem sane opus tarn necessarium inopia chartae infectum iri. Vellem
sane, quantum possem, isti defectui opem ferre; attamen cum nee in hac
regione aut chartae conficiatur, aut ea, qua opus est, quantitate, aut
qualitate, venalis extet, profited cogor me id ofricii non posse praestare
quemadmodum typographus tuus testabitur. Si alia quapiam in re d. T.
gratificari, potero, habebis me quam obsequenfissimum. Caeterum
ingentes ago gratias quod de statu regni isthuc quaedam mihi perscribere
volueris : Deum precor ut tarn vobis quam nobis incolumem seruet
religionem et patriam. Nobis hie capto Caleto atque itidem Ardea-
tensibus, bellum grauius incumbit, Cardinalis archidux exercitum
victoria elatum ipse animosus in Flandriam eduxit, Ostendae obsidionem
cogitarat, sed cum summa diligentia isti oppido et munitionibus et armoria,
et omnibus aliis rebus necessariis quantum fieri potest prouiderimus
videtur alio tendere, Hulstam scilicet aut Axeliam Flandriae, nobis
Zelandis admodum vicinis, ita quod maximi belli laboribus detinemur,
atque involvimur, non tarn viribus nostris confisi, quae sane Jam sint
exiguae (Gallia enim adhuc dum partem copiarum nostrarum habet,
turn etiam per classem Anglicanam alia pars non contemnenda abducta
est) quam Dei armipotentis auxilio; Eum nobis precamur propitium,
atque etiam rogo ut te conseruet. Vale vir clarissime atque amplissime
meque ut facis amare perge. Middelburgo, 23a die Junij 1596.

T. D. addictissimus

JACOBUS VALCHE.

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 167

Clarissimo Amplissimoque Domino Johanni Scheneo Regiae
Majestatis Scotiae sacri praefecto Consiliario dignissimo atque
amico imprimis obseruando.

II.

Dum in Scotiam iter affectat affinis meus Joannes Ehlerus quondam
Spect: Domini Joachimi Ehleri ordinis senatorii Filius, rediit mihi in
mentem de nostra consuctudine in Germania quondam nobis intercedente
turn cum opera et benevolentia tua nunquam mihi obliteranda uterer.
Huncce igitur Ehlerunr cum ob redintegratam mihi memoriam tui, turn
ipsius etiam causa sine meis ad te literis pervenire nolui. Illam tibi
quoque non ingratam fore confido si novi verae humanitatis Genium qui
olim mihi jucundissimus accidit. Hie vero Ehlerus quern dixi litem
habet in Judicio Consilii sessionis quod in Scotia vestra est, habet autem
jam diu eamque occasione navis cujusdam ad insulam Unstam direptae.
Quo nomine cum jam antea Illustrem Orcanensem Comitem apud
consilium secretum convenisset cum a spolii Actione absolutum esse
mihi retulit, remissa de caetero causse cognitione ad illud quod dixi
Consilium sessionis vestrae. Hie quod maximopere vereatur ne lis in
immensum crescat, et ille morae pertesus et sumptuum Justissimam
causam deserere cogatur in tua benevolentia maximum sibi patrocinium
collocavit Atque isthoc omine se tibi per mei commendari voluit. Peto
igitur a te per veterem illam consuetudinem nostram quando eo loco
positus es ut possis, Velis huncce affinem meum authoritate tua et gratia
adjuvare, quo sentiat potuisse aliquid apud te sibi autem plurimum
profuisse commendationem meam. Nee tenebo te pluribus ne plus literis
meis quae tuae humanitati tribuisse videar. Vale itaque namque
consuetudinis memoriam perpetuo serva. Gedano 6 Julij Anno 1596.
Tui . . . observantissimus

GERHARDUS BRANDES

Nobilissimo juxtaque clarissimo Viro Domino Joanni Scaenaeo
etc. Amico plurimum honorando.

12.

S. Generos i Nobilissimi magnifici et doctissimi viri, facit summa
humanitas et erga me benevolentia vestra, iam pridem mihi satis sem-

168 APPENDIX NO. II.

perque perspectu comprobataque vt nihil esse, quod non pro jure seu
lege amicitiae me et vobis debere existimem, et vicissim a vobis auserim
expectare Proinde vobis presentes ministros meos Petrum Forbus et
Laurentium Velichero, si qua illis consilio et auxilio vestro opus fuerit
peramanter commendo. Ac, quemadmodum hoc oneris fidei vestrae
permittere non vereor Ita vicissim omnem operam studium officiumque
meum, ut vobis in quibuscunque vestralibus vestro nomine si quidem
eius aliquando hie a me prestari ut poterit et debebit, unice defero. Porro,
cum per presentes occupationes plura non liceat, vos nunc hisce brevibus,
summos factores et amicos meos, Dei omnipotenti protectioni commendo.
Haffniae V Augusti Anno 1 596.

Vestrarum dignitatum

Studiosissimus

HENRICUS RAMELIUS.

Nobilibus generosis et magnificis viris, D. D. Johanni Schinaeo
et Petro Junio : et amplissimis Schotiae regni senatoribus et con-
siliariis regiis et amicis summa observantia perpetuo colendis etc.

Vtrius coniunctim vel seorsim singulis dentur.

Gratissima mihi fuit significatio pristinae erga me benevolentise tuae
dum quo loco literas meas habueris verbis haud vulgaris affectus plenis-
simis ostendisti. Mirum porro in modum, me tenuit memoria et com-
memoratio tua jucundissimae conversationis nostrae ; quae res tant6 mihi
majus desiderium excitat tui quant6 tutius illam nobis perpetuam fore,
quamvis longissimo terrarum tractu dissitis mihi, jubes, omnino persua-
deam : illud vero de pari voluntate et constantia mea judicium tuum, et
si id quoque jucundissimum mihi accidit, tamen conscientia animi mei
fretus jure quodam meo illud mihi deberi tua fac quaeso cum pace dixerim.
Proinde dum mutuo hoc foedere fructum amicitia legere, hoc est omnia
humanitatis et propensi animi studia me vis expectare et dignum veteri
tuo institute facis ipse et ego in eodem officio, si vincere non datur saltern
ut haud multum concessisse videar sedulam operam dabo. Ehlero nostro
quid ante hac praestiteris jam ex aliis cognovi, et hinc est, quod te idem
imposterum etiam facturum facile mihi polliceor. Equidem agnosco

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 169

quicquid hujus praestiteris ab amicitia nostra proficisci, siquid tamen
causae ipsius bonitati dare volueris proprium hoc virtutis aequabilitatis tuae
esse nolim dissimules, Ideoque ne plus verbis consequi velle quam volun-
tatis tuae fiducia suspicionem moueam hactenus satis. Rerum nostrarum
statum cognoscere desideras : is quidem hoc tempore talis est, ut scrip-
tionem definitam non recipiat ita omnia nutu et metu Pontificis complen-
tur. De cladibus Christiani exercitus et capta Agria tibi jam non potest
esse novum atque hinc quod Turcicus Imperator jam propius finibus
Poloniae imminet, Rex noster diu multumque sollicitatus pro foedere
cum Germanorum Imperatore concludendo comitia regni generalia ad
medium Februarii habenda edixit, utique de nostro Germania fcedere
nulla mihi spes, sed quicquid tandem erit quod tempus tulerit reddam te
certiorem me quoque Deus Optimus Maximus laboriosa admodum in
statione locavit sed patriae intuitu cui prodesse contigit, omnia facile
perfero. De amicis olim communibus quid fiat haud probe constat.
Jacobus vero Fabricius et tui amans superat, teque ut plurimum sibi
carum resalutat : quern ego quoque bene ac diutissime valere nostri non
immemorem ex animo opto. Calendis Februarii. Anno 1597.
Cui observantissimus et ad omnia paratus

GERHARDUS BRANDES.

Respondi 27 Martii 1597 per Patricium Someruell.

Clarissimo viro nobilitatis generis virtute et eruditione prae-
stanti, domino Johanni Sceneo etc. Domino amico observando.

14.

S. P. Clarissime et Ornatissime Skinaee, amice singularis, Quamvis
hoc tempore, quod scriptione, satis dignum esset, non habeam ; committere
tamen non volui, quin oblata commoda scribendi occasione hisce te
salutarem, et officium, studium, ac benevolentiam in te meam attestarer;
Simul quoque abs te amanter contenderem, ut hunc juvenem, qui hasce
reddit, tibi commendatum habeas, eique tua opera, et benevola in
literates promptitudine, sicubi earn imploraverit, adesse haud gravate
velis. Est namque ab illustrissimo Principe, Domino Johanne, Duce
Slesvici Holsatiae etc: cujus fiiliorum institutioni aliquandiu praefuit, hue
in regnum commendatus. Ubi cum hactenus nonnihil haeserit, Scotiam,

X

1 70 APPENDIX NO. II.

ac exinde Angliam perlustrare animum induxit. In quo suo proposito se
tuo favore non parum adjutum iri confidit. Quicquid ergo benevolentiae,
et studii in ilium mei causa contuleris, bene positum esse intelliges, Et
me vicissim ad similia vel majora, ubi par usus id tulerit, tibi devinctum
reddes. Quibus te Deo Optimo Maximo commendatissimum volo.
Vale Dat. Hafniae 12 Aprilis, Anno 1597.

T. Studiosissimus

HENRICUS RAMELIUS.

Post Scripta.

Amicissime Skinaee, Cum has obsignassem, venit in mentem, me
superiori aestate ministrum, qui lanam rudem et pelles ovinas, ad meos
domesticos usus ibidem coemeret, in Scotiam ablegasse; ac eundem post
reditum suum, nescio de quibus difficultatibus, quibus ejusmodi lanam et
pelles ex regno vestro asportari inhibitum esset, a nonnullis praetenderetur,
conquestum esse. Officiose itaque te hisce rogare volui, ut prima quaque
occasione significare mihi non molesteris, qusenam ejus rei sit ratio,
Utrum videlicet cuivis, ejusmodi pelles et lanam coemendi et asportandi
facultas pateat et concedatur, An vero a Ser: Reg: Ma's- de singulari
gratia, cum ad privates solummodo usus eas coemi curem, obtineri et
impetrari possit vel debeat. Feceris in hoc rem mihi gratissimam, et me
tibi ad quaecunque officia obligabis. Vale feliciter. Datum ut in literis

Dignitatis tuae

Studiosissimus

HENRICUS RAMELIUS.

S. Cum nuper apud vos essem Vir Clarissime, impetravi a Serenis-
simo Rege donationem redituum quorundam in Annandalia ad usum
visitationis, qua instituta est ad plantationem Ecclesiarum in desolata
ilia regione. Earn manu Regia subscriptam memini me tibi tune
exhibuisse, ut tua opera Thesaurarii et Collegarum Suffragiis pro more
confirmaretur. Sed Thesaurarium gravis morbus destinebat, teque ac
Collegas tuos publica negotia ita distrahebant per id tempus, ut Concilii
convocandi praerepta sit omnis occasio. Seorsim tamen fere singulos

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 171

super hac re conveni, qui consensum suum haud gravate promittebant
Quare fretus imprimis benevolentia Thesaurarii affinis tui, et amicitia tua,
mitto ad te earn ipsam donationem Regia manu munitam, ut in concilio
vestro vestris suffragiis et subscriptionibus corroboretur. Clementissimus
Rex istud propositum visitationis et plantationis iis in locis adeo
adprobavit, cum de hac re ageremus: ut affirmavit de suo insuper se velle
elargiri ad eum tarn necessarium usum. De vestra propensione et
voluntate prorsus confido, praesertim si intercedat authoritas et studium
tuum in hoc negotio conficiendo. Quod a te exspecto et vehementer
expeto. Quod si non conficiatur cessabit opus praeclarum magno cum
detrimento illarum Regionum. Quis enim suo sumtu poterit sustinere
tantum onus? Et proxima Synodus Deidonensis prorogavit nobis
visitandi munus ea lege, ut impensae nobis subministrarentur. Hoc
quidquid est, Vir Clarissime, fidei et benevolentiae tuae commendo. Porro
factu est mentio a Regia Majestate in ilia Synodo de visitatione Acade-
miarum per viros idoneos. Et nos quoque idoneos viros valde optaremus
rei literarise scientes et faventes : Te vero imprimis scientissimum et
scholarum exterarum et nostrarum ac una tecum Thesaurarium propter
sequitatem et authoritatem cum Domino Johanne Prestono. Non dubito
quin opera vestra magnum commodum allatura esset Academiis, si vestri
similes viri Ecclesiastici deligerentur Rob. pontanus, Nicol. Dagleisius,
Jacobus Nicolsonus, et tales viri probi et docti. Jam ignosce importuni-
tati meae: Satis te impeditum nimis detinui. Vale vir praestantissime.
Andreapolis ad d. xxiv. Maij 1 597. Tibi addictissimus Johan. Jonstonus.

Clarissimo viro domino Johanni Skenaeo assessori et consiliario
serenissimi Regis in Suprema curia. Edinburgi.

[On the outer folds of the Letter are written tltese notes}: —

1266 betuix Magnus 4 Alexr- 3.

The annuell of Norroway is dischargit be Christianus i. 12 May
1469.

Annuell of Norroway dischargit in the contract of marriage,
8th September 1468 and thairefter dischargit 12 May 1469.

m. c. constituit 12 de procuratoribus marchi sterlingorum and
m. c. 3 de arbitrament, is maid of quinque solidi sterlingorum.

i;2 APPENDIX NO. II.

1 6.

Quanquam neminem praetermiss. quemquidem ad vos peruenturum
putarem cui literas non dederim, in hanc tamen partem peccare me
malim, quam diuturno silentio, supinae negligentiae et ingrati animi suspi-
cionem incurrere. Cum autem, ad tempus hie in obscuro lateam, isque orbis
terrarum angulus me teneat, in quo aut nihil rerum nouarum, aut si quid
sit, incertis id authoribus ad nos perlatum subticere quam literis mandare
tutius fore existimem, nihil prius mini in presentia occurrebat, quam ut
meam de vestra vestrorumque salute solicitudinem imprimis declararem
vestrasque literas cum hoc nomine mihi desideratissimas esse turn si quid
sit in meis rebus firmius de eo me libenter fieri uelle certiorem: Mea"
quippe interesse putabam, me ad vos quam sepissime scribere, quare
velim mihi hoc ipsum condones, si meae necessitudini obtemperans, nostra-
que sanguinis conjunctione fretus minus videbor meminisse constantiae
tuae confidere videor te mea causa quae honeste possis libenter nee
grauate esse facturum, magnum tamen speraui apud te (pro mole
negotiorum quae te quotodie obruit) turn propter incerta viarum si quae
forte interciderent, crebriores meas literas ponderis habituras, quibus
(licet tuo in me adfectui nihil addi posset, et non solum naturalis
hominis ad hominem adiunctio sed ciuilis cognomenti necessitudo, Imo
arctior familiae ejusdem conjungatio, eaque tandem quam mihi tecum
esse, voluisti conjunctio et familiaritas, longiori orationis ambitu mihi
interdicant) te tamen grauioribus ut dixi negotiis districtum et intentum,
de meis rebus saepius compellandum esse existimaui. Peto igitur a te
non conquisitis verborum lenociniis sed ea orationis simplicitate qua
intelligis debere me me petere ab homine tarn mihi necessario tamque
familiari ut mea negotia quorum procurationem (quae tua fuit humanitas)
in te suscepisti explices et expedias, cum jure et potestate quam habes,
turn quod commodo tuo fieri possit authoritate et consilio, et si forte
dirficiliores erunt ut rem etiamnum sine controversia confici nolint, haud
alienum tua dignitate putabis esse quam charum me habeas ut intelli-
gant mihique vel absenti et longe dissito ad eorum contumaciam
reprimendam et animos frangendos praesidii in te satis esse experiantur:
quo, si quod speramus impetrauerimus, tuo beneficio nos id consecutos
esse indicemus ; sic tuorum erga te observantiam excitabis, aliosque, hoc
tuo patrocinio, ad tuum nomen suspiciendum et colendum accendes;

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. I?3

quod beneficium mihi non erit tarn charum, quam pietas erit in
referenda gratia jucunda. Ego in te videre scirem, cum haec ad te
scriberem, quantopere si alius esses in hac petitione (ut res meae fluunt)
mihi foret elaborandum, plura scriberem. Nunc tibi (ut superioribus
meis vnis atque alteris feci) omnem rem et causam meque totum trado et
commendo uxorem tuam selectissimam illam matronam et cui ego
secundum parentes plurimum debeo proprie et in primis deinde fratres
liberosque tuos quam possum amanter et officiose saluto: vestramque in
me benevolentiam raram hactenus et singularem virtute et observantia
mea indies justiorem facere studebo. Vale Helmstadij Cal: Junij 1598
Haec raptim

Vestrae dignitatis studiosissimus

GULIELMUS SKEN^US.

Clarissimo et doctissimo Sexto Scotorum regi a tablino recon-
ditiore senatu M. Johanni Skenaeo patruo ac Mecaenati suo: sal:

Edinburgum quae est in Scotia vel Aberdoniam.

Benigne Mecaenas et Reverende Patrue, Salue etc.

Si valetis, bene est, nos quidem valemus. Secundum jam mensem
Helmestadij subsistimus, unde nos ante literas ad vos dederamus, is dies
erat 12 Maij, sed Hamburg! seniente peste, quando isthinc ad vos per-
ferendas curaverimus, aut intercidisse aut ad vos perlatas nondum esse,
suspicor : Itineris mei jam Dei gratia confecti ; quis sit futurus fructus,
aut ubi manendum adhuc non satis video, ade6 in incerto posita sunt
omnia. Magnam experior in doctore Liddelio humanitatem, ut non
satis mirari possim, illius in studiis meis promovendis studium singu-
lare et industriam indefessam. Est ea natura ut populares summo amore
prosequi, et modis omnibus quibus potest, erigere soleat, hanc eius piam et
in omnes bonos propensam voluntatem si non auxerunt, saltern excitarunt
tuae literae, amoris et benevolentiae plenissimae, quibus tantum illi injecisti
studium, ut nihil quod mea causa suscipi possit, illi arduum aut difficile
videatur ; vir est bonus, pius, et eruditus, qui cum non posset mihi ex
animi sententia gratificari, hanc mihi rationem saltern prescripsit meas

APPENDIX NO. II.

res componendi : Scito (quod antea non provideram) in hac inclyta
Academia in studiosorum gratiam, quorum facultates angustae sunt,
quatuordecim mensas communes, a principe extructas esse, quibus qui
accumbunt, gratis omnino non vivunt, sedecim taleros pro victu exsol-
vunt, quod reliquum est, princeps, (qua est in literarum studiosos munifi-
centia) aeconomo, a thesaurario suo, quotannis representat, et laute sane
et genialiter victitant Quare cum tanta hie sit annonae caritas, si in
mensam communem primo quoque tempore cooptarer bene consultum
rationibus meis existimat, Liddelius, quoad uberiorem facultatem maiora
praestandi, ars et natura indulserint. Cum hie obscurus sim et edicto ex
aula, non ita pridem sit cautum, ne cives peregrinos post ponantur, tanto
competitorum numero, eo res redacta est, ut istud beneficii consequendi
spes omnis praecisa sit, nisi tuam authoritatem apud Reginam, de illius
literis commendatitiis ad sororem, auferendis interponas, iisque quoad
fidei possit, in hunc sensum conscriptis.

Factum est ut Republica vestra literaria penitus perspecta, eiusque
celebritatis amore accensus, Gulielmus Skenaeus Scotus, pius et modestus
adolescens, et de cuius indole meliora speramus, uberioris ingenii culturae
Lauriendae erga, apud vos in inclyta Julia Academia aliquandiu subsistere
exoptet, cumque illius facultates exiliores sint, quam ut eum sustentare
valeant, et nonnullum in literis nostris tenuitati suae praesidiurn, arbitrare-
tur, eas, amicis illius quibus deesse non poteramus, depraecatoribus,
non aegre impetravit, quern velis ita commendamus, ut maiorem in
modum commendare non possimus, et quandoquidem bonarum literarum
studiosis, a vestra magnificentia bene consultum esse, ex illius ad nos
literis non obscure, colligimus: Rogamus ut etiam illi hac in re corn-
mod etis, et in aliis omnibus, quae sine vestra molestia facere possitis,
eumque in vestram fidem suscipiatis ut intelligat nos scripsisse de se,
nostramque commendationem non vulgarem fuisse. Erit id nobis
vehementer gratum.

Hoc (mi patrue ac Mecaenas optime) non rarum est, non ita pridem
nostras quidam M. Georgeus Strang, Edinburgenus qui ad vos rediit,
eodem beneficio, iisdem literis fruebatur, noli itaque putare, me arduum et
difficile quiddam a te contendere; sed quod nostratium plerisque ante
indultum est, et licet, ut dixi magnus sit petitorum numerus, Hae Literae
tanto erunt nobis subsidio ad aditum turn apud Principem turn apud viros
doctos patefaciendum ut eos omnes, qui idem nobiscum ambiunt, non

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 175

videatur Liddelio aSwarov, vel facile obducere: omnium utique studiorum
plus minus octinginta, quid si mille dixerim? omnium inquam qui hie
vivunt, gloria et aestimatio ab aula pendet: et a Principis commendatione:
Hisce serenissimae nostrae Reginae literis, et tuas adiunges ad D.
Adamum Crusium veterem tuum amicum, et summae hie authoritatis,
quibus rogabis ut aditum mihi apud principem faciat, mihique suam
prestet in omnibus operam, ut cui tu honestissime cupias, idque tibi
gratum fore: Quid si etiam Dominum Doctorem Liddelium medicinae
doctorem et in inclyta Julia Academia Helmestadiensi, superiorum
mathematum professorem salutaveris, cuius nomine summam tibi dico
salute mquique mihi tua causa, in omnibus quoad fieri possit, indies gratifi-
cari non desunt: sed ista tuae erunt prudentiae et sapientiae, quern non fugit
in omnibus, quid deceat et quid minus; ista. pluribus non persequor ne
proverbium illud in me competat. Sus Minervam: Ego primum ignotus ab
amicis et aestimatione inops, in ignota regione dolere, et ingemere ut
frontem ferirem (ut ait Cicero) sed iam paulo facilius fero desiderium
patriae et amicorum, modo tu bene valeas, a quo nostra salus pendet
Hedelberg aut cogitabam, si fuisset integrum, sed quia tua videbatur
voluntas ut nisi adducto indicio et explorate id fieri posset, nihil
properarem, et quia longum est iter et infestum, et pro annonae laxitate
quam sperabamus, eiusdem difrkultatem mirum in modum experiamur,
Basileae aiunt et Hedelbergae admodum compressam esse ex literis
multorum quotidie ad nos perferatur, nondum mutamus sententiam nee
constituemus quicquam, donee literas vestras acceperimus, et enim mihi
nullo loco deesse vis, negocia nostra domestica tuae pristinae erga nos
humanitati etiam atque etiam commendo, ad tua innumerabilia beneficia
quaeso, si me amas, hoc adde vt cum nostrae profectionis author fueris et
caput (virtus inquam tua quae current! sfimulos addebat) meaeque
tenuitati solus et unicus adjutor fueris, nihilo etiam minus extra patriam
viventis rationem habere velis, quo in annos ad studia mea excolenda, ex
iis quae ad nos jure spectant, aliqua subsidii spe tenemur ut magis secure
liceat in legum amcenissimus viretis exspatiari, unde rerum mearum
praesidia putem expectanda, hie siquidem tantus est literatorum concursus
ut tyronibus et neophytis non sit locus. Ranustis ex edicto principis
silentium et modus impositus, est, aliarum facultatum professores hie sunt
supra viginti: qui diligenter vident ne quid detrimenti patiantur a
lectoribus privatis, quamobrem si aliqua mihi spes ex meo affulgefet,

176 APPENDIX NO. II.

quoad eos progressus nostra fecisset industria vt sua virtute nostram
tenuitatem sustentare posset et libere profited audierem: turn alio me
conferrem vt res tempusque postularent hoc si fiat ita te videam, vt mihi
gratius nihil posset accidere, Tuamque amplitudinem (mihi crede) illus-
trabit vt cum ab omnibus absentium iuxta praesentium amicorum curam
gerere praedicaberis, in quos praeclare stabit Isocrates, 01 (j>av\oi Trapovray
0tAouy fjiovov Tifj.£)<Tiv, cnrovSai? Se /ecu fj>a\pav (nrovra^ ayonrwa-i. Haec
hactenus non quod diffidens tuo in me adfectui, vt cui nihil in omni vita
propositum erit magis, quam vt quotidie vehementius, te de me optime
meritum esse laetere, sed rei magnitude me monet, et sera parsimonia in
fundo est. Novi quidam scribam regiam angliae (quod absit) fatis cessisse,
id si verum, quin hactenus audiveritis non dubito, at Philippum
Hispanorum regem supremum pbiisset diem sunt qui apud nos pro
certo adfirment, sub cuius mortem, classem ingentem in Anglos
provectam, justo Dei judicio exorta pestilentia et tabe mire disjectam et
afflictam esse persuadere nobis conantur, quorum suggestu et imprimis
Liddelii ista scribo: Bene igitur vale, ne forte gravioribus (vt par est)
districto molestus sim, et illas commendatitias quam primum mittas
velim, ubi si te mihi commodum dederis, a te omnia habebo et divitiis
superabo crassim. Iterum vale et uxori, selectissimae illi feminae de
nobis imperpetuum bene meritse, et liberis tuis ex me officiosam salutem
dicito cui te diu salvum praestet et incolumem divinum innuen :

Haec raptim et subito offerente se tabellario qui Rostochium
tenderet 16 Julij.

Tuse prudentiae

observantissimus cliens

GULIELMUS SKEN^US.

1 8.

Gratia Dei et Patris Christi sit cum tua dignitate in omnem
aeternitatem.

Amplissime ac nobilisime Domine si una cum tua familia valetudine
quam optima eo praeditus, et felici rerum successu exanimi sententia
frueris id mihi usque adeo est acceptum, tamque auditu jucundum, ut eo
mihi nihil acceptius nihilque auditu jucundius accidere queat: Ad me
vefo quod attinet, tua amplissima dignitas sciat quod animo et corpore

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 177

divino beneficio quam optima sim affectus et constitutus, meaque professio
quae in linguae hebraeae explicatione in hac inclita Academia mihi est
demandata et concredita, non infeliciter procedat Nam pro ratione
hujus Academiae et horum temporum auditores satis multos habeo qui
meis laboribus non solum quam optime sunt contenti sed etiam Deo
pro illis agunt gratias quam maximas. Praeterea magnifice Domine
universus totius Germaniae status praecipiti metu suspectus, et tenui filo
humanitus loquendo suspensus est Nam verse et orthodoxae filii Dei
Ecclesiae unde quaque damna et pericula imminet

Nam praeter Turcas et Hispanos de quibus ad nobilissimum et
honestissimum Adolescentem Jacobum Balendinium scripsi, domestici
hostes earn undique infestant, et opprimere conantur, Flaccianaca enim
turba et pontificii quam durum et dirum inauditae, diabolicae acerbitatis
virus in earn evomant, quantisque convitiis et maledictis illam agitent et
conspuant vix prout verbis exprimi. Clamitant pleno gutture, et impu-
dente ore omnia probra in innoxias profundunt, addunt etiam quod
effrenis debacchandi licentia sit summa religio et viva verae fidei evepyeia
atque luculentum Spiritus Sancti testimonium Mullerus etiam Witten-
bergae ex suggestu publice Sanctam Mariam filii Dei matrem Calvinistam
appellavit, ob id quod ex Angelo Dei, quaesiverit, quomodo filium paritura
sit cum virum non agnoverit, omnibus modis dolendum esse dixit, quod
sanctissimi quique calvinistico veneno sint infecti; haec in publica
concione cum magna populi applausu per sarcasticum risum ebuccinavit,
eaque res typis est excusa et in lucem emissa, sic omnes appellant
Calvinistas qui hujus aut illius rei vel dogmatis rationem quaerunt

Volunt sibi simpliciter credi sive verum dixerint nee ne, volunt etiam
Sancti Dei verba secundum literam ubique accipi, blatirant etiam Deum
tam potentem esse ut ea facile efficere queat, quae verbis concepta et
enunciata sunt de vero et genuino eorum sensu non sunt admodum
solliciti, Deum omnipotentem esse pleno gutture clamitant, quasi Deus
omnia sine discrimine et voluntatis demonstratione factus sit, certe Dei
potentia est solum voluntatis ejus ministra. Nam quae Deus vult et
decernit voluntate, ea efficit et producit sua infinita potestate. Itaque a
voluntate ad potentiam est conclusio vera, sed a potentia ad voluntatem
concludendi ratio et admodum periculosa et blasphema : Nobis enim non
alia Dei omnipotentia cogitanda est, quam quae cum illius voluntati et
sapientia congruit, quae autem omnipotentiam cum ejus voluntati sine

Y

178 APPENDIX NO. II.

ejus demonstratione committunt, impii et temerarii sunt, et Deum quodam
modo in ordinem cogunt, cum Deus nequaquam ob id omnipotens sit,
quasi ille ea facerc velit quaecunque temeraria hominum et vana cogitatio
conceperit et fieri voluerit; Sed ideo dicitur omnipotens, quod omnia ea
facere possit, quaecunque verbo se facturum indicavit, Mirum sane
omnibus modis est, quod illud hominum genus de Dei omnipotentia tarn
libere" apud imperitam multitudinem deblateret, et non aliter garriat,
quam si omnipotentiam Dei ad sua frigida commenta et vanissima
somnia comprobanda jure quodam conductam et quasi obstrictam
haberet. Cert£ omnipotentia illis non solum est speciosum effugium
apud promiscuam turbam, sed etiam est favorabilis praetextus. Vae a
illis, quod omnipotentiam Dei omnium errorum quasi operculum et
integumentum faciant. Cogor his addere unum quod Marpurgi et Martii
factum est a superintendente Doct. Leuchlero, qui in publica concione
audacter et confidenter hac proferre non erubuit sicuti dixit . si Deus me
ad hominem creandum in consilium vocasset, consuluissem ipsi im6
jussissem ut sinistram aurem non creasset sed ejus loco nasum posuisset,
ac loco nasi unum magnum oculum pro utroque oculo fecisset, tarn
absurda et blasphema proferre illis summa est religio. Ante quadri-
ennium Cassellis simile quoddam contigit a Domino Johanne Winkel-
manno qui eo tempore fuit ibi aulicus concionator, is in quadam concione
in orthodoxos immodice invectus est, ita ut Wilhelmus Landgravius
piissimae memoriae ipsum repraehenderit, dicens moderatius et parcius
de illis dicendum et loquendum esse, cui Winkelmannus indixit satis
impudenter, diecns : Will dein E. dem H. Geist das maul stopfen, h.e.
Vult tua dementia Sp. S. os obturare. Talia semper proferunt, et addunt
se Calvinistas jam vicisse. Cert£ vicerunt eos non argumentis sed
convitiis et mendaciis, argumenta ex divinis literis petita nulla admittunt,
sed scommata, calumnias, et omnis generis probra in orthodoxos evomunt
et expuunt, et qui hoc non faciunt eos suspectos habent et Calvinistas
esse clamitant. Sic ipsis calumniand. protervia est [torn] vera suae
Ecclesiae nota. Profecto magnifice domine cum controversia nullis
argumentis componi et finiri queant, omnibus modis metuendum est,
illas Deum hastis Turcarum dirimere velle, de quibus ad Jacobum
Balendinium copies^ scripsi, Ea cujus literis Turcarum copias et conatus
tua magnificentia cognoscere poterit. Postremo clarissime Domine
ante mensem Casparus Peucerus constantissimus et ipsissimus filii Dei

LETTERS TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 179

Martyr hie Heidelbergae fuit, qui tuam dignitatem plurimum salutare
jussit, haec erant ejus verba. Johannem Schinneum meum veterem et
carissimum amicum meis verbis officiose saluta. Mi Domine Vix est
credibile quam sit adhuc vegetus, cum jam agat fere annum 70. Virium
nulla est facta debilitatio, solummodo oculi illi aliquantum caligant.

Vale magnifice Domine, in filio Dei quam beatissime et me
Rennecherum tuum veterem et carissimum amicum amare perge.
Jacobum Balendinium communem nostrum amicum officiosissime
salutaris quaeso. Emdae magna seditio exorta est inter comitem et
cives propter religionem de qua alias. Datum Heidelbergae. 9 Aprilis.

Tuae ampliss. dignitati addictissimus,

HERM: RENNECHERUS.
[In different /land] HERMANNUS RENNECHERUS.

Magnifico ac nobilissimo viro Domino Johanni Schinneo
Serenissimi Regis Scotorum Consiliario dignissimo veteri fautori
ac Domino suo summa observantia colendo.

Edenburgum in Scotia.

APPENDIX N° III.

LAUDATORY VERSES ADDRESSED TO SIR JOHN SKENE ON HIS
PUBLISHING THE REGIAM MAJESTATEM IN 1609.

Ad

Joannem Skenaevm Collegam
Suum in Senatu et Archiotam.

Tandem hoc palimpsestum in manus vulgi exijt,

Tersum, elaboratum, elegans.
Sed forte nescis quid tulerit hie Hercules

Bovile purgans sordidum :
Crede mihi multa devoravit taedia,

Multos trymixos ebibit.
Ite, ite, vappse desides, Germaniam

Lustrastis, et qui Gallias,
Nee quid reportastis domum praeter novas

Amystides, ceu syntheses.
Loquuntur ista qualiter se gesserit

SKEN^VS in puertia,
Vbi vix per aetatem attigit Rempublicam,

Rebusque sese immiscuit,
Ad Teutones, Anglos, Danos, et Battavos

Legatus ilico mittitur.
Jd qua fidelitate, munificentia

Testatur ista Principis.
Qui hunc legit ex tot millibus reducem, cui

Archiva Regni crederet.

VERSES TO SIR JOHN SKENE. l8l

Tanti est benigno, et liberal! Principi

Servire, qui nullum suae
Benignitatis qualitercunque meritum,

Dimittere exsortem solet.

P. ROLLOCVS.

4

Ad

Joannem Skenaevm Archivorvm

publicorum Regni Scotiae custodem dignissimum,

Carmen Epicon.

Recte (ita Dij faveant coeptis, cursusque secundent)
Dum cessant alij, prope solus publica curas
Commoda ; securus rerum, SK.EN.dEE, tuarum,
Si prosis aliis : hoc vere est non sibi nasci,
Sed patriae : nam quam patriae, doctissime, partem
Debueras ortus, magno cum fcenore reddis.
At postquam virtus meriti non immemor vnquam
Digna laboratis despondit praemia curis,
Et licuit,,tandem chartis te reddere nunquam
Ante tuis, primum blattis epulanda relicta,
Magnorum consulta patrum, Regumque priorum
Jussa, sacro veneranda metu, temerandaque nulli,
Impune, in puras educis luminis auras.
Nee solum sole, et ccelo te auctore fruuntur,
Verumetiam (meriti tanta est fiducia) rerum
Jam sibi tractandas, audent promittere habenas,
Vis, furor, et fraudes, terras formidine solvent
Et quae despectae, sub tristi carcere leges
Obductaeque situ, et multa caligine tectae
Aruerant ; nivea per te nune veste refulgent :
Et manibus Domini, et patrum, populique feruntur.
Quin etiam fontes legum, et cunabula pandis,
Quoque cadant juris deducta vocabula ab ortu,
Quidque ferant, docto hoc tradis dictata libello.

Macte animi, nulli deerunt virtutis honores,
Nee meritis pretium : tenet, aeternumque tenebit,

1 82 APPENDIX NO. III.

Imperium STEUARTA domus, nee contigit vnquam
Gratior, aut cui plus debent haec tempora PRINCEPS,
Qui quanquam laudes longe transgressus avitas
Quamque inter Reges assurgat celsior omnes,
Solus amat doctosque colit, doctissimus ipse,
Solus amat verum, et veterum vestigia recti,
Jllius mandata ferens melioribus annis.
Majorem Europae partem legatus obisti,
Js tibi, sed facilis, merito, sed plura merenti
Praesentis virtutum ergo, despondit honores,
Pluribus aucturus ; sed nos quod possumus vnum
Te memores meriti, aeterno sacrabimus aevo.
Et quanvis primse peragentur secula vitas,
Nobilis omne tamen vives, doctissime, in aevum,
Dum Sol sidereo ponet discrimina mundo,
Et memores repetent seri tua scripta nepotes,
Phoenicemque suo cineri superesse videbunt.

Aliud
Dum lucem tenebrae, tenebras lux alma sequetur,

Dum STEUARTA domus Regia sceptra feret :
Non merite SKENE^E tui morientur honores,

Phcenicem cineri scis superesse suo.

THOMAS CRAGIVS.

Archiotae D. Skenaso, &c.

Nee tu nullus eris, cui tot prius abdita Princeps

Credidit Archivis jura ruenda suis.
Primus ab his, tantum patriis cum legibus addas

Lumen, erit calami gloria prima tui.

PATRICIVS SANDISVS.

Ad virvm clarissimvm
D. Joan. Skenaevm.

Qva SKEN^EE domo, quibiis es majoribus ortus,
Quaque tuum longa ducas ab origine nomen,

VERSES TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 183

Ignorem licet (extreme quod dissitus orbe,
Vix hausi latitans tantae primordia famae)
Viva tamen summo de pectore flumina vidi
Ire indefesso per secla sequentia cursu.
Dum veterum ponis leges ex ordine Regum,
Quae terra procul, et caeca caligine mersae,
Delituere prius, picto ludibria muro.
Tu tamen ausus eras, regale notus in aula,
Vndique melifluos legum diffundere rivos,
Pandere et obscura primas ab origine voces ;
Vt Regum summis, atque imis jussa paterent :
Vt caedes, vt furta, doli, scelerataque fraudum
Impietas (horrendum odium mortalibus aegris)
Lurida praepetibus fugerent sub tartara pennis.
Tu, SKEN^EE, doces quanto conamine Reges,
Nobilitate pares, et avito sanguinis ortu,
Dissimiles animis, similes pietate, potentes
Imperio, cuncti justo moderamine legum
Incubuere suae multum decus addere genti.
Insignes STEUARTA dedit dpmus vnica leges,
Qua duce, non metuit saevos gens ista tumultus.
Quis nobis impune hostis prior intulit arma,
Ausus et insane Martis contendere bello?
Legibus baud vnquam gens est melioribus vsa,
Nee plus consilio, virtute, potentibus armis,
Angustis poterant mortales sedibus vlli.

f^* Quis te Justitiae, quis pacis amantior alter ?
Infido quis te, PRINCEPS, clementior hosti ?
Quis vera pietate Prior? tua fama per orbem
Spargitur, ignotas inter celeberrima gentes.
Magnanimis figis leges et sceptra BRITANNIS:
Et quondam duo regna, tuo, REX, subjicis vni
Imperio, superas omnes virtute, Priores,
Et meritis nomen longe transcendis avitum :
Astra velut nitido vincit splendore Selene.

Te celebres SKEN^EE manent per secula laudes,
Nominis et major post mortem surget imago,

1 84 APPENDIX NO. III.

Quod sacras Regum tantorum scribere leges
Non metuis, cement seri tua facta nepotes,
Ingenium, viresque tuas super aethera tollent
Laudibus, aeterna moriens celebrabere fama.
Omne tuum merito nomen florebit in aevum.
Celsior et Princeps, cui tota BRITANNIA paret,
(Qualem Justitia, qualem pietate videbunt
Nulla senescentis, sic fama est, secula mundi)
Praemia digna tuis meritis feret: ille disertis,
Facundisque favet longe facundior vllo.

Aliud ejvsdem ad evndem
Skenaevm.

Littora dum tumidis resonantia fluctibus aequor

Verberat, et tellus ictibus icta gemit:
Donee Sol roseo properet festinus ab ortu,

Occiduas cursu dum parat ire domos :
Magna tuae in terras famae volitabit imago,

Et Celebris toto lex erit orbe tua.
Et tua scripta palam multorum ante ora ferentur,

Maeonidae nee erit laus tua. laude minor.

WlLHEL. SlMONIDES,
Britannoduni gregis Pastor.

Ad. Cl. V. Dn. Joannem Skenaeum Archivis praefectum, pro infinitis
suis laboribus in libros Regiae Majestatis et in amicitiae
tesseram

Magna tibi SKEN/EE, tuo nunc gloria facto
Exsurgit: priscas dum promis in ordine leges;
Et Regum reseras jussa, ac monumenta priorum ;
Semisepulta quidem, multisque incognita seclis:
Sic generi antique nos reddis : et inclyta per te,
Omnibus in lucem, pia virgo ASTR/EA refulget:
Nuper, ab indignis, nobis rediviva lacunis:
SCOTUM ergo eximium, nunc felix SCOTIA, jactes
Ipsa tuum: felix tantis natalibus vna.

VERSES TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 185

Quid tibi pro merito, potent promittere virtus ?
Quis te, virtutesque tuas, ignorat ineptus ?
Justitiae, jurisque comes, Themidosque Sacerdos,
Qui nobis, patriaeque decus, qui pectore toto,
Virtuti invigilas, meritoque exsurgis in altum.
Macte equidem virtute tua, (vir maxime) felix
Pone metum, seternum spondent tibi sydera honorem.
Et vivet nunquam periturae gloria famae :

Nil duraturum mundus creat, ignis et aer,
Cunctaque corruptis, obeunt elementa figuris.
Quin et purpureus stellarum exercitus, alto
Cardine ccelorum, occasus patiuntur et ortus :
Quicquid habens ortum, finem timet : omnia poscit
Terra, vorace sinu : nihil immortale sub astris :

Ast opus exactum est, quod non Jovig ira, nee ignis,
Nee poterit ferrum, nee edax abolere vetustas,
Regia dum vasti, resonabit machina mundi.

Ergo vale SKEN^EE, tibi laus maxima : sic tu
Progredere, O felix, fatoque accede vocanti,
Invidiaque omni major, super astra triumpha.

JOANNES RVSSELLVS, J. C. et in
supremo Senatu, Advocatus.

APPENDIX N°- IV.

LETTERS CONNECTED WITH TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN
SIR JOHN SKENE AND HIS SONS.*

i.

LETTER FROM THE ARCHBISHOP OF GLASGOW TO KING JAMES.

Most Sacred and Graciouse Soveraigne —

I resavit your Maiesties letter the first of November, commanding
me to declare anent Sir Jhon Sken and his childrenis effairis, on qhose
syd the agrement fayled, and particularly if the twentie day of Julj last
wes precislie appointed for agrement of al materis controvertit amongst
tham, and conditioun maid, that if the Father fulfilled not suche thingis as
vver on his part desyrit, Sir James suld be fre of al conditionis maid to his
brother, Mr. Jhon. Pleise your Maiestie, the truthe is, that hafing
resavit your Maiesties letter to deal with tham for thair agrement in May
last, I travellit to haif it done according to these groundis qhiche wer layit
be your Maiesties servant, Jhon Murray, to tham bothe, at thair being at
Courte, qhiche war thir: That Sir James suld gif his father surtie for
sex and threttie hundreth merkis Scots, to be payit to him yeirly during
his lyftym, and that without ony conditioun to be done be the father;
and for Mr. Jhon, his brother, that how soon he suld obtein Sir James to
be infeft in the landis of Curreyhil, and ane sex thousand merkis lying
vpon Saltoun, and mak payment to him of the sowm of twelf thowsand
merkis, that sa soone he suld haif the office of Clerkschip provydit him.
Qhen I preasit Sir James to gif his father surtie, he excusit himself that
he culd not do it, unlesse he wer infeft in Curyhil and that sex thowsand

* These letters and those under the next head are taken from "Original Letters
relating to the Ecclesiastical Affairs of Scotland " printed by the Bannatyne Club.

LETTERS RELATING TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 187

merkis. As I laboret the Father to infeft him, he refusit, except his
brether wer satisffeit ; so I wes forcit to leave that point, and se if I culd
agre the brether. In treating with tham, a questiovm fel in, qho suld pay
the father his last yeiris dewtie. Sir James alledgit that he suld haif
twelf thowsand merkis clear, and if he wer compellit to gif his father sex
and threttie hundreth, it wald diminische so muche, and conditionis suld
not be kept to him. Mr. Jhon his brother answerit, that it wes reason
his father suld be payit furthe of the profit of the office be tham that
had brukit it, and for him self, he wald pay the twelf thowsand merkis
appointct be Jhon Murray. Finding this stay, 1 desyrit tham to referre
the mater to the said Jhon, his declaratioun and a wryting to be sent to
Jhon be eche of tham, qharin thai suld referre tham selfis in that point to
his determinatioun ; qhiche thai wer content to do; And because the
father was impatient of al delay, I travellit earnestly with him to grant
me the twentie day of Julj, till I mycht resaif answer in the point
questioned between the brether from Jhon Murray, and at that tym I
promisit to mak end of the busines ; After earnest entreatie, I obtenit
his gud wil for that continewatioun, and this wes the cause of appointing
the twentie of Julj, at qhiche day I assurit the Father, according to the
hopis I had, that materis suld be endit to his contentment ; but to Sir
James or his brether, I maid no conditioun, nor had not occasioun to
mak ony.

In the mean tym, I travellit with Sir James, that he suld pay the
yeiris dewtie to his father ; and if Jhon Murray determined the questioun
on his syd, this money suld be repayit be his brother to him ; quhairvnto
he yieldit. About the 20 of Julj, Jhon Murrayis answer returnit, declar-
ing that Sir James suld pay the yeiris dewtie to his father. Sir James,
thocht not wel contentit with the answer, sayit he wold acquiesce ; then
I presit Mr. Jhon to obtein his brother infeft in the landis of Curryhil,
and the sex thousand merkis of Saltoun. He answeret, that his father
wold infeft him in Curryhil, but not in the sex thousand merkis, qhiche
wes disponit to another brother. I requyrit him to se that recompensit
otherwyse, because this wes a part of Jhon Murrayis decreit He
answerit, that he wes in hope, be Jhon Murrayis friendschip, to ben
repossessit to his place of horningis be the Clerk of Register, and if that
wer done, he wold fulfil conditiounes, otherwyse he culd not, without
vndoing him self. We spendit in this sum sex or seven dayis.

1 88 APPENDIX NO. IV.

Persaving great difficulties to compone matteris between the brether,
I dealt with Sir James that he wold satisffie his father in gifing him
securitie for his yeirly dewty, and for al other thingis tak his hasart of his
father's gud wil ; quhairunto at last he yeildit, and namit sum seven or eight
cationeris with him in the band, qhiche I gaif his father, and he wes thair-
with content. Qhen the band wes in forming, the President, be occasioune of
a complaint maid to him anent the delyvering of a bil, meanit to the Lordis,
that thair culd be no order, sa lang as one of the number of Sessioun
had the command of that office, and vrgit muche the repayring of this ;
qhairvpon Sir James him self, and other freindis, desyrit me to speak to
his brother, and craif his answer, qhither or not he wold accept the place
vpon the conditionis. The Sessioun rose a day after or two, and being
to go towardis St. Androise for sum effairis, I kept a meting between tham
in Sir James' garden at Edinburgh ; William Creichtoun of Ryhill wes
with me, and ane Forbes, a freind of thairis. Mr. Jhon wes lothe to
vndertak for the sex thowsand merkis of Saltoun. I presit him earnestly
to do it, and that tryst left materis to his advysement vntil the fyve
and twentie of August, at qhiche tym, meting at Edinburgh, Mr. Jhon
declarit he wold fulfil al conditionis, and for the sex thowsand merkis of
Saltoun, qhiche his father could not be inducit to gif Sir James, he suld
pay him other sex thousandis, on this maner, that is, relief the landis of
Curryhil of four thowsand merkis, with hiche burthen Sir James suld ever
acceptit the sam, and mak him suretie for other two thowsand at the
decease of his father and mother. Sir James stood a qhyl that he wold
haif no other sex thowsand than that of Saltoun ; but qhen I had declarit
him how this wold be thocht very vnreasonable dealing, he left it, and
schew himself content with that point Then we talkit of the twelf
thowsand merkis, and how it suld be payit. Sir James presit instant
payment. Mr. Jhon offerit surtie to the term. At last, because Sir
James wold not resigne the office without the money wes numerit, Mr.
Jhon maid offer of the sam presently : then I thocht al had been endit.
I inqyyrit Sir James if thair wes ony more to be done or spoken of : he
said, nothing but sum particularis that he and his brother wold talk of
amongst tham selfis, qhiche suld tak no money from him. We suld haif
met the morn after and concludit, but Sir James excuisit himself that he
wes diseasit, and sent his gudfather and sum other freinds to mein his
cace, and request me to be freindly. I told tham, my travelis wer only

LETTERS RELATING TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 1 89

be your Maiesties command, that I had procedit after suche maner, and
brocht tham to agre in al thingis, nothing restit but to perform. They
told me, Sir James culd not quyt the office without great losse, and wold
had me to propone other conditionis, qhiche I eschewit. So persaving
the schift, I prayit tham to muif him to gif his father securitie, else I
wold mak my report to your Maiestie, as I wes commandit, and for the
brether, I wold leif that busines to another tym. They said he suld.
Ohen I lukit to haf the band subscryvit be him and his cationeris, thai
returnit and offerit Sir James himself suld subscryve it; but the cationeris
culd not tak on the burthen. Qhen I told them it wes no securitie
except the cationers subscryvit, thai said, thai wold gif the father
securitie during Sir James' lyftym, and so longe as he brukit the office,
but no longer. I answerit tham, the father behovit to be securit for his
tym, qhither Sir James livit or deyit, and if thai fearit to bind them selfis
in this sort, qhy wold not thai counsil him to end with his brother, Mr.
Jhon, as thai had agreit, and Mr. Jhon wold mak his father securitie ?

Finding I culd prevail nothing, nether for the fatheris securitie, nor to
haif the agrement maid with his brother perfytit, I went to my Lord
Secretary and cravit his advyse, schewing his Lordship the state of
materis, reading your Maiesties letter, for I took that with me to him.
He advysit me to requyr both parties submit tham selfis to freindis, and
to me as him qhom your Maiestie had trustit with the busines. This I
did ; the father wes content ; only because it was not semly he suld
submit with his sonne, he said Mr. Jhon suld tak burthen for him, qhiche
wes thocht sufficient. Sir James desyrit a continewatioun to the fyftent
of September, and put me in hope he wald submit, and his freinds schew
me the tym wes cravit only to gif sum satisfactioun to his gud-mother,
that culd not be movit to agre with the decisioun of the Clerkship. I
took the submissioun subscryvit be Mr. Jhon as taking the burthen from
his father, and submitting also for himself, and gaif the father to under-
stand that Sir James wold certainly do the lyk, and that al materis suld
end be decreit the fyftent of September. Qhen the day cam, I fand the
submissioun refusit in effect, for thai wold haif me try ane contract
between the father and Archd. Jhonstoun, qhen he contractit his sonne
with thair dochter, qhiche I denyit to enter into as being impertinent to
me ; and yit, to se if that wold do any gud, I went to the father, and
before Sir Jhon Arnot and Sir James Stewart, talkit in that purpose with

190 APPENDIX NO. IV.

him. I fand him gif satisffactioun in his answeris, so as it semit thair wes
nothing to be requyret of him, qhiche he wes not willing to perform.
But seing tham set only to stay the perfyting of matters agreit between
Sir James and his brother, I dischargit my self of further travelling, and
told tham, I would mak my report to your Maiestie, qhiche I did, thocht
not in such particulars as now.

Sire, this is the true procedinge of matteris amongest them. I wes
very careful to haif had tham agreit, specially to haif keipt your Maiestie
from thair faschery. I piteit the estait of the aged man, qho wes brocht
to the termis of hard necessitie, either be the unkyned or incircumspect
dealing of his sonne. I lovit the sonne for the gud qualities I saw in
him, and often bothe in privat and publick, before his freindis, entreatit
him to rubbe away that blot be his father's satisfactioun, tho it wer
with his worldly losse, and gaif him also lovinge and freindlie, I am
sure better, counsellis, than he had from his allya. But they took no
place. Sir, I know to tel the truth gettis offense, yit I fear nothing to
do it, specially being commandit be your Maiestie; and voyd of al
particular affectioun, inclyning to none of tham, God is my witnesse, but as
I saw the matter mufit me, and to testifie as your Maiestie requyris me,
on qhat syd the agreement faylit: Sir, it faylit on Sir James' parte, qho if
he had stand to that qhiche wes desyrit be him self of his brother, it had
been setlit, and your Maiestie not been trublit, and the blame of this lyis,
and at that tym, as I understand, lay vpon his mother-in-law, qhom he
fearis to displease.

I beseche your Maiestie pardon for my long and tediouse discourse,
since it is maid to clear thingis to your Maiestie. Praying Almychtie
God to blesse your Maiestie with al health and happiness, I humbly tak
my leave.

Your Maiestie's humble and obedient servitour,

GLASGOW.
Edinburgh the 2nd of November, 1613.

To His Most Sacred Maiestie.

2.

LETTER, SIR JOHN SKENE TO KING JAMES.
Sir,

It may pleis your Maiestie, that your vndeservit favour and beneuo-
lence toward me hes bene so gryt and fauorable, that in all my trubillis

LETTERS RELATING TO SIR JOHN SKENE. 191

and adversiteis I have had recourse to your Maiestie as my onlie refuge,
and helper, vnder God ; swa now, I have taken the baldnes, nochtwith-
standing your Maiesties gryt effaires, to remember your Hienes of the
lettir your Maiestie directit to my Lordis of Glasquow and Secretar,
anent the office of Registration of Letteris of Hornying quhilk your
Maiestie promisit to me, to cause the samyn to be given to my son,
Mr. Alexander, and wes wrangouslie takin fra my son, Mr. Johne. And
that thai suld deall with this Clerk of Register to that effect; quho hes
done thair diligence thairanent, and desyrit the samyn mater to be referrit
to thame; as Jugis Arbitratouris; quhilk I and my son readelie obeyit.
Bot this Clerk of Register alluterlie refusit, and wald na wayis gif ony
other answer in that mater. Swa my Son is delayit and postponit, and I
am disappointit of the summe of ane thowsand markis yeirlie, qhilk my
Son, obteining that office, suld pay unto me yeirlie, induring my lyftym.
Quherof I dout nocht but your Maiestie will have respect on consideration,
and caus direct your Hienes letter to the said Clerk of Register,
commanding him to gif the said office to my said Son, conform to your
Maiesties will, and promise made to me thereanent. I am assurit of your
Hienes guid will in this my Petition, as I have had guid experience of
your Maiesties fauour and beneuolence for my lewing and esteat ; and sua
committis your Maiestie to the protection of Almichtie God. From
Edinburgh, the ix. day of August, 1614.

Your Maiestie's humill and obedient seruitour and subject,

S. JOHN SKENE.
To the Kingis Sacred Maiestie.

LETTER, THE ARCHBISHOP OF GLASGOW AND LORD BINNING

TO KING JAMES.

Most Sacred and Gratiouse Soueraigne —

The expectations we had to haif wrocht sum agrement between the
Lord of Register and Sir Jhon Skein, movit us to differ the Report of
our travellis in that business unto this tym. According as your Maiestie
was plesit to direct us, that we suld travel to haif Maister Alexander
Sken resavit in the office of hornings, or then cause sum satisffactioun

APPENDIX NO. IV.

be gefin him be the Clerk of Register; we urgit the first, and hafing
resavit his answer twiching the office, that he could not dispone it for
dyverse reasons, we cam to the second, anent satisfactioun. The Clerk of
Register offerit to submit himself to us two, in that point; only excusit,
that he could not submit with Mr. Alexander Sken, as ane with qhom
he had no thing to do, but with his father or brother, that had the office
before, he wes willing. We bothe thocht that none of tham suld differr
upon that point to agre, for if he gaif satisfactioun, it wes al one to him
qho suld resaif it, if he suld be dischargit be them al. But he answerit,
that he had signefeit his mynd to your Maiestie in those termis, qhiche
he culd not alter without your Maiesties commandement. On the other
syd we fand them noway inclynit to resaif satisfactioun, because the
burthen lay upon Maister Alexander, be thair privat barganis amongst
tham selfis, to mak payment to his father out of the office, yeirly, of the
sowm of ane thowsand merkis Scottis, qhiche thai knew the satisfactioun
that wold be modefeit suld never extend to. And so, finding these
difficulties, we haif left the busines and tham to do as thai may best.
Sir, this is the true account of our proceedings in that mater, qhairin, as
in al things, we sal ever be careful at our possibilities to serve as your
Maiestie sal pleise to command us. Praying Almychtie God to blisse
your Maiestie with al happines, and many yeirs, we humbly kisse your
Maiesties hands.

Your Maiesties most humble and obedient servants,

GLASGOW.
BINNING.

Edinburgh, last of September, 1614.
To his most Sacred Maiestie.

APPENDIX N°- V.

PROCEEDINGS CONNECTED WITH A COMPLAINT AGAINST SIR JAMES
SKENE OF CURRIEHILL, FOR NOT COMMUNICATING AT EASTER, 1619.

i.
ACT OF PRIVY COUNCIL.

Apud Halyrudhous decimo septimo Junij 1619.
Sederunt

Chancellair Carnegy Clerk of Register

Lotheane Mr. of Elphinstoun Aduocat

Melros Previe Seall Medhop

Lauderdaill Thesaurair Depute Mr. P. Rollok

Maxuell Justice Clerk Sir Andro Kerr

L. Gordoun Sir Peter Young

Forsameikle as althocht the Kingis Maiestie, be his letters directit to
the Lordis of his Maiesties Previe Counsall and Session, willed thame to
have ressaueit the Communion at Easter last, with all dew reuerence, efter
the maner prescryued be the ordouris and actis of the last Generall
Assemblie of the Kirk haldin at Perthe, under the pane to be depoised
from thair placeis in his Maiesties Counsall and Sessioun, and that,
accordinglie, Sir James Skeene of Curryhill wes aduertesit to have com-
municat with the rest of his Maiesties Counsall and Sessioun, neuirtheles
his Maiestie is crediblie informed that he not only absentit himselfT frome
Edinburgh at that tyme, but to the gritter contempt of his Maiestie and
his authoritie, he took the Communioun in ane vther kirk, and eftir ane
vther forme than was prescryued be the actis of the said Assemblie, and
confermed be his Maiestie. And quhairas his Maiestie thinks it ane

A A

194 APPENDIX NO. V.

vnworthie pairt in ane to sit as a Judge under his Maiestie, who by his
awne good example will not leade the way of dewtyfull obedience vnto
others. Thairfoir the Lords of Secreit Counsall, according to his
Maiesties directioun, ordanis ane messenger to pas and warne the said
Sir James to compeir personallie befoir the saidis Lordis vpoun the
twentie tua day of Junij instant, to ansuer to the premisses, and to hear and
sie the same verifeit and provin, as accordis of the law ; And thairfor to
heir and sie him suspendit from his place in his Maiesties Counsall and
Sessioun till his Maiesties farder pleasour be knowin ; or ellis to schaw ane
reassonabill caus quhy the samin sould not be done, with certificatioun to
him, and he failzie, the saidis Lordis will suspend in maner foirsaid.

2.

LETTER, THE LORDS OF PRIVY COUNCIL TO His MAJESTY

KING JAMES.

Most Sacred Souerane —

According to youre Maiesteis directioun, we callit Sir James Skene
of Curriehill before ws, and verie straitlie layed to his charge his
dissobcdience of youre Maiesties command and directioun, in not communi-
cating with the rest of youre Maiesties Counsell and Sessioun, in the
Kirk of Edinburgh, at Easter last, and for going to ane other Kirk, and
ressaueing the Communioun after ane other forme then wes prescryued be
the Actis of the last Generall Assemblie haldin at Perthe ; and we urgeit
him to cleir himsellf of thir pointis, upoun the parrell to be suspendit
from his place in Counsell and Sessioun. After that he had vtterit his
greiff and sorrow for your Maiesties offence tane againis him in this
paVticulair, quhairof he pleadit innocent, with mony protestationis that
his hairt wes free frome all contempt or dissobedience of youre Maiestie,
and that, in sinceritie of most loyall and dewtifull subjectioun, he had
ever preast to approve him selff your Maiesties faithfull and obedient
subject, he then come to his defence againis the lybell : And tuicheing
the first point thairof, for not communicating at Easter, he ansuerit, that
that haill weeke he wes Ordinair in the vtter House, and Reportair, and
that vpoun Satterday, quhilk wes the day for the sermone of preparatioun,

PROCEEDINGS AGAINST SIR JAMES SKENE. 195

his turne fell to be examinatour of the witnessis, and that he wes speciallie
commandit and appoyntit to attend the same, quhairupoun he awaited
frome twa of the cloke till sax of the cloke at night ; and being thairby
necessarlie distractit frome the sermone of preparatioun, he could not be
prepairit to communicat upon the morne thairefter: And tuicheing his
going to ane other Kirk to communicat, he flatlie denyit the same,
affermeing constantlie, that he keipt his house that foirnoone> and that he
come to the afternoones sermoun, and satt in the ordinair place with the
rest of the Lordis of the Sessioun; quhilkis tua pointis, to witt, of his
examinatioun of the witnesses upon Easter evin, and comeing to the
afternoones sermone upoun Easter day, we can all testifie to be of trewthe;
and so finding no verificatioun of the informatioun gevin to youre
Maiestie in this mater, we could proceid no forder thairintill, bot hes
remittit the same to youre Maiesteis princelie consideratioun, humblie
beseekeing youre Maiestie not to tak in evill pairt the said Sir James his
not communicatting the day foirsaid, quhilk proceidit not upoun wilfull
contempt or dissobedience, but upoun the just and necessair occasioun
foirsaid ; and we perswade our selffis, that as he wil be cairfull to eshew
all occasionis quhilkis may procure youre Maiesties iust caus of wraithe
and offence againis him, so he will haif the lyke cair to approve him selff
your Maiesteis faithfull and good subject And so, with cure humble
and earnist prayers vnto God for your Maiesteis long and happie reignne,
we rest

Your Maiesties most humble and obedyent subjectis and servitouris,

AL. CANCELL.

LOTHIANE. MELROS.

S. W. OLIPHANT. GEORGE HAY.

KILSAYTH. CARNEGY.

A. HAY. A. M. ELPHINSTON. ;

Halirudhous, xxiiij Junij, 1619.

To the King his most sacred,
and excellent Maiestie.

196 APPENDIX NO. V.

3-

His MAJESTY KING JAMES TO THE LORDS OF PRIVY COUNCIL.

[James R.]

Ryght trustie and right wellbeloueit Cousens and Counsallouris, and
right trustie and weilbelouit counsallouris, We greit yow weill, we haue
receiued your letters of the four and twentieth of the last moneth,
wherby we vnders'toode your proceedingis with Sir James Skeine, and
his ansueris to suche poyntes as wer layde to his charge, and We
thoght vpoun the first informatioun maid to ws, We haid verie good
caus of suspitioun and pregnant presumptioun against him ; yett are We
glaid by your reportes to vnderstand the treuthe of his behaviour in that
poynte ; and as ye have in pairt satisfeit Ws, so the only meane for him
to gif Ws full satisfactioun and caus Ws reteine a goode oppinioun of him,
is, if he sail with all expeditioun, at any plaice quhair the Communioun
sail first be celebrated, receave the same kneilling ; and not doubting bot
in the mean tyme he will approve his conformitie to the constitutionis
in all vther poyntis, We bid yow fairweill.

Givin at Our Castle of Windesoir, the sixt of Julij, 1619.

APPENDIX N° VI.
PATENT OF BARONETCY IN FAVOUR OF SIR JAMES SKENE OF

CURRIEHILL, 26th JUNE, 1630.*

Oure Souerane lord with avise and consent of his Majesties rycht
traist cousen and counsallour Johnne Earle of Mar lord Erskene and
Gareoch etc his hienes principall thesaurer comptroller collector and
thesaurer of his hienes new augmentationes of the Kingdome of Scot-
land And als with avise and consent of his Majesties rycht traist cousen
and counsallour Archibald lord Naper of Merchistoun his Majesties
Deput in the saidis offices and of the remnant lordis of his Majesties
exchequer of the said Kingdome of Scotland his Majesties commis-
sioneris ffor propagatioun of Christian religioun within the boundis of
new Scotland by and within the boundis of America (joyning to the
countrey of new England thair) laitlie discoverit and surveyit be his
Majesties trustie counsallour Sir Williame Alexander of Menstrie Knycht
his hienes principall secritare of the said Kingdome of Scotland upoun
his awin great charges and expenssis alsweill be sea and schipping as be
land and now heritabill proprietar of the samen countrey and dominion
and his Majesties Lievtenent and deput within the samen boundis and
for the weill and furtherance of the plantation and policie of the said
countrey and reducing the samen under his Majesties obedience and for
gude and thankfull service done to his Majestic be Sir James Skene of
Curriehill Knycht President of the College of Justice of Scotland and
for divers utheris great and wechtie considerationes moving his hienes
Ordines ane charter to be maid under the great scale of the said King-
dome of Scotland in dew forme Gevand Grantand and Disponand as his

*This is more properly the Signature for the Royal Charter, which would be in Latin,
and seems to have perished in the Rubislaw charter chest.

198 APPENDIX NO. VI.

Majestic with avise foirsaid gevis grantis and dispones to the said Sir
James Skene of Curriehill Kyncht his aires male and assignais quhatsum-
ever heritablie all and haill that pairt and portion of the saidis boundis
cuntrey and dominioun of New Scotland particularlie boundit and limitat
as followis To witt Beginand at the west syde of that river now callit
Clyde and formerlie St. John at the north or upper end of the landis
barony and regalitie of New Elphinstoun pertening heritablie to Sir
Samuell Johnstoun of Elphinstoun Knycht baronet and thairfra passing
northwardis up the said river thrie mylles and thairfra passing westwardis
keping alwise thrie mylles in breid and the said barony of New
Elphinstoun for the merche therof ay and quhile it extend to the nomber
of sextine thowsand aikeris of land with castellis toures fortalices maner
place houssis biggingis extructit and to be extructit yairdes orcheardis
plantit and to be plantit toftis croftis parkis leasouris medowis mylnes
milne-landis multures and suckin wodis fishingis alsweill of reid as quhyt
fishes salmond and utheris great and small baith in salt and fresche
wateris advocation and donation of benefices kirkis and chaplanris and
richtis of patronages of the samen annexis connexis dependences tenentis
tenandries and service of frie tennentis of the landis and otheris abone-
written Togidder with all and sindrie teindschaves and utheris teindis
alsweill personage as vicarage of the landis fishingis and utheris abone
specefeit includit With all and sindrie mynes minerallis vanies rockis
and quarrellis theirof alsweill of metallis and minerallis regall and royall
of gold and silver within the foirsaidis boundis and landis as utheris
mynes of iron steill tyne lead coppar brass lattoun Toggider with all and
sindrie precious stones gemmes pearles cristall alome corall and utheris
And with full power privilege and jurisdiction of frie regalitie within all
and haill the foirsaidis boundis and landis and all and sindrie pairtis
pendiclis privileges and commodities of the samen landis and utheris
abonementionat With full power and privilege to the said Sir James
Skene of Curriehill his aires male and assignais foirsaidis to kid tent
delve dig and search the ground of the saidis landis for the saidis mynes
minerallis precious stones gemmes pearles and utheris abonewritten and
to use all lawfull and ordinarie industrie for obtening and recovering
therof and to win extract draw out purge fyne refyne and purifie the
samen alsweill the said gold and silver as utheris mettallis precious stones
pearles and utheris abonementionat and to use and convert the samen to

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 199

thair awin prapper ussis Sicklike and alsfrilie as the said Sir William
Alexander his aires and assignais mycht have done thame selffis be vertew
of his originall Infeftment maid and grantit to him therupoun quhilk is
of the dait at Windsoir the tent day of September 162] yeares or be
vertew of the infeftment grantit be his Majestic to the said Sir William
Alexander therupoun of the dait at Otlandis the xij day of July 1625
yeares Reservand onlie to his Maiestie his aires and successouris the
tent pairt of the said royall metall commounlie callit the ure of gold and
silver to be win and gayned in all tym cuming within the saidis boundis
and landis and the remnant haill mettallis precious stones minerallis
gemmes pearles and utheris quhatsumever to pertene properlie to the
said Sir James Skene his aires males and assignais And to be
intromittit with and remane with thame for ever to thair awin
praper uses with all praffeittis dewties and commodities theiroff
With power also to the said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis to
carie and transport furth of the saidis boundis and countrey
to quhatsumever pairt or pairttis in all tyme cuming at thair plesour
all and quhatsumever metallis minerallis precious stones gemmes
pearles gold silver and all sortis of moneyis cunyeit and uncunyeit
quhilk salhappin ather to be win and gayned within the saidis boundis or
utherwise brocht into the sameri With power also to the said Sir James
Skene his aires male and assignes to build extract and erect within the
boundis of the samen ground and landis quhatsumever cities burghis
tounes villages burghis of baronie frie poirtis bayes harbouris heavins
and stationes for shippis within the samen castellis touris fortalices forthis
blockhoussis skonses rampires and bulwarkis within the samen haill
boundis and landis cities burghis harbouris portis and uthers places als-
weill be sea and sea coist as be land gairdit and furnishit with compenies
of garrisones of men of warr and souldiouris for fortifeing strenthning
saifgard and mantenance therof And siclike to erect and appoint faires
mercattis and mercat places within the saidis cities burghis tounes villages
and burghis of barony or within onie uther pairt off all and sindrie the
forsaidis boundis and landis ather to burgh or land to be kepit observit
and mantenit at quhatsumever speciall dayes seasones of the year places
and occasiones as the said Sir James Skene his aires male and assignais
sail think expedient and to impose uplift exact and ressave all and
quhatsumever toillis customes anchorages prymgilt doksilver and utheris

200 APPENDIX NO. VI.

dewties of the samen cities burghis tounes villages portis harbouris faires
and mercattis as the said Sir James Skene his aires male and assigneis
sail think expedient with all and sindrie privileges liberties and com-
modities belonging thairto And likewise to constitute and appoint
capitanes commanderis leaderis and governouris majoris officearis provestis
and baillies of the foirsaidis burghis tounes villages and burghs of barony
regalitie portis harbouris castellis and forthis Togidder with Justices of
peace constables utheris officearis and judges alsweill in all caussis civill
as criminall for government and for dew and lawfull administration of
Justice within the samen and in and throuchout the remnant boundis of
the foirsaids landis boundis and coistis And as they pleis to alter and
change the samen magistrates and officearis for the better government
of the saidis boundis and to take ordour with their government as they
sail think expedient And siclike to mak set doun and establishe sick
particular lawis ordinances and constitutiones within all and haill the
foirsaidis boundis and landis alsweill to burgh as land as thay sail think
expedient thair to be observit in all tyme cuming and the breakeris and
contraveneris therof to chastise correct and punishe conform thairto And
siclike to build and extruct shippis barkis and vessellis great and small
alsweill for warr as merchand shippis ather within the samen dominioun
of New Scotland boundis and pairttis of the foirsaidis landis speciallie
designit to the said Sir James Skene his aires male and assignais or
within the said Kingdome of Scotland or utheris his Majesties
dominiones at all tymes convenient and to use and sayill the
samen shippis barkis and vesshellis under his Majesties awin flaggis and
ensegnes furnisit with skipperis pilottis marineris governouris capitanes
commanderis and souldiouris to be impute therin be the said Sir James
Skene his aires male and assignais with all kynd of munitioun great and
small powder bullet armour harness and all weapones invasive and
defensive and all uther engynes and exercise of warre and lykewise to
transport thairby or be quhatsumever uther shipping to the said countrey
of New Scotland and speciall boundis abone designit canonis demy
cannons zetlingis and other munitioun great and small for defence saiftie
and mantenance of the said countrey and likewise with expres power
privilege and licence to the said Sir James Skene his aires male and
assignais deputies or utheris in thair names to transport furth of the said
Kingdome of Scotland or utheris his majesteis dominiones or ellisquhair

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 2OI

at thair plesour all and quhatsumever persones souldiouris men of war
labouraris artificeris wodismen or utheris of quhatsumever qualitie estait
or degrie being willing to repair to the said countrie of new Scotland
with thair guides geir horss nolt sheip munitioun great and small armour
provisioun and victualling to the said ground and landis for the better
furtherance and advancement of the said plantation and siclike to use
and exerce all lawfull trade of merchandice for the better policie of the
samen boundis and landis and to exclude prohibite discharge resist repell
and invaid be force of armes all and quhatsumever persones intending to
plant occupie or possess the foirsaidis boundis and landis or exerce and
use trade and traffique within the samen without the expres avise licence
and consent of the said Sir James Skene his airis male and assignais or
deputies had and obtenit thairto and to confiscat intromit with detene
and withhald all and sindrie thair shipping guides geir and plennising
ather be sea or land usurping the contrair. And to apply the samen to
the proper use utilitie and proffeit of the said Sir James Skene and his
foirsaidis with express warrand and command also to all his majesties
shireffis Stewartis and baillies of regalities justices of peax majores
aldermen provestis baillies and magistrattis of quhatsumever boundis
cities tounes villages burghs and utheris alsweill to land as burght thair
officiaris serjandis constabillis and ministeris of Justice quhatsumever to
concur fortifie and assist the said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis
theranent and in deu and lawfull execution of all and sindrie pointis
clausses and articles of the said charter and infeftment and that they may
have readie shipping at all occasiones for thair men companyes gudes
geir munitioun armes armour victuall and furnissing to and fra the saidis
boundis and countrey of New Scotland with thame selffis as neid beis
upoun thair reasonabill chargis and expenssis as effeiris with power also
to the said Sir James Skene his aires male assignais and deputies incais
ony rebellioun mutinie or seditioun fall out within the saidis boundis
ground and landis or in the course of thair voyages and navigationes to
dissobey and withstand thair commandementis, in that caise or ony of
the saidis caissis to use and exerce the power and privilege of all lawis
militar aganes the delinquentis and offendaris and to punishe and correct
thame thairby as they sail think expedient excluding be thir presentis his
majesties said livetenent and all uther persones quhatsumever fra
using and exercing ony law militar aganes the saidis persones or ony

BB

202 APPENDIX NO. VI.

of thame within the saidis boundis or in thair saidis courssis and
voyages to and fra the samen except onlie the said Sir James
Skene his aires male assignais and thair deputies allanerlie and
likewise his majestic for him and his successoures with avise and
consent forsaid be thir presentis does exeme frie and liberat for
ever the said Sir James Skene his aires male and assignais from
all punishment arreist tortour and execution of militar lawis which
may be usit or execute aganes thame or onie of thame be his majesties
said livetenent or ony uther persone or persones quhatsumever and gif it
sal happin also the forsaidis persones or ony of thame being under the
charge maintenance or dependence of the said Sir James Skene and his
forsaidis to abstract and withdraw thame selffis for the obedience of the
said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis or fra thair service in the said
plantation and mantenance thairof ather be sea or land or in thair course
or voyage to or fra the said countrey of new Scotland or to withdraw
and abstract thame selffis thair guidis and geir fra the seruice and
obedience of the said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis or to remove
thame selffis thair gudes and geir furth of the boundis and ground of the
samen landis and sick pairttis and portiones therof as sal happin to be
designit to thame or to joyne them selffis with the natives and savages
of the said countrey or to inhabite onie remote or desert places of the
samen countrey without the special auise licence or consent of the said
Sir James Skene and his forsaidis had and obtenit thairto Than and in
these caiss or ony of thame thay sail tyne and amit ipso facto all and
sundrie thair landis possessiones guides and geir being within the samen
boundis ground and landis And it salbe lesome to the said Sir James
his aires male assignais and deputies to confiscate recognosce and posses
the samen landis boundis possessiones guides and geir and apply the
samen to thair awin proper uses frilie but danger of law and but onie
foirder declaratour thairanent And likewise give onie barganes blokis
or conditiones salbe maid betuix the said Sir James Skene his aires male
assignais or deputies with quhatsumever uther persone or persones ather
natives of the said cuntrey or foreyneris aliens or utheris persones quhat-
sumever for transporting of onie guides geir waires merchandice muni-
tioun armes victuall furnissing or utheris quhatsumever or for fulfilling of
quhatsumever deid or deidis to the said Sir James Skene and his foir-
saidis ather within the said countrey of New Scotland or be sea cours or

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 203

passage to or fra the samen countrey under quhatsumever paines or
soumes of money And sail brek and violat the samen barganes con-
tractis bandis or conditiones or sail failzie in performing and fulfilling
therof to the hurt and detriment of the said Sir James Skene and his
forsaidis and to the stay and hindrance of the said plantatione and
policie theirof Then and in these caissis or ather of thame it salbe
lesum to the said Sir James Skene and his abonewrittin to intromit with
bruik and possess the samen guides geir merchandice soumes of money
and utheris to thair awin use but foirdir proces and declaratour of law
And siclike with express power and privilege to the said Sir James Skene
his aires male assignayis and deputies thair men tennentis and servandis
within the saidis boundis and landis To hunt use and exerce trade and
traffique with the natives and savages of the said countrey and to tak
mak and contract peace troust and affinitie and truce with thame and to
intirtaine freindship and amitie with thame and with thair leaderis
govefnouris and commanderis And in cais of offence brek of dewtie
promeis or freindschip on thair pairttis to tak and use armes in thair
contrair be all hostill maner baith be sea and land with power and
privilege also to the said James Skene and his foirsaidis in all tyme
cuming to export out of the saidis boundis and countrey of New
Scotland all waires merchandice and commodities quhatsumever and to
import and inbring the samen to the said kingdome of Scotland or to
quhatsumever uther pairttis at thair plessour And lykewise to export
out of the said kingdome of Scotland and utheris places quhatsumever
all waires merchandice and commodities quhatsumever and to inbring the
samen to the saidis boundis and countrey of New Scotland for payment
of five poundis Scottis money of custome for ilk hundreth pundis
allenerlie without payment of onie uther custome impositione or dewtie
quhatsumever To be upliftit taken or exactit thairfor be his Majestic
his aires or successouris or be thair customaris deputies or ofHciaries or be
any uther person quhatsumever ather within the said kingdome of
Scotland or countrey of New Scotland Dischargeing heirby all his
Majesties customaris and officearies from exacting any farder custome or
imposition thereanent and of thair offices in that pairt. With power also
to the said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis be thame selffis thair
deputies officearis and utheris in thair name to uplift exact and ressave
frotn all his Majesties and his successouris subjectis quha sal happin to

2O4 APPENDIX NO. VI.

trade or trafficque within the saidis boundis ground and landis abone
designit portis and harbouris therof fyve pundis money foirsaid of
custome for ilk hundreth pundis of all guides waires merchandice or
commodities ather to be importit thairto be thame or ony of thame or
exportit from thence and the sowm of Ten pundis from all strangeris for
ilk hundereth of all guides waires or merchandice to be exportit or
importit be thame or ony of them, and that by and attour the said soum
of fyve pundis dew to his Majestic and his successouris as said is. And
forder his Majestic for him his aires and successouris with avise and
consent abouewrittin be thir presentis Willis ordines and declaires That
the said sowme of fyve pundis money foirsaid of custome appointit to be
payit as said is to his Hienes his airis and successouris thair customaris
and deputtis for all guides waires merchandice and commodities ather to
be exportit out of the said countrey of new Scotland or importit to the
samen sal be payit and deliverit to the said Sir William Alexander his
aires and assignayis being his Majesties Livetenentis of the said countrey
and to nane utheris for the space of sextine yeares nixt efter the day and
date abonewrittin of the said last infeftment grantit to the said Sir
Williame Alexander of the samen countrey of New Scotland, and for that
effect it salbe lesome to the said Sir Williame Alexander to uplift ask
crave and ressave the samen acquittances and dischargeis, to give and
grant therupoun quhilkis his Majestic be thir presentis for him his aires
and successouris willis and declaires to be sufficient to the ressaveris of
the saidis acqittances and payeris of the said sowme of fyve pundis of
custome, and with power to the said Sir Williame Alexander and his
foirsaidis during the said space to bestow and convert the said soume of
fyve pundis for ilk hundreth sa to be upliftit to thair awin proper use and
utilitie as thay sail think expedient for thair better help and mantenance
of thair charges and expenssis in government of the said countrey and
furthering of the said plantation. And albeit it be nawise lawfull ony
nobill man or iandit gentilman within the said kingdome of Scotland to
pas out of the samen without his Majesties speciall licence his Majestic
for him his aires and successouris Willis grantis and declaires be the
tenour heirof That thir presentis ar and salbe sufficient licence and
warrand in all tyme to cum to the said Sir James Skene and his foir
saidis and such other persones (not being giltie of lesemajestie or
utherwise being speciallie inhibite) as salbe desyrous to go with thame or

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 205

ony of them or ony of thame to the saidis landis and boundis frilie
to pas furth of the said kingdome of Scotland and to go and repair
to the saidis boundis and countrey of New Scotland but onie
danger or inconvenient to them in thair bodies landis guides or
geir, Wheranent his Majestie with avise foirsaid hes dispensit and be
thir presentis for him his aires and successouris dispenssis for ever. And
farder geving granting and declairing lyke as be thir presentis his Majestie
for him his aires and successouris with avise and consent abonewrittin
gevis grantis willis declaires and ordines that all his Majesties subjectis
and utheris persones quhatsumever quhilkis salbe willing to render them
selffis under his Majestie his aires or successouris obedience quha sail at
anytime herefter go to the saidis boundis and landis heirby disponit to the
said Sir James Skene and his abonewrittin and inhabit the samen or ony
pairt therof with the licence consent and permission of the said Sir James
Skene his aires maill assignayis or deputies, That all and everie ane of
the saidis persones with thair childrene and posteritie respective sail have
hold enjoy bruik and posses all and quhatsumever liberties privileges and
immunities of frie and naturall subjectis of the said Kingdome of Scot-
land and utheris his Majesties dominiones as gif thay had bene borne and
procreat within the samen kingdomes and dominiones, And for esta-
blissing of the greatter auctoritie commandement power and jurisdictioun
in all tyme cuming in the persone of the said Sir James Skene his aires
male assignayis and deputies in the saidis landis his Majestie for him his
aires and successouris with avise and consent foirsaid hath gevin and
grantit and be thir presentis gevis and grantis to the said Sir James
Skene his aires male and assignayis quhatsumever heritablie the Justici-
arie and Sherefschip of the saidis haill particular boundis and landis
abouespecifeit and hath maid and constitute and be thir presentis makis
and constitutis the said Sir James Skene his aires male and assignayis
his Majesties heritabill Shereffis Justices and Justicaries heritablie for
ever within all and haill the saidis particular boundis and landis aboue-
specifeit and speciallie designit with all and sundrie liberties privileges
freedomes immunities and commodities belanging to the said Sherefschip
and Justiciarie with power to the said Sir James Skene his aires male
assignayis or thair deputies to sit judge cognosce and decyde in all
and quhatsumever caussis alsweill civill as criminall within the saidis
boundis and jurisdiction of the samen landis sicklike and als frilie

206 APPENDIX NO. VI.

in all respectis as ony uther justice justiciarie or Sheref quhatsum-
ever may or micht have done in ony tyme bygane or to cum And
least any question micht arryse anent the tyme within the quhilk
the said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis as Shereffis or Justices
may sitt cognosce and decyde in caussis criminall efter the crymes com-
mittit his Majestic for him his aires and successouris with avise and
consent foirsaid be thir presentis willis grantis and declairis That it salbe
lesum and lawfull to thame to challange and persew attaiche and arreist
quhatsumever criminall offenderis within the saidis boundis and landis
for ony crymes committit be thame, And to sitt cognosce judge and
decyde thairanent at any tyme within the space of sex monethis nixt
efter the committing of the samen crymes During the quhilk space it
salbe lesum onlie to the said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis and to
nane utheris to try cognosce judge and proceid thairanent, Excluding
during that space his Majesties Livetenent and all uther persones quhat-
sumever from exercing of ony judgement or jurisdiction theranent or to
attache arreist adjournay call or convene the saidis criminall offenderis
and committeris of crymes be any maner of way providing alwise that
gif efter the said space of sex monethis beis expirit the saidis crymes and
criminall offenderis beis not judgeit or tryed be the said Sir James Skene
and his foir saidis In that cais it salbe lesome therefter to his Majesties
said Livetenent his aires and assignayis being his Majesties saidis
Livetenentis and thair deputtis to challange attaiche arreist call and
convene the saidis persones giltie and to judge and cognosce anent the
crymes committit be thame as they sail think expedient with power also
to the said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis notwithstanding of the
provision abonewrittin efter the expiring of the saidis six monethis at
all tymes in the absence of the said Sir Williame Alexander his aires
and assignayis being his Majesties Livetenentis and thair deputtis to
judge cognosce and decyde in all caussis criminall and to punishe all
criminall offendaris within the saidis boundis at thair plessour And in
lyke maner in thair absence out of the said countrey ather within the
said space of sex monethis or therefter at all tymes quhatsumever to remit
and forgive the saidis crymes and criminall offenderis within the saidis
boundis and landis upon suche reassonabill caussis and considerationes as
thay sail think expedient And farder with power to the said Sir James
Skene and his foirsaidis to sitt judge and cognosce upon all crymes and

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 207

criminall offendaris within the saidis boundis and ether to punishe remit
or forgive thair saidis crymes and criminall offendaris as thay sail
think expedient at all tymes efter the said space of sex monethis befoir
the said Sir Williame his aires and assignayis being his Majesties Live-
tenentis and thair deputies do provoik cite or indyte the saidis criminall
ofendaris to compeir to thair judicatorie albct thay be in the said
countrey of New Scotland for the tyme But prejudice alwise to the said
Sir William Alexander his aires and assignayis being his Majesties
Livetenentis and thair deputies being first citeris efter the said space of
sex montheis beis expirit To sitt judge cognosce punishe or remit the
saidis crymes and criminall offendaris at thair plessour as said is And
likewise his Majestic be thir presentis ordines that in cais it salhappin
the said Sir James Skene or his foirsaidis to for give or remit ony of the
saidis crymes or criminall offenderis as said is That in that caiss thair
remissioun and pardoun so to be grantit salbe publist and proclamit
within the saidis boundis at the day and dait of the granting therof be sum
of thair particular officiaris to be appointit be thame to that effect And
efter the publication therof that the samen remissioun salbe registrat in the
register of the said Sir William Alexander his aires male and assignayis
being his Majesties Livetenentis of the samen countrey within the space
of thriescoir dayss efter the publication therof, at the least that the samen
salbe offerit and presentit befoir twa famous witnessis to the keper of the
samen register give the samen register Clerk or keper therof salhappin to
be in the said countrey of New Scotland for the tyme with full power
and privilege to the said Sir James Skene his aires male and assignayis
and thair deputies for ever To sitt fence hald or caus be haldin in thair
names Justice courttis Shereff courttis courttis of frie regalitie baroun
courttis and burrow courttis within and upoun all and haill the foirsaidis
boundis and landis abone designit to him as said is or ony pairt of the
samen at all tymes and occasiones as thay sail think expedient Clerkis
officiaris serjandis and utheris memberis of courts quhatsumever To mak
and creat unlawis and amerciamentis of court to ordane exact uplift and
ressave and apply the samen to thair awin proper use as thay sail think
expedient with all and sindrie utheris privileges liberties commodities and
casualities perteining or that may fall or pertene to the saidis offices and
jurisdictiones of Justiciarie frie regalitie and sherefship and utheris abone
expremit with full power and privilege also to the said Sir James Skene

2O8 APPENDIX NO. VI.

his aires male and assignayis to sell annallie and dispone heritablie or
uthervvise all and haill the foirsaidis boundis and landis abone designit
at thair plessour with all and sindrie liberties fredomes immunities and
commodities abone and under exprest heirby grantit to him or with sa
many of the saidis liberties fredomes and utheris as he or his foirsaidis
sail think expedient To quhatsumever uther persone or persones thair
aires or assignayis being under his Hienes obedience To be haldin of his
Majestic his aires and successouris or of the said Sir James Skene
his aires male and assignayis as it sail best pleis the said Sir James
Skene and his foirsaidis Quhilkis landis boundis privileges and utheris
abone exprest or onie pairt therof being disponit be the said Sir James
Skene and his foirsaidis to ony other person or persones To be haldin of
his Majestic his aires and successouris his Majestie his aires and suc-
cessouris Sail ressave and admit thame and everie ane of thame as
thair frie vassellis and immediat tenentis therof And sail grant unto
thame and everie one of thame such sufficient infeftmentis of the samen
and with the samen maner of halding as is now grantit to the said Sir
James Skene his aires male and assignayis quhenever thay sail dessyr
the samen With power also to the said Sir James Skene his aires male
and assignayis and to all uther persone or persones being under his
Majesties obedience to quhom thay salhappin to annallie and dispone
ony pairt or portioun of the saidis landis To intitill and call the samen
or ony pairt or portion therof be quhatsumever name or titill thay sail
think expedient in all tyme cuming. As also that it salbe lesome to the
aires male and successouris quhatsumever of the said Sir James Skene
and his assignayis To enter thame selffis as aires to thair predicessouris
to the saidis landis boundis and utheris quhatsumever grantit and dis-
ponit to the said Sir James Skene or ony pairt therof be vertew of thir
presentis And that ather be ordour of the chancelarie of the said King-
dome of Scotland be service brevis retouris and preceptis dwell furth of
the samen and be the ordour observit theranent or utherwise be the
ordour of the chappell and chancelarie of the said countrey of New
Scotland at the plessour and option of the aires male and successouris of
the said Sir James Skene and his assignayis quhatsumever With power
also to the said Sir James Skene his aires male assignayis and thair
deputies in all tyme cuming To convocat all and sindrie thair men tenentis
servandis and inhabitantis quhatsumever of the saidis boundis and landis

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 209

|

abone designit at all tymes and occasiones as thay sail think expedient

for the weill defence and mantenance of them selffis or of thair saidis
boundis and landis for resisting of forreyne enemeis repressing of inso-
lencies and ryottis of mutinous seditions or rebellious people Reducing
the natives and savages to conformitie and dew obedience and utheris
lawfull or necessarie caussis quhatsumever. And mairour Geving and
granting as be thir presentis his Majestic for him his aires and suc-
cessouris with avise and consent abone writtin gevis grantis willis ordines
and declaires That the said Sir James Skene his aires male and assig-
nayis sail in all tyme cuming have voit and voice in making of all
lawis to be maid in all tyme cuming concerning the publict weill stait
and government of the said countrey of New Scotland and in all
metingis assemblies counsallis and conventiones to be callit convenit or
haldin for that effect And that thay salbe dewlie and lawfullie warnit to
that effect and that na lawis salbe maid nor established theranent or be
valid without the avise and consent of the said Sir James Skene his aires
male and assignayis and without the avise and consent of the remanent
baronettis haveris ilk ane of thame the lyke quantitie and proportioun of
landis within the said countrey pertening heritablie to thame as is heirby
disponit to the said Sir James Skene To wit ilk ane of thame sextene
thowsand aikeris of land at the leist without the avise and consent of the
maist pairt of sa mony of thame as sail convene to gif thair voittis and
voices upoun dew and lawfull warning given to them in maner to be
condiscendit upoun and sett doun at the first meting and assemblie to be
haldin be thame and his Majesties said Livetenent his aires or assignayis
being his Majesties Livetenentis for making of lawis and ordinances of
that countrey And that na persone or persones quhatsumever and ilk
ane of them quha sail not be heritouris of sextine thowsand aikeris of
land within the said countrey sail have voit or voice of making of onie
lawis concerning the said countrey without the mutuall avise and consent
of the said Livetenent his aires and assignayis being his Majesties Live-
tenentis and of his aires and successouris and of the said Sir James
Skene and his foirsaidis and the remanent baronettis foirsaidis And
farder in cais the said Sir James Skene his aires male and assignayis be
not personalie present at suche metingis counsallis conventiones or
assemblies as salbe haldin callit or convenit to the effect foirsaid within
the said countrey of new Scotland In that cais thair deputies or

C C

210 APPENDIX NO. VI.

«

actornayes having thair power and authoritie and having the quantitie
of ane thowsand aikeris of land pertening to them in heritage within the
said countrey sail have the like voit and voice as gif thay wer personalie
present Bot in cais any metingis or assemblies be haldin to that effect
within the said kingdome of Scotland in that cais gif thay be personallie
present for the tyme within the said kingdome thay sail have onlie voit
and voice be thame selffis and not be thair deputies or actornayes having
thair power and warrand Bot in cais of thair absence furth of the said
kingdome at sick tymes In that cais thair deputies and actornayes
having thair power and warrand sail have the lyke voit and voice as gif
they wer personallie present them selffis And that the said Sir James
Skene and his Majesties haill remanent subjectis and inhabitantis of that
countrey of new Scotland in all tyme aiming salbe judgeit rewlit and
governit in all caussis civill and criminall be the lawis of the said countrey
onlie and na uther But prejudice alwise to the said Sir James Skene and
his foirsaidis be themselffis and thair deputies to mak sic particular lawis
constitutiones and ordinances within thair awin proper boundis particu-
larlie abone designit as they sail think expedient for the better policie
weill and government therof and inhabitantis of the samen and for
keping of gude ordour and administration of law and justice within the
samen And but prejudice to the said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis
of ony uther particular libe'rtie privilege immunitie claus or conditioun
quhatsumever abone or under exprest conceavit in thair favouris
provyding alwise that all quhatsumever generall lawis to be maid and set
doun in maner foirsaid concerning the publict weill stait and government
of the said countrey or be the said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis
within thair awin particular boundis as said is salbe maid als conforme
and aggreabill to the lawis of the said kingdome of Scotland as
convenientlie may be Regaird being had to the circumstances of tyme
place and distance of the said countrey and inhabitantis therof and thair
conditiones and qualities And farder albeit be expres condition of the
said originall Infeftment grantit to his Majesties said Livetenent It is
grantit and appointit to him his aires and assignayis to convocat all and
sindrie the inhabitantis of the said countrey of new Scotland be pro-
clamation or utherwise in maner therein mentionat Nevirtheles his
Majestic hath grantit willit and ordanit and be thir presentis for him his
aires and successouris with avise and consent abonewrittin Willis grantis

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 211

declaires and ordines That it salbe nawise lesum nor lawfull to his
Majesties said Livetenent his aires successouris assignayis or ony utheris
his Majesties or his successouris officiarias quhatsumever To convocat
or convene be proclamation or utherwise the said Sir James Skene his
aires assignayis successouris deputies men tenentis servandis or inhabi-
tantis of the said particular boundis now disponit to the said Sir James
Skene Bot upoun sick reasonabill necessar and lawfull caussis as
salbe fund fitt and expedient for the publict weill of that countrey
be the said Livetenent and his foirsaidis with 'avise and consent of
the said Sir James Skene his aires male assignayis or deputies and
the avise and consent of the remnant persones abonenominat ap-
pointit to have voit and voice in making of lawis as said is Quha
and everie ane of thame thair aires successouris assignayis deputies men
tenentis servandis and inhabitantis of thair severall boundis and landis
salbe subject to the lyke condition And likewise that it sail not be
lesum nor lawfull to the said Livetenent or his foirsaidis or ony utheris
his Majestic his aires or successouris officearis quhatsumever to exact
impose or uplift onie taxatioun or imposition fra or upoun the said
Sir James Skene his aires male assignayis deputies men tenentis servandis
or inhabitantis of the saidis boundis and landis particularlie abone
specifeit and disponit to him or upoun thair landis rentis gudes and geir
without the speciall consent of the said Sir James Skene his aires male
and assignayis notwithstanding of onie power grantit to the said Live-
tenent and his foirsaidis be the said originall infeftment or be vertew of
ony uther richt or title quhatsumever maid or grantit or to be maid or
grantit be his Majestic his aires or successouris to the said Livetenent
or ony uther persone quhatsumever But prejudice alvvise to the said
Sir James Skene his aires male assignayis and deputies within the propper
boundis particularlie abone designit and heirby disponit to him To call
convocat and convene thair men tenentis servandis and inhabitantis at
all tymes and occasiones in maner and for the caussis abone exprest be
ane speciall claus theranent And further geving granting and disponing
as be thir presentis his Majestic for him his aires and successouris with avise
and consent foirsaid gevis grantis and dispones heritablie for ever To
the said Sir James Skene his aires male and assignayis all and
quhatsumever uther privileges liberties fredomes commodities immu-
nities proffeittis aismentis prerogatives dignities and casualities generallie

212 APPENDIX NO. VI.

or particular-lie mentionat or exprest in the said originall infeftment
grantit to the said Sir William Alexander and his forsaidis and in als
full frie and and ampill forme and maner as if the samen privileges pre-
rogatives immunities liberties fredomes dignities commodities and utheris
with all claussis and conditiones theranent wer heirin and in the bodie
of the said charter to be extendit heirupoun at lenth speciallie ingrost and
contenit in thir presentis in sa far allanerlie as the samen may be
extendit or concerne the particular boundis and landis abone designit
disponit heirby to the said Sir James Skene his aires male and assig-
nayis as heritouris therof (exceptand alwise and reservand to the said Sir
Williame Alexander his aires and assignayis the Livetennandries of the
said haill countrey and dominioun of New Scotland The power and
privilege of striking and coyning of moneyes the office of cheif Justi-
ciarie generall of the samen countrey in caussis criminall The office of
admiralitie making of officearis of estait conferring of titillis of honour
with full power and jurisdiction of frie regalitie chappell and chancellarie
of the said countrey and privilege of making of lawis concerning the
publict weill stait and government of the said countrey granted to him be
his said originall infeftment provyding that the samen reservatioun and
exception now conceavit in favoures of the said Sir William Alexander
and his foirsaidis sail be nawise prejudiciall to the said Sir James Skene
and his foirsaidis anent all or ony of the particular privileges fredomes
liberties immunities commodities and utheris abone and under men-
tionat heirby grantit to the said Sir James Skene and his foirsaidis
in maner generallie and particularlie abone and under writtin Quhilkis
landis boundis advocation and Donation of benefices kirkis and chap-
lanries and richtis of patronage therof with the teind shaves and
utheris teindis parsonage and vicarage of the samen includit mynes
minerallis metallis precious stones gemms pearles wodis fishingis
mylnes multures offices privileges and jurisdiction of frie regalitie justice
and justiciarie Shereff and Sherefschippis and all uther liberties immuni-
ties privileges conditiones fredomes customes casualities and utheris
quhatsumever generallie and particularlie abone mentionat perteine
heritablie of befoir to the said Sir Williame Alexander And wer dewlie
and lawfullie resignit surrenderit and upgevin be him be his lawfull pro-
curatouris in his name to that effect speciallie constitut and patent
Lettres in the handis of the saidis Lordis of his Hienes Exchekquer of

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 213

the said kingdome of Scotland his Majesties Commissiounaris nominat
and appointit be his Hienes to that effect as in the handis of his Majestic
the said Sir William Alexander his immediat lawfull superiour of the
landis boundis and utheris foirsaidis purelie and simplie be staff
and bastoun as use is at Halyrudhous Togidder with all richt titill
entres and clame of richt etc To and in favouris of the said Sir James
Skene his aires male and assignayis quhatsumever in maner and with
the provisiones limitationes exceptiones and reservationes respective
abone mentionat And that for new heritabill infeftment to be maid
gevin and grantit be his Majestic to the said Sir James Skene his aires
male and assignayis quhatsumever To be altogidder erectit unit
annexit and incorporat in ane haill full and frie barony and regalitie for
ever to be callit in all tyme cuming the Barony of [sic] To be haldin of
his Majestic his aires and successouris of the croun and kingdome of
Scotland in frie blenshe for yearlie payment of ane penny usuale money
of the said kingdome of Scotland upon the ground of the saidis landis
and boundis or ony pairt therof at the feist of the nativitie of our Lord
in name of blenshe ferme give it beis askit allanerlie with dispensation
also of the nonentrie of the samen haill landis boundis and barony
maillis fermes proffeittis and dewties therof during the samen nonentrie
And farder geving granting and disponing as be the tenour heirof his
Majestic for him his aires and successouris of his certane knawlege and
meir motive with avise and consent foirsaid and for divers gude and
thankfull services done to his Hienes be the said Sir James Skene and
utheris wechtie caussis and considerationes moving his Majestic Gevis
grantis and dispones of new to the said Sir James Skene his aires male
and assignayis heritablie for ever All and haill the foirsaidis boundis
landis mylnes wodis fischingis advocation and donation of benefices
kirkis and chaplanries and richtis of patronages therof with the foirsaidis
teind schaves and utheris teindis personage and vicarage of the samen
includit mynes minerallis precious stones with power privilege and juris-
diction of frie regalitie offices of justiciarie and Sherefschip privileges
power and jurisdiction Justiciarie and Sherefdome in all caussis criminall
and civill Courttis unlawis amerciamentis escheattis And all and sindrie
utheris liberties fredomes immunities customes casualities profeittis
dewties and utheris quhatsumever particularie or generallie abonexprest
Quhilkis his Majestic for him his aires and successouris with avise and

214 APPENDIX NO. VI.

consent foirsaid be thir presents Willis and haldis as heirin arid in the
said charter to follow heirupoun speciallie and particularlie ingrost
repeittit insert and exprest with the particular exceptiones limitationes
and provisiones respective and particularlie abonewrittin and of new
Erectis unittis annexis and incorporates All and sindrie the foirsaidis
landis and boundis mylnes wodis fischingis advocation and donation of
benefices kirkis and chaplanries and richtis of patronage therof teind
schaves and utheris teindis personage and vicarage of the samen includit
mynes mettallis minerallis precious stones pearles offices regalitie justiciarie
and Sherefschip liberties fredomes privileges and immunities customes
proffeittis casualities dignities power jurisdiction and utheris quhatsum-
ever generallie and particularlie abonexprest quhilkis his Majestic for
him and his successouris haldis as heirin and in the said charter repeittit
and particularlie insert with the particular exceptiones and reservationes
speciallie abone mentionat Dispensing for ever with the generalitie In
all and ane full and frie Baronie and Regalitie of To be

haldin and to be had be the said Sir James Skene his aires male and
assignayis off our said Soverane Lord and his successouris of the said
croun and kingdome of Scotland in frie heritage frie regalitie and barony
for ever Be all richt meithis merchis and divisis as the samen lyes in
lenth and breid in houssis biggingis mylnes multures etc with halking
hunting court plent herzeld bluduite and mercheat unlawis amerciamentis
and escheattis of courttis and with furk fork sok sak tholl theve vert
wrack wair venyson waith pitt gallows infang theiff and outfang theif
therof And with commoun pasture frie ische and entrie And all and
sindrie uther commodities fredomes privileges proffeittis aismentis prero-
gatives dignities and casualities grantit of befoir be his Majestie or his
predicessouris to quhatsumever barone mair or les within the said
kingdome of Scotland and all utheris contenit in the said originall
infeftment thairanent And quhilkis his Majestie be him selff or ony
utheris his maist royall progenitouris and antecessouris hes gevin grantit
and disponit or may give grant and dispone be vertew of ony charteris
infeftmentis lettres patentis grantis or donationes to ony his Majesties
Subjectis of quhatsumever qualitie state or degrie or to quhatsumever
Societies companies or utheris particular memberis therof in seiking
leiding purchessing acquyring conquesing or mantayning of onie forraine
landis or colonies quhatsumever with the exceptiones reservationes and

PATENT OF BARONETCY.

provisiones speciallie abone mentionat And in als full frie and ampill
forme and maner as the samen privileges liberties commodities and
immunities with all and sindrie claussis conditiones and provisiones
theranent wer at lenth speciallie ingrost insert and contenit in thir
presentis Togidder with all richt titill entres and clame of richt alsweill
petitor as possessour quhilk his Majestic his predicessouris or Succes-
souris had hes or onywise may have clame or pretend thairto or to the
maillis fermes proffeittis and dewties of the foirsaidis landis barony and
utheris speciallie and generallie abone mentionat off quhatsumever yeares
and termes preceiding for quhatsumever caus or occasioun bygane
Renuncing and Dischargeing the samen with all action and instance
thairanent To and in favouris of the said Sir James Skeine his aires
male and assignayis for ever alsweill for not payment of the dewtie
contenit in the said originall infeftment or for not doing of dew homage
conform thairto or not fulfilling of onie point of the samen originall
infeftment or for committing of onie fault deid commissioun or omissioun
prejudiciall thairto or quhairupoun the samen originall infeftment may be
lawfullie quarrellit impugnit or drawen in questioun ony maner of way
acquyting and forgiving the samen simpliciter with all action theranent
competent or that may be competent to his Majestic his aires or
successouris ony maner of way and renuncing the samen juri liti et cause
cum pacto de non petendo And with supplement of all faultis and
defectis alsweill not namit as namit quhilkis his Majestic will
have as for exprest in the foirsaid charter and infeftment following
thereupoun And forder his Majestic with avise and consent abone-
writtin Willis and grantis and for his Hienes and his successouris
Decernis and ordines that the landis baronie and utheris foirsaidis
salbe extentit and retourit to ane twentie shilling land usuale Scottis
money alsweill of new as auld extent in all tyme cuming To the
effect that retouris and preceptis of Chancelarie may be past in
favouris of the aires and successouris of the said Sir James Skenc
aggreable to the auld forme observit in his Majesties Chancelarie of
Scotland and that ather in the said kingdome of Scotland and his
Majesties Chancelarie therof or in the said countrey of New Scotland
and chancelarie of the samen in the option of the said Sir James Skene
and his abone writtin And in cais it sail pleis the aires and successouris
foirsaidis of the said Sir James Skene to be servit retourit infeft and

2l6 APPENDIX NO. VI.

saisit in the landis and utheris foirsaidis within the said kingdome of
Scotland In that cais his Majestic withe consent foirsaid Willis grantis
decernis and ordines that the Brevis to be direct for that effect salbe
direct to the Shereff of Edinburgh and his deputtis and retourit to his
Majesties Chancelarie of Scotland and the preceptis of saising to be
direct therupoun salbe direct to the said Shereff of Edinburgh and his
deputtis and put to dew executioun be thame Quhilkis retouris preceptis
and saisingis swa to be past salbe als valide effectuall and sufficient in all
respectis as gif the landis and utheris foirsaidis did lye within the said
Sherefdome of Edinburgh Gevand therfoir yearlie the said Sir James
Skene his aires male and assignayis to our said Soverane Lord his aires
and successoures of the said croun and kingdome of Scotland The
foirsaid blenshe ferme dewtie of ane penny usuall monie of the said
kingdome of Scotland upoun the ground of the foirsaidis landis and
baronie at the feist of the nativitie of our Lord in name of blenshe ferme
give it beis askit allenerlie ffor all uther dewtie question or demand that
may be socht or impute upoun the saidis landis and barony And be
reasoun of the great intervall and distance of the saidis boundis and
countrey of New Scotland fra the said ancient kingdome of Scotland and
that the samen countrey of New Scotland is yit altogidder destitute of
notaris and publict Tabelliones requisite for authorizing of Saisingis
and geving of infeftmentis therupoun And regairding thairwith the
great and manyfold inconvenientis quhilkis may fall out in defalt of dew
and tymous saising or saisingis to be taken upoun the said charter and
utheris lyke charteris and infeftmentis grantit or to be grantit of the
foirsaidis landis landis and baronie to the said Sir James Skene his aires
male and assignayis And seing that the said countrey of New Scotland
and originall infeftment of the samen is haldin in cheiff of the said
ancient kingdome of Scotland and laitlie surveyit discoverit purchest and
acquyred be the said Sir Williame Alexander his Majesties Livetenent
thairof foirsaid and upoun his proper chargis quha is ane persone native
of the said ancient kingdome of Scotland and now pairtlie plantit and
to be plantit with Colonies and natives of the said kingdome and thairby
callit and justly meriting the name style and titill of New Scotland
Quhairthrow the samen countrey of New Scotland is and must be now
reput and haldin ane pairt of the said kingdome of Scotland Thairfoir
his Majestic with avise foirsaid be thir presentis decernis and declaires

PATENT OF BARONETCY.

and ordines that ane saising to be taken at the castell of Edinburgh as
the maist eminent and principall place of the said kingdome of Scotland
or at the plessour and option of the said Sir James Skene his aires male
and assignayis upon the ground of the foirsaidis landis and barony of
or onie pairt therof is and salbe sufficient in all

tyme cuming ffor all and haill the samen landis and baronie or onie pairt
or portion therof Quhairanent his Majestic hes dispensit and be thir
presentis dispenssis for ever And for all and sindrie the saidis privileges
and utheris speciallie and generallie abonementionat and becaus that be
the halding of the saidis landis and barony in blenshe ferme as said is
and that be defalt of the tymous and lawfull entrie of the air or aires
male of the said Sir James Skene and his assignais succeeding in the
samen baronie and utheris quhilk hardlie may be done be thame dewlie
and in tyme be occasion of the far distance therof fra the said kingdome
of Scotland quhairby the samen boundis and barony may befall and
becum in his Majesties handis or in his successouris be reasoun of
nonentrie ay and quhile the lawfull entrie of the richteous air or aires
male of the said Sir James Skene and his assignais thairto And his
Majestic being nawise willing nor myndit that the foirsaidis landis and
barony sail at any tyme fall in nonentrie nether yit that the said Sir
James Skene his aires male and assignais salbe frustrat of the benefite
and proffeit therof in the meantyme Therfoir his Majestic with avise
foirsaid for him and his successouris hes dispensit and be thir presentis
dispensis with the said nonentrie Renuncing the samen alluterlie and als
exonering quitclaming and dischargeing the said Sir James Skene his
aires male and assignais of the samen nonentrie simpliciter quhensoever
the foirsaidis landis and barony salhappin to fall in his Majesties handis
his aires or successouris be reasoun of nonentrie with the maillis
fermes proffeittis and dewties therof and all action and instance
theranent jure liti et cause simpliciter with all that may follow therupone
ProVyding nevirtheles that the aires male of the said Sir James
Skene and his assignais sail within the space of sevin yeares efter
the deceis of thair predicessores or entrie to the possession of the
samen landis and barony do thair dew homage be them selffis
or thair lawfull procuratouris to that effect haveand thair sufficient
power thairto to our soverane Lord and his successouris of the said crown
and kingdome of Scotland And sail enter and be ressavit be his Majestic

DD

2l8 APPENDIX NO. VI.

and his successouris to the samen landis barony and utheris abone men-
tionat in maner abone writtin. In the quhilk cais the air or aires male of
the said Sir James Skene and his assignais sail have bruike and enjoy all
and sindrie benefites and privileges therof Togidder with all and haill the
samen landis and barony maillis fermes proffeittis and dewtics therof and
utheris quhatsumever generallie and speciallie abonementionat. Siclike
and alsfrilie as gif the said nonentrie had nevir bene fallin And forder
his Majestie considering that vertew and Industrie is to be nothing moir
advancit and nurished then be honour and preferment and that thairby
cheiflie generous spiritis ar animat and stirit up to intend and prosequit
nobill and vertuous actiones and interpryses and that all splendour and
greatnes of dignitie and honour hath the beginning and incres from the
King as from the fountain therof To quhais hienes and eminencie
properlie belongeth to erect and institute new titillis of honour and
dignitie as fra quhom the ancient first did flow And thairby willing to
imitat his Majesties maist nobill progenitouris and antecessouris of royal 1
and famous memorie quho had and did put in practise the power of
creating and erecting of new dignities and degries amongst thair worthie
subjectis His Majestie of his royall power and authorite hath erectit
creatit maid constitute and ordanit and be thir presentis for him his
aires and successouris off his speciall grace favouris certane knawledge
meir motive and deliberat mynd with avise and consent foirsaid Makis
erectis constitutis creattis and ordines ane certane hereditarie state degrie
dignitie name ordour titill and style of Baronett To be and remane
perpetuallie in all tyme cuming within the said kingdome of Scotland
and countrey of New Scotland and to be had and enjoyed be such
persones quhom his Majestie his aires or successouris for the weill and
furtherance of the said plantatione of the said countrey of New Scotland
and thair worthis and deservingis utherwise sail mak baronettis and
prefer the said degrie and style and therfoir his Majestie for the help and
assistance alreadie gevin be the said Sir James Skene towardis the weill
and furtherance of the said plantatioun and for divers utheris gude and
thankfull services done be him to his Majestie and for divers utheris gude
and wechtie caussis and considerationes moving his Hienes his Majestie hes
erectit and be thir presentis of his special grace favour certane knawledge
meir motive and deliberat mynd with avise and consent foirsaid Erectis
prefeiris and creattis the said Sir James Skene and his aires male quhat-

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 219

sumever from tyme to tyme perpetuallie in all tyme cuming in and
to the said hereditarie degrie state name ordour titill and style of
Baronett, with all and sindrie prerogatives privileges precedencies condi-
tiones and utheris generallie and particularlie underwrittin and hath
maid creat and constitute and be thir presentis makis creattis and consti-
tutis the said Sir James Skene and his aires male quhatsumever from
tyme to tyme heritablie Baronettis for evir To have and enjoy all and
sindrie prerogatives privileges and utheris generallie and particularlie
underwrittin conceavit in thair favouris and hath gcvin grantit willit
ordaint and declarit and be the tenour heirof his Majestic for him his
aires and successouris off his speciall grace favour certane knawlege
meir motive and deliberat mynd with avise and consent abonewrittin
Gevis grantis willis ordines and declaires That the said Sir James Skene
and his saidis aires male from tyme to tyme perpetuallie sail be vertew
of thir presentis and of the said degrie stait dignitie name ordour titill
and style of Baronet heirby grantit to thame Have hold tak and enjoy
in all tyme cuming efter the day and dait heirof baith in the said king-
dome of Scotland countrey of New Scotland and ellis quhair place
prioritie preeminencie and precedencie in all and quhatsumever commis-
siones brevis lettres patentis directiones writtis appelationes nominationes
sessiones conventiones assemblies and metingis at all tymes places and
occasiones quhatsumever befoir all and quhatsumever knichtis lordis
esquyeris and gentilmen quhatsumever (excepting his Majesties said
Livetenent and the aires male discending his bodie being his Majesties
Livetenentis of the said countrey of New Scotland and na utherwise
Quhais wyffis and childrene likewise sail have and enjoy place and prece-
dence accordinglie And lykewise excepting such knichtis bannerettis
as salhappin to be maid and knichtit be his Majestic his aires or succes-
souris under thair standert and displayit baner in ane army royall in oppin
warre and the King personallie present and na otherwise And that
during the tyme of the lyfis of the saidis knichtis bannerettis allanerlie
and na lunger) and befoir all baronettis to be maid be his Majestie his
aires or successouris and befoir thair aires or successouris Albeit it sal-
happin onie uther baronet or baronettis to be maid be his Majestie
heirefter To pas and exped thair patentis of the said degrie dignitie
name ordour titill and style under the great seall of the said kingdome of
Scotland befoir the said Sir James Skene sail pas and exped thir

220 APPENDIX NO. VI.

presentis and the charter following heirupoun under the said scale not-
withstanding of ony law custome or constitution to the contrair quhat-
sumever And in lykemaner his Majestic hath willit grantit declarit and
ordanit and be thir presentis for him his aires and successouris off his
speciall grace favour certain knawlege meir motive and deliberat mynd
with avise and consent foirsaid willis grantis appointis declaires and
ordines that the wyff or wyffis of the said Sir James Skene and his
saidis aires male from tyme to tyme perpetuallie sail be vertew of thir
presentis and of the said degrie state and dignitie of thair husbandis have
hold tak and enjoy in all tyme cuming place precedence prioritie and
precedencie alsweill during thair husbandis lyftyms as therefter during
thair awin lyftymes (gif they salhappin to be the langer livers) befoir
the wyffis of all persones quhatsumever befoir quhom the said Sir James
Skene and his saidis aires male may or sould be vertew of thir presentis
or of the said degrie dignitie name ordour titill and style of Baronet
now grantit to the said Sir James Skene and his saidis aires male Have
hold tak and enjoy place preeminence and precedence and befoir the
wyffis of the saidis knichtis bannerets aboneexceptit Becaus the said
degrie of Baronet is ane hereditarie degrie in blude And likewise that
the sonnes and dochteris respective of the said Sir James Skene and his
saidis aires male for ever sail be vertew of thir presentis and of the said
degrie and dignitie of Baronet now grantit to the said Sir James Skene
and his aires male have hold tak and enjoy place and precedence befoir
the sonnes and dochteris respective of all persones befoir quhom the said
Sir James Skene and his aires male may or sould tak place or precedence
and befoir the sonnes of the saidis knichtis bannerettis abonexceptit and
likewise that the wyffis of the sones of the said Sir James Skene and his
saidis aires male respective in all tyme cuming sail have hold tak and
enjoy place prioritie and precedence befoir the wyffis of all persones
befoir quhom thair husbandis may or sould tak place And farder his
Majestic of his speciall grace favour certane knawlege meir motive and
deliberat mynd be thir presentis for him his aires and successouris willis
grantis ordines declaires and promeissis That at quhat tyme and seasone
the eldest lawfull sone of the said Sir James Skene or the eldest
appearand air male of the said Sir James Skene or of ony air male
succeeding to him sail attayne to the aige of xxj yeares That thay and
ilk ane of thame respective salbe knichtit be his Majestic his aires and

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 221

successouris notwithstanding that thair father be on lyff for the tyme
quhosoever thay or ony of thame sail desyre the samen without payment
of onie fynes or charges quhatsumever And that the said Sir James
Skene and his aires male in all tyme cuming sail and may bear for ever
heirefter ather in ane contour in thair coat of armes or in ane inscutchion
at thair election the armes of the said countrey of New Scotland quhilkis
ar argent the ancient armes of Scotland on ane salturie azure supportit
be ane unicorne on the richt and ane wyld man propper on the left and
for the crist a lawrell branche and a thrissell preceding out of armed and
naikit handis conjoynit with this motto (munit hec et altera vincit) And
that the said Sir James Skene and his saidis aires male sail in all tyme
cuming have place in the armes of his Majestic his aires or successouris
in the grosse near about the Royall Standart of his Majestic his aires
and successouris for defence of the samen And that the said Sir James
Skene and his saidis aires male may and sail have in all tyme cuming twa
assistantis of the bodie to support a pall a principall murnour and four
assistantis to him at thair funerallis And that the said Sir James Skene
sail in all tyme cuming be namit callit placit styllit and designit be the
name and titill of Sir James Skene knicht baronet And that the saidis
aires male of the said Sir James Skene perpetuallie sail likewise be
namit callit styllit placit and designit be the name of Baronet And that
the said style name and titill of Baronet salbe put to and adjoynit to the
end rof the surnames of the said Sir James Skene and his saidis airfs
male respective for ever In all and sindrie his Majestie his aires and
successouris brevis lettres patentis and commissiones and in all and
sindrie utheris charteris paipperis deidis writtis and lettres quhatsumever
as trew lawfull and necessar addition of dignitie and that in all Scottis
speiches languages and writtis this addition (Sir) and in all uther
languages and speiches the lyke significative worde salbe premittit to the
names respective of the said Sir James Skene and his saidis aires male
for ever And that the titill name and style of Baronet, salbe adjoyned
to the end of thair surname. And also that the wyff and wyffis of the
said Sir James Skene and his saidis aires male respective for ever sail
have use hald and enjoy for ever in all tyme cuming the style titill and
appellation of (Lady Madam and Dam) respective according to the use
and phrais of speiche and writting. And forder his Majestie of his
speciall grace favour certane knawlege meir motive and deliberat mynd

222 APPENDIX NO. VI.

be thir presentis for him his aircs and successouris, gives grantis ordines
and promeissis to the said Sir James Skene and his saidis aires male
respective for ever That the number of Baronettis of the said kingdome
of Scotland and countrey of New Scotland sail nether now nor at any
tyme heireftcr exceid in all the number of ane hundreth and fyftie
Baronettis. And farder his Majestic of his speciall grace favour certane
knawlege meir motive and deliberat mynd for him his aires and succes-
souris be thir presentis gevis grantis declaires ordines and promeissis to
the said Sir James Skene and his saidis aires male respective for
ever That nether, his Majestic his aires or successouris sail or
will at any tyme heirefter erect ordane mak constitute creat or
appoint ony uther degrie dignitie name ordour titill or style quhatsumever
nor give grant promit ordane or appoint place prioritie preeminence
or precedence to onie persone or persones quhatsumever under or
beneth the style dignitie and degrie of ane Lord of Parliament of the said
kingdome of Scotland who sail or may be taken haldin reput usit or
accomtit to be heicher befoir or equall to the said degrie stait dignitie
name ordour titill and style of Baronet now presentlie gevin and grantit
to the said Sir James Skene and his saidis aires male respective for ever
And that the said Sir James Skene and his saidis aires male respective
for ever sail and may in all. tyme cuming frilie and quietlie have hold tak
and enjoy all and sindrie thair saidis dignities places priorities precedien-
cies preeminencies prerogatives and privileges befoir all uther persones
quhatsumever who ar or salbc maid or appointit of onie suche degries
stattis or dignities names ordouris titillis and styllis or to quhom onie
suche place precedence or preeminence salbe so gevin and grantit And
that the wyffis sones dochteris and sones wyffis of the said Sir James
Skene and his saidis aires male respective for ever sail have hold tak and
enjoy thair saidis places priorities and precedencies accordinglie And
farder that na persone or persones quhatsumever at onie tyme heirefter
salbe maid Barronettis of the said kingdome of Scotland and countrey
of New Scotland bot such as for the weill and furtherance of the said
plantatioun of the countrey of New Scotland sail first perform the con-
ditiones appointit be his Ma^c^.ie for that effect and certifie the samen
to his Hienes or his commissionaris be his Majesties said Livetenent
quhom his Majestic hath appointit to sie the performance therof And
mairover that thir presentis salbe gude valide effectuall and sufficient in

PATENT OF BARONETCY. 223

all tyme cuming in all pointis as is abone writtin To the said Sir James
Skene and his saidis aires male respective for ever and to thair wyffis
sones dochteris and sones wyffis respective and ilk ane of thame in the
law aganes his Majestic his aires and successouris and aganes all persones
quhatsumever in all his Majesties his aires and successouris courttis and
in all places quhatsumever at all tymes and occasiones notwithstanding
of ony law custome prescriptioun use ordinance or constitution quhat-
sumever ather alreadie maid usit publist ordanit or provfdit or quhilk
heirefter salbe maid publist appointit usit ordanit or providit and not-
withstanding of onie uther mater caus or occasioun quhatsumever
And finallie his Majestic for his Hienes and his successouris with
avise foirsaid Willis decernis and ordines the foirsaid charter to follow
heirupoun with all and sindrie liberties privileges claussis articles con-
ditiones and utheris foirsaidis to be ratifeit approvin and confermit in
the nixt Parliament of the said kingdome of Scotland or bnie uther
Parliament of the samen kingdome therefter at the plessour of the said
Sir James Skene and his saidis aires male and to have the strenth force
and effect of ane Decreit and sentence of that soverane and supreme
Judicatorie (Quhairanent his Majestic for his Hienes and his successouris
Willis and declaires the samen charter and claus therin contenit to be
sufficient warrand to that effect promitting the samen to be so performit
in verbo regio and to extend and inlarge the samen with all claussis neid-
full in ampil forme Quhilck charter under the great Scale sail contene
therin ane precept of saising direct to the Shereff of Edinburgh and his
deputtis or to Shereffis in that pairt with ane blank for inserting of thair
names chargeing thame upoun the sicht of the said charter to be
grantit to the said Sir James Skene and his abone writtin be his
Majestic under his Hienes said great Scale of the said kingdome of
Scotland that thay or ony of thame sail incontinent herefter give
heritable stait saising and possessioun corporall actuall and reall
of all and haill the foirsaidis landis baronie and regalitie of with

all and sindrie thair pairtis pendiclis privileges liberties commodities
and utheris quhatsumever alsweill particularlie as generallie abone
mentionat To the said Sir James Skene or his actornay or actornayes
beararis of the said charter be deliverance of card and stane at the
Castell of Edinburgh And that thay on nawise leave this undone The
quhilk to do his Majestic be the said charter sail give his full and irrevo-

224 APPENDIX NO. VI.

cabill power to the saidis Shereffis in that pairt and ilk ane of thame
conjunctlie and severallie as said is The quhilk saising his Majestic with
avise foirsaid willis decernis declaires and ordines be thir presentis to be
als valide effectuall and sufficient in all respectis as give preceptis of
saising had bene severalie and ordourlie direct furth of his Majesties
Chancelarie to that effect upoun the said Charter anent the quhilk his
Majcstie with consent foirsaid hes dispensit and be the tenour of the said
Charter for his Hienes and his successouris be thir presentis dispenssis
for ever And that preceptis etc. At Halyrudhous the day

of Suprascribitur Charles R. Et Subscribitur

sic Geo. Cancells Mar thrs Hadintoun Roxburgh Arskyne Naper Arch :
Archesone

May it pleis your Lordshippis

This Signature grantit be his Majestic to Sir James Skene of Currie-
hill Knycht President of the Session (wherby he is creat Knycht Barronet)
is in all thingis conforme to these alreadie past the great scale of the same
nature and wherupoun he hath gevin satisfactioun to Sir Williame
Alexander Knycht his Majesties principall Secritarie of Scotland and
Livetennent of New Scotland Quhilk I do testifie sic subscribitur

J. SCOTTISTARVETT
Registrat 26 January 1630

APPENDIX N°- VII.

LETTERS FROM HUGH SKENE AND HIS WIFE, PETRONELLA VAN
SORGEN, ADDRESSED TO " THE LADY HALYARDS, LIVING IN
THE SKINNER'S CLOSS, EDINBURGH, NORTH BRITAIN."*

i.

Dear and Loving Mother, Sisters and Brother, —

Since it is the pleasure of the Almighty God to lay his hand on me,
and by all appearance litle or no hopes of recovery, my disease being
given over by all my physicians, I having taken it by a severe grave
colique, which continued for some days, and at last being found that it is
a purification in my lungs, that my only recourse is to the Almighty
God and my Saviour Jesus Christ, and to be in unity with all men.
Soe my Dear mother, sisters and brother, wherein I have offended you, I
first ask pardon of God, and then of you all, and begs earnestly off you
all that if my Heavenly Father shall remove me from this world to his
heavenly rest, that you will take this poor woman, my dear and Loving
Wyff and children, in your motherly, sisterly, and brotherly care, for
believe me wee shall never be in capacity to repay her for the care that
she hath taken of me. Soe my Dear Mother, sisters and brother, this
being my earnest and last desire to you all, and while I am here my
prayers shall allwise be for you, recomending you all to the protection of
the Almighty God, and hopping that this, my last desire, shall be granted.

I rest, Dear and Loving Mother, sisters and brother, your ever affec-
tionate and Loving son and brother, while I am upon this side of time.

HEUGH Q SKENE, his
mark. I

Tournay, Jully 23 (N. S.), 1724.

* From the Curriehill Charter Chest.
E E

226 APPENDIX NO. VII.

Postscript — This day I have taken the last consultation of all the
doctors of the town, but I am affrayed to non effect.

My wife is within two months of her time to come in childbed. Dear
Mother, perform a loving mother to them. Adue. Dear brother, if you
can help her to a pension from the king, I am hopfull you'l doe it.

2.
Loving Mother —

I am sorry to give you the disconsolate newes of your sones death
about four weeks ago. He was taken with a violent cholick, and upon
that a strong fever with stitches in his right side, so that it hes pleased
the Lord to take him to himself. He departed upon Tuesday last, being
the 25th (new style), with his full understanding and compleatt sences.
After that the doctors had all given him over I had three severale
consultationes of the best Docters in Town to see if ther was any
possible remedy, but against death ther is none. He was so entirely
beloved of all, that all or most of the officers in generall of the garrisone
conveyed him to his buriall place (with great Lamentatione), which was
in the French Church, wher he was most honorably interred, both for my
own particular respect, as also of you and all his friends. I doubt not
but you will sympathize with my disconsolate conditione, considering how
I am stated, with a young child, and another in my belly. I know not
well what to doe, only I cast myself upon God, who cares for the widow
and fatherless, and upon my good friends. I shall patiently wait your
answer and advice what I shall doe. Your son many times said that he
had a great desire, if it had pleased God, to have seen you once more had
it been possible. Be pleased to signifie his death to all our good friends
with my most entire love to them all. I hope you will do your endeavour
and employ our friends to see to procure me a pensione. No more, but
recommending you to the care of the Almighty, I rest, Loving Mother,

Your affectionate daughter,

PlETERNELA VAN SORGEN,
WEEDCUN SKENEN.

Tournay, July 30 (New Style), 1724.

In case your son be not in toun, pray doe not fail to send the
enclosed to him, by a corier, with all possible speed.

LETTERS ADDRESSED TO LADY HALYARDS. 2 27

Dear and Loving Mother —

After my very humble respects to you, the first October (new style),
I was brought to bed of a daughter, and was called after Sister Helen.
I received the 3 guineas from Mrs. Mosman, but no letter, she having lost
it by the way. I am very thankful to you for your motherly care you
have of me, and I shall never omitt that part of my duty to be instante
with God for you that he may bless and prosper you and every thing
that you take in hand. I have sent Dromondus over, according to your
desire, which I am hopfull you'l be mother and father to him, he haveing
no other as you, under God. I have given the woman 14 flamish gu :
which is 14 pounds Scots for her journay.

It is earnestly desired that you will put George in mind of me, for you
can very well think in what condition I am in. Recommending you all
in the protection of the Almighty God.

Dear and Loving Mother,
Your affectionate daughter and humble servant,

(Signed) PlETERNELA VAN SORGEN.

Tournay, Oct. 4th, 1724.

APPENDIX N°- VIII.
PAPERS CONNECTED WITH THE SKENES OF BELHELVIE.*

i.

Inhibition James Arbuthnot agt. Gilbert Skene in Overkill, and others.

31 July, 1587.

JAMES be the grace of God King of Scottis To our lowittis Thomas
Maneris Messingeris our Shereffis in that part conjunctlie and severallie
speciallie constitut greting fforsamekill as it is humlie menit and schawin
to ws be our lowit James Arbuthnot of Lentusche That quhair he obtenit
decreit befoir the lordis of our counsall Aganis Thomas Ker burges of
Aberdeen Thomas Buk burges of the same bruch Gilbert Skein in Over-
hill John Clerk in Pottertoun George Gordoun burges of the same brugh
and George Ker of Benvellis for the wrangous violent and maisterfull
spoliatioun away taking resetting detening and withholding be thame selffis
thair servandis complices and wtheris in thair names of thair causing com-
mand assistance and ratihabitioun fra the said complenar furth of the grund
of the landis of Overtoun of Balhelveis Murtoun Keir and Langseitt with
thair pertinentis lyand within our Sherefdome of Aberdeen and furth of
the duelling houssis thairof hallis chalmeris buithis byris and wtheris
office houssis of the same pertening to the said complenar be guid rycht
and tytill vpon the sextene day of Junij the yeir of God Jm. Vc. fourscoir
four yeiris of certane cornes catell hors nolt scheip insicht plenesing
wreittis obligatiounes infeftmentis abulzementis gold siluer and wtheris
guidis and geir extending to certane gryt quantateis availlis and pryces as
in the principall lybellit summondis rasit and execut at the said complen-
aris instance aganis thame thairwpon schawin to the lordis off our counsell

* From the Public Records.

PAPERS CONNECTED WITH THE SKENES OF BELHELVIE. 229

at mair lenth is contenit and now the saidis persones perfyitlie vnder-
standing that the said complenar will obtain decreit condamnatour aganis
thame in the said mater that in the meintym in manifest defraud of him
anent the executioun thairof intendis as he is informit to sell annalie
dispone put away and dilapidat thair landis heretages takis stedingis
rowmes togidder with thair cornes cattell guidis and geir swa that the
saidis persones sail mak tham selffis onabill to fulfill the said decreit to
the said complenar quhairby he will be altogidder frustrat and defraudit
of all executioun thairof to his gryt apperand skayth without we and the
saidis lordis provyid remeid as is allegit OUR WILL IS heirfoir and we
charge yow straitlie and commandis that incontinent thir our letteris
sene ye pas and in our name and auctoritie fence and arrest all and sindrie
the foirnamit persones cornes cattell merchandice dettis sowmes of
money insicht plenesing maillis fermes and deweteis of thair landis gif
thai ony have and all wtheris thair guidis and geir quhatsumevir in quhat
handis or quhairevir the samyn can be apprehendit within our realme and
mak Inventar to remane vnder arrestment at the said complenaris in-
stance ay and quhill sufficient souertie be fundin that the samyn salbe
furthcumand to him as law will And als that he in our name and auc-
torite command and charge the saidis defendaris that thai on nawayis
sell annalie wadsett dispone dilapidat nor putt away ony of thair landis
heretages takis stedings rowmes or possessionis or yit thair cornes cattell
guidis or geir in defraud off the said complenar anent the forsaid decreit
to be obtenit be him aganis thame as said is And siclyk that ye mak Inhibi-
tioun be oppin proclamatioun at the mercat croces off Aberdeen and wtheris
places neidfull to all and sindrie our lieges and wtheris quhom it affeiris that
thai nor nane off thame persew nor tak vpon hand to by tak in wadsett be
assignatioun resignatioun reversioun alienatioun lang or schort takis nor
ony wther maner of dispositioun quhatsumevir fra the foirnamit defendaris
or ony of thair saidis landis heretagis takis stedingis rowmes or possessiones
or yit thair cornes cattell guidis or geir in defraud of the said complenar, or
yit to by or blok or sell with thame as said is with certificatioun to thame
that dois in the contrair that all sic bying selling wadsetting be assig-
natioun resignatioun reversioun alienatioun lang or short takis or ony
vther maner of dispositioun quhatsumevir salbe decernit and declarit be
the saidis lordis of our counsall to be of nane availl force nor effect with
all that sail follow thairwpon Becaus the saidis lordis hes sene the

230 APPENDIX NO. VIII.

dependance abonewrittin according to Justice as ye will answer to ws
thairwpon The quhilk to do we commit to yow conjunctlie and severalie
our full power be thir our lettres delyvering thame be yow deulie execute
and indorsit agane to the berar gevin vnder our Signet at Edinburgh the
tent day of Januar and of our regne the tuentie yeir 1586 yeiris.

Ex deliberatione dominorum consilij Vpone the tuentie fyift day of
July the yeir of God Jm. Vc. fourscoir sevin yeiris I Thomas Maneris
messinger Sheref in that part past at the command and charge of our
soverane lord is lettres to the mercat croce of Aberdeen and thair be
oppin proclamatioun arrestit all the guidis and geir movabill and
and vnmovabill pertening to Thomas Ker burges of Aberdeen Thomas
Buk burges of the said brugh Gilbert Skeyne in Overhill John Clerk in
Pottertoun George Gordoun burges of the said brucht To remane vnder
arrestment ondisponit be thame or ony wtheris in thair names in quhat
place or quhais handis the samin is fund or may be fund ay and quhill
sufficient cautioun be fund to the said complenar as law will vnder all
hiest pane and charge that eftir may follow conforme to thir our soverane
lordis letteris in all pointis And siclyk Inhibit all our soverane lordis
lieges to have bying and selling with the saidis persones in defraud of the
said complenar or ony wtherwayis be ony privat or publict actioun maid
be thame thairanent And this I did befoir thair witnessis James
Cunningham servand to my lord bischop of Aberdeen Andro King
burges thair and Andro Kilgour in Auld Aberdeen with wtheris dyvers
And for the mair securetie to this my executioun and indorsatioun
subscrivit with my hand my stampt is affixit.

Productum et registratum vt supra vltimo die mensis Julij 1587.

2.

Decreet Andro Crombie agt. David Skene, burgess of Posen.
ii November, 1596.

Vndecimo Novembris 1596

The quhilk day the lordis of counsall Advocattis the actioun and
caus persewit of befoir at the instance of Andro Crambie and Mertine
Howiesoun burgessis of the burgh of Abirdene allegit executouris con-
fermit to vmquhile Thomas Crambie burges of the said burgh of Abirdene

PAPERS CONNECTED WITH THE SKENES OF BELHELVIE. 231

and als allegit tutouris testamentaris to Marjorie and Jeane Crambies
lauchfull dochteris to the said vmquhile Thomas Aganis Dauid Skene
merchand and burges of Poisnay in Poill Befoir Andro Sklatter watter
baillie in Leyth Tueching the decerning of the said Dauid Skene be the
said baillies decreit to content and pay to thame as allegit executouris
foirsaidis the soume of aucht hundreth floranles concerning the said
vmquhile Thomas part and allegit intromettit with be the said Dauid
Skene in the yeir of God Jm. Vc. fourscoir aucht yeiris As at mair lenth
is contenit in the pretendit principall petitioun and clame gevin in be
thame aganis the said Dauid Skene To thameselffis to be proceidit befoir
thame siclike and in the samin manir as micht or suld haif bene proceidit
befoir the said watter baillie And thairfoir discharges the said Andro
Sklatter watter baillie foirsaid of all forder proceiding in the said mater
dischargeing him thairof and of his office in that part And hes assignit
and assignis the last day of November instant with continewatioun of
dayes to the said Dauid Skene to answer to the said principall petitioun
and clame And in the menetyme hes continewet the said mater vnto the
day foirsaid The said Dauid Skene compeirand be Maister Thomas
Henrisoun his procuratour and the saidis Andro Crambie and Mertine
Howiesoun compeirand be Maister Alexander King thair procuratour
Quhilkis ar warnit heirof Apud acta.

Decreet Patrick Lord Glammis against his Tenants. 14. July, 1597.

Decimo quarto Julij 1597.

The quhilk day in the actioun and caus persewit at the instance of
ane nobill and michtie lord Patrik lord Glammis Aganes Elizabeth
Forbes relict of vmquhile Walter Barclay in Courtestoun and Walter
Barclay his sone pretendit tennentis and occupearis of sax pleuches of
land of Courtestoun with the Mylne of Auchinacher and Mylnelandis
thairof Andro Halyburtoun and William Layng pretendit tennentis and
occupearis of the landis of Drumgovane with the pertinentis Patrik
Johnnstoun in Haltoun James Arbuthnot in Portertoun Johnn Arbuthnot
in Egie Maister Thomas Gairne of Blairtoun Jeane Gordoune relict of
vmquhile George Gordoun in Cragie William Gordoun hir sone Sir Johnne

232 APPENDIX NO. VIII.

Gordoun of Pitlurge Knicht Katherene Meinzeis in Horscruik Thomas
Johnnstoun hir sone Dauid Arbuthnot in Lamfute Johnne Tillerie in
Hilbray George Smyth in Tannareis Andro Lyoun younger in the
Maynes of Ardow Dauid Lyoun thair Robert Clark thair Patrik Tail-
zeour in Yronruffis Paul Rae thair Johnne Beane in Eister Ardow Andro
Lyoun elder thair Jarnes Smith thair Gilbert Jafray thair Gilbert Sandie
in Mekle Mure Tailzeour his mother thair Gilbert

Skene in Overhill Robert Skene his sone thair Andro Tailzeour tailzeour
Dauid Skene at the Mylne of Potterfeild Marjorie Baird relict of vmquhile
James Lyoun in Smyddie Croft Patrik Ramsay at the Mylne of Haltoun
George Clark thair Andro Mylne in Haltoun Andro Cold thair Walter
Edmand thair Thomas Symesoun in Fischischillis Elizabeth Thomsoun
relict of vmquhile Williame Kay in Mureburne Johnne Kay hir sone
thair Patrik Leith in the Bra Johnne Clark in the Pottartoun Andro
Wod thair and Gilberth Forsyth at the Mylne of Ardocht Tuitching
the decerning of thame to flit and remove thame selffis thair tennentis
familie subtennentis cottaris guidis and geir furth and fra all and haill the
foirsaidis landis and baronie of Bahalveis with annexis connexis pairtis
pendicles mylnes multuris fischingis and all and sindrie thair pertinentis
ilkane of thame respectiue for thair awin pairtis safar as thay occupie
thairof conforme to ane warning maid to thame to that effect befoir the
feist and terme of witsonday last bipast or ellis to have allegit ane
ressonabill caus quhy the samin suld not have bene done as at mair lenth
is contenit in the principall summoundis raisit in the said mater Compeirit
Maisteris Johnne Scharpe and William Oliphant procuratouris for the
said noble and michtie lord persewar foirsaid and Maister Johnne
Nicolson procuratour for the said James Arbuthnot, Johnne Arbuthnot,
Katherene Meynzeis Andro Myll, as also compeirit the said George
Gordoun, David Arbuthnot and Patrik Johnnstoun be Maister
Alexander King thair procuratour It was allegit be the saidis Maisteris
Johnne Nicolsoun and Alexander King procuratouris foirsaidis for thair
clientis abonewrittin that thay aucht not be decernit to flit and remove
fra the landis abonewrittin safar thairof as is occupeit be thame Becaus
thay ar subtennentis to Patrik Lyoun burges of Dundie quha was
heritable infeft in the foirsaidis landis lybellit the tyme of the foirsaid
warning and be vertew thairof in possessioun of the samin landis lykas
the saidis tennentis war in vse to pay thair maillis and dewteis to the

PAPERS CONNECTED WITH THE SKENES OF BELHELVIE. 233

said Patrik at the leist vtheris in his name at his command divers yeiris
preceiding the said warning And the said Patrik being infeft as said is and
in possessioun in maner abonevvrittin and be not warnit to flit and remove
na proces of removing can be grantit at the said persewaris instance aganis
the saidis persounes subtennentes to the said Patrik To the quhilk it was
answerit and replyit for the part of the said persewar be the saidis
Maisteris Johnne Scharpe and William Oliphant his procuratouris foir-
saidis that the said alledgeance aucht to be repellit nather can the saidis
tennentis defend thameselffis be ony richt that is in the persoun of the
said Patrik Lyoun thair allegit maister and that he is not warnit in this
removing Becaus the said Patrik compeiris and concurris with the said
persewar in persute of the said actioun of removing lykas thay compeir
as procuratouris for him to that effect quhairby this proces of removing
can not be hinderit or stayit throw the not warning of the said Patrik
Lyoun to flit and remove as said is. Secondlie it was answerit for the
part of the said persewar that the said alledgeance aucht to be repellit
nather was it necessar to the said persewar to have warnit the said
Patrik Lyoun to have flittit and removit Becaus gif ony infeftment the
said Patrik Lyoun haid of the foirsaidis landis the samin with all richt
title of richt that he haid or mycht pretend in and to the saidis landis
was renuncit be him And siklyk the saidis persounes can not be hard to
stay the said proces of removing nor to cleith thame selff with ony richt
in the persute of the said Patrik Lyoun thair allegit maister albeit he
nather haid nor wald concur in this persute. Thridlie answerit that the
said alledgeance aucht to be repellit becaus gif ony infeftment was grantit
to the said Patrik of the saidis landis the samin was simulatlie grantit in
safar as it was mediatlie grantit to the said Patrik Seing that nochtwith-
standing the said infeftment contenit and bur that it was grantit to the
said Patrik yit the samin in verie deid is disponit and givin to the behuif
and utilitie of Sir Thomas Lyoun of Auldbar Knicht quha remainit in
continuall possessioun thairoff to the tyme that the said Patrik Lyoun
maid renunciation of the foirsaid infeftment grantit to him of the samin
Lykas he offtris him to preve that the saidis tennentis maid payment of
thair maillis and dewteis of the foirsaidis landis to the said Sir Thomas
Lyoun continuallie fra the said allegit infeftment grantit to the said
Patrik Lyoun to the yeir of God Jm. Vc. Ixxxxv' yeiris And sa the
infeftment grantit to the said Patrik can na wayes be presupponit to be

F F

234 APPENDIX NO. VIII.

his richt hot altogidder to be grantit to the behuif of the said Sir Thomas
Lyoun Quhilk alledgance with the saidis thrie answeris maid thairto
preponit for elyding thairof being at lenth hard sene and considderit The
lordis of counsall be sentence interloquutour hes admittit and admittis
the said exceptioun to the said excepientis probatioun nochtwithstanding
the thrie said replyes abonewrittin maid thairto Quhairupon the saidis
Maisteris Johnne Nicolsoun and Alexander King askit instrumentis
And the saidis lordis declairis that the admissioun of the said exceptioun
nochtwithstanding the saidis thrie answeris maid thairto is alwayes but
prejudice of ony vther reply alreddie proponit quhilk hes ressavit na
answer and of quhatsumever vther reply may be heirefter allegit for
elyding of the said exceptioun as accordis of the law.

Letters of Horning Gilbert Hendrie agt. David Skene, and others,
i $ February, 1596-7.

JAMES be the grace of God King of Scotis to our Louitis Alexander
George messinger our Sherifis in that part conjunctlie and severalie
specialie constitute greiting fforsamekill as it is humlie menit and schawin
to ws be our louit Gilbert Hendrie burges of Aberdeen That quhair
George Clerk in Overhill of Balhelvie David Skene at the Milne of
Pottertoun Gilbert Skene in Overhill of Balhelvie band and oblist thame
conjunctlie and severalie be thair Lettres obligatouris to pay and delyver
to the said complenar All and haill the soume of four pundis vsuall
money of this realme for ilk boll of twelfscoir and ten bollis ait meill at
ane certane terme alreddy bypast Lyik as the lettres obligatouris maid
thairanent of the dait at Aberdeen the sevint of Junij in the yeir of
God Jm. Vc. fourscoir and threttene yeiris decernit and ordanit to be
insert and registrat in the buikis of our commissariot of Aberdeen with
executioun to follow thairvpoun of poinding and horning on ane simpill
charge of sex day is off the dait at Aberdeen the xiij day of August the
yeir of God Jm. Vc. fourscoir and sextene yeiris at mair lenth proportis
Nevertheles the saidis personis refuisis postponis and deferris to pey and
delyver to the said complenar the soumis of money abonwrittin inrespect
quhairof the said complenar raisit our commissaris precept and thair that

PAPERS CONNECTED WITH THE SKENES OF BELHELVIE. 235

causit charge the said George Clerk David Skeyne and Gilbert Skeyne
to mak payment to him of the soumes within ane certane space nixt efter
the charge as the precept dewlie execute and indorsat and schawin to
the lordis of our counsall hes testifeit Quhilk space being bypast the
saidis personis hes nawayis as yit obeyit nor will obey the command of
the saidis charge without thay be forder compellit as is allegeit Oure
will is heirfoir and we charge yow straitlie and commandis that inconti-
nent thir our Lettres sene ye pas and in our name and auctoritie command
and charge the saidis George Clerk David and Gilbert Skeynes conjunctlie
and severalie to mak peyment to the said complenar of the said sowme
of four pundis money of our realme for ilk boll of the said tuelf scoir
bollis ait meill efter the forme and tennour of the saidis Lettres obliga-
touris decrete of our said commissar interponit thairto and precept past
thairvpoun in all pointis within sex dayis nixt efter thaj be chargeit be
yow thairto vnder the pane of rebellioun and putting of thame to our
home and gif they failzie the said sex dayis being bypast that ye incon-
tinent denunce the disobeyaris rebellis and put thame to our home and
ordane all thair movabrll guidis and geir to be escheit and imbrocht to
our vse for thair contemptioun and immediatlie efter your said denuncea-
tioun that ye mak intimatioun thairof conforme to our act of parliament
maid thairanent Becaus the saidis lordis hes sene the commissaris
precept deulie execute and indorsat according to Justice as ye will answer
to ws thairvpoun The quhilk to do we commit to yow conjunctlie and
severalie our full power be thir our Lettres delyvering thame be yow deulie
execut and indorsit agane to the berar Givin wnder our signet at Leyth
the fyftene day of Februar and of our ring the threttie yeir 1 596.

Ex deliberatione Dominorum consilij.

Wpoun the aucht day of Marche the yeir of God Jm. Vc. fourscoir and
sextene yeiris I Alexander George messinger executour of our soverane
Lordis lettres withinwrittin past at command thairof and commandit and
chargit George Clerk in Overhill of Balhelvie David Skeyne at the Milne
of Pottertoun Gilbert Skeyne in Overhill off Balhelvie all personalie
aprehendit and delyverit to ilkane of thame ane auctentik copie of the
withinwrittin lettres to pey and delyver to Gilbert Henrie complenar
within specifeit the soume of four pundis Scotis money for ilk boll of
tuelf scoir and ten bollis ait meill within sex dayis nixt efter this my
charge wnder the pane of rebellioun and putting of thame to our souerane

336 APPENDIX NO. VIII.

lordis home Certefeing thame gif thaj failzeit the saidis sex dayis being
bypast I wald denunce thame thairto conforme to the tennour of the
saidis lettres in all pointis And this I did befoir thir witnessis respective
Robert Skeyne in Overhill of Belhelvie Patrik Ramsay at the Nethir
Milne callit the Denmilne of Balhelvie Alexander Henrie sone to the
said Gilbert Henrie And for the mair verificatioun to this my executioun
subscryvit with my hand my signet is afixit sic subscribitur Alexander
George messinger with my hand Wpoun the first day of Junij the yeir of
God Jm. Vc. nyntie and sevin yeiris I the said Alexander George
messinger executour within constitute past at the command of the within-
writtin lettres and be vertue thairof maid intimatioun to the said Gilbert
Skeyne personaly aprehendit of my former charge given to him and to
George Clerk now duelland in Milneden of Balhelvie at his duelling place
of the Milden and David Skeyne at his duelling place of the Milne of
Pottertoune becaus I could not aprehend thame personaly efter I haid
knokit sex knokis at ilkane of the durris of thair saidis duellingis maid
intimatioun thairat of my former charge that inrespect of thair disobedi-
ence I wald denunce thame our soverane lordis rebellis and put thame to
his hines home conforme to the tennour of the withinwrittin Lettres in
all pointis And this* I did befoir thir witnessis Patrik Ramsay in
Milneden Johne Folay servitour to me the said Alexander George And
for the mair verificatioun to this my executioun subscryvit with my hand
my signet is afixit sic subscribitur Alexr George messinger And vpoun
the samin first day of Junij the yeir of God foirsaid I the said Alexander
George messinger executour withinconstitute past at the command of
the Lettres withinwrittin to the merkat croce of the brugh of Aberdeen
and thair in our Souerane Lordis name and auctoritie conforme to the
tennour of the saidis Lettres lauchfullie denuncit the said George Clerk
Gilbert Skeyne and David Skeyne our souerane lordis rebell and put
thame to his hines home be thre blastis as vse is and ordanit thair haill
movabill guidis and geir to be escheit and imbrocht to our souerane
lordis vse for thair contemptjoun and that becaus thaj haid dissobeyit my
former charge and intimatioun maid thairof and haid nocht maid peyment
of the soumes withinspecifeit to the said complenar conforme to the
saidis Lettres and charge givin thame be vertue thairof And this I did
conforme to the tennour of the saidis Lettres in all pointis befoir thir
witnessis Johne Irwing in Funerssy David Knollis David Ranaldsone

PAPERS CONNECTED WITH THE SKENES OF BELHELVIE. 237

Johne Layng Robert Forbes eldar burgessis of Aberdeen And for the
mair verificatioun to this my executioun my signet is affixit sic sub-
scribitur Alexr George messinger with my hand.

Productum et registratum vndecimo die mensis Junij anno Domini
millesimo quingentesimo nonagesimo septimo.

5-

Relaxation from Horning of David Skeyne and James Bannerman.

9 January r, 1602.

JAMES be the grace of God King of Scottis To our lovittis Johne Crau-
furd messinger our Shereffis in that pairte conjunctlie and severalie
specialie constitute greiting forsamekle as it is humelie menit and schawin
to ws be our lovittis David Skeyne at the Mylne off Potertoun and James
Banerman baxter and burges of our burghe of Aberdeen That quhairas
the said compleneris ar informeit thej ar denunceit rebellis and put to our
home be vertew of our vtheris letteris of horning raisit at the instance of
the persones respective efter nameit and for the caussis vnderwrittin viz the
said David Skeyn be vertew of our saidis vtheris letteris of horning raisit at
the instance of Gilbert Hendrie burges of our said burgh of Aberdeen
for non payment making to him of the sowme of four pundis money of
our realme for ilk boll of Twelf scoir ten bollis ait meill contenit in ane
obligatioun maid to him be George Clark at the Mylne of Haltoune as
principall and Gilbert Skeyn in Ouertoune of Balhelvie and the said
David Skeyne as souerties and full debtouris for him and with him of the
dait at Aberdeen the sevinteine day of Junij the yeir of God Jm. Vc.
fourscoir fourtein yeiris and registrat in our commissareis buikis of
Aberdeine vpoune the fourtein day of August the yeir of God Jm. Vc.
four scoir sexteine yeiris and the said James Banerman be vertew of
vtheris Lettres of horning raisit at the instance of Alexander Chapman
sumtyme in Blairdaff and presentlie dwelland in Sauchthyne aganes
Johne Banerman in Boigfairlie as principall and the said James as
cautioner and souertie for him for non payment making to the said
Alexander of the sowme of four pundis money of our realme for ilk boll
of certane bollis of victuall specifeit in the Lettres obligatouris maid be

238 APPENDIX NO. VIII.

thame to him thairanent maist wrangouslie and injustlie considering it is
of veritie that the saidis compleneris and ilkane of thame haif maid
compleit payment to the saidis persones and ather of thame of the
forsaidis haill sowmes of money respective abonewrittin and hes reportit
thair severall acquittance thairvpoune nocht onlie grantand the resset of
the saidis sowmes ilkane of thame for thair awin pairtes of the samen
and dischargeing the saidis compleneris and ather of thame respective
thairof hot als renunceing and dischargeing all lettres of horning
poynding and captioune and vtheris quhatsumever raisit at ony of thair
instances thairvpoune as the saidis acquittances schawin to the lordis of
our counsall hes testifiet and thairfoir our saidis vtheris lettres of horning
raisit and execute aganes the saidis compleneris and ather of thame at
the instance of ilkane of the saidis persones and effectis thairoff aucht
and suld be suspendit vpoune the saidis compleneris and thaj and ilkane
of thame simpliciter relaxt fra the proces of horning respective execute
aganes thame be vertew thairof namelie In respect that thej haiff
alreddie interponit with our thesaurer for the gift of thair escheitis and
hes satisfiet him thairfoir as the contract of the gift grantit thairvpoun
lyikwayis schawin to the saidis lordis of our counsall beiris Oure Will is
heirfoir and we charge yow that ye lauchfullie summond warne and
charge the saidis Gilbert Hendrie and Alexander Chapman pairties
forsaidis To compeir befoir ws and the lordis of our counsall
at Edinburgh or quhair it sail hapine ws to be for the tyme the
Twentie fourt day of Januar instant in the hour of caus with
continewatioun of dayis bringand with thame the forsaidis registrat
obligatiounes and our saidis vtheris lettres of homings respective
raisit at ather of thair instances thairvpoun with the execu-
tiounes thairof to be seine and considerit be the lordis of our counsall
and to heir and sie the samen lettres effect thairoff and horning contenit
thairintill susspendit vpoune the saidis compleneris and thaj simpliciter
relaxt fra the proces of horning execute aganes thame and ather of thame
be vertew thairof in all tymes cuming for the caussis forsaid Atour we
and the saidis lordis of our counsall in our name be the tenore heirof
suspendis our forsaidis vther lettres of horning raisit and execute at the
instance of ather of the saidis persones effectis thairof and horning
contenit thairin and discharges all our officiaris of puting of the samen to
ony forder executioune vpone the saidis compleneris or ony of thame and

PAPERS CONNECTED WITH THE SKENES OF BELHELVIE. 239

of thair office in that pairte And als that he in our name and auctoritie
relax the said David Skeyne and James Banerman and ilkane of thame
fra the forsaidis proces of horn ings respective abone reherseit execute
aganes thame at the instance of ather of the forsaidis persones in maner
abone mentiounat receave thame to our peace and delyver to thame or
ony vtheris in thair names the wand thairoff quhill the last day of the
samen moneth becaus the saidis lordis hes seine the discharges and gift
of escheit abonevvrittin According to justice as ye will answer to ws
thairvpoune The quhilk to do we commit to yovv conjunctlie and
severalie our full power be thir our Lettres delyvering thame be yow
dewlie execute and indorsate agane to the berar frivein vnder our
signet at Edinburgh the nyint day of Januar and of our regne the xxxv
yeir 1602 Ex deliberatione dominorum consilij. Wpone the sevinteine
day of Februar the yeir of God Jm. sex hundreth and twa yeiris I Johne
Craufurd messinger shereff in that pairte within constitute past to the
marcat croce of the burghe of Aberdeine and thairat be vertew and com-
mand of thir our souerane lordis lettres withinwrittin be opine proclamatioun
and reiding of the saidis lettres in his hienes name and auctoritie relaxt
David Skeyne of Potertoun and James Banerman baxter and burgeis of
Aberdeine fra the proces of home respective as is within reherseit quhilk
was execute aganes thame at the instance of Gilbert Hendrie and Alex-
ander Chapman resaveit the saidis David Skeyne and James Banerman
to our Souerane lordis peace and delyverit in signe the wand thairof to
the foirnameit David Skeyne and the said James Banerman baith per-
sonalie present And this I did conforme to this our souerane lordis
lettres withinwrittin in all poyntes quhairof I left and affixt ane copie
on the said cros Befoir thir witnessis Patrik Leslie William Leyth Robert
Alschoner James King Johne Kempt burgessis of Aberdeine and for the
mair verificatioun heirof to this executioun writtin and subscryvit with my
hand my stampt is affixt heirto sic subscribitur Johne Craufurd messinger
with my hand.

Apud Aberdeen primo die mensis Marcij anno Dominj milesimo
sexcentesimo secundo Productum per Magistrum Joanem Leyth advo-
catum et registratum in libro registrj vicecomitatus de Aberdeen per me
Magistrum Gulihelum Andersone notarium publicum scribam ejusdem
subscriptum secundum tenorem actj parliament) sic subscribitur MX
Wm. Andersone.

APPENDIX N°- IX.

Renunciation of Sins by Sir George Skene of Rubislazv.*
A SOLEMN RENUNCIATION, ANE HOLY DIVORCE OF ALL AND

EVERY SIN AND OF MY SINS IN A SPECIAL MANNER FROM THIS
DAY HENCEFURTH AND FOREVER.

Aug. 24, 1684.

0 ETERNAL, Heart-searching, Sin-Pardoning, Lord God ! I come unto
thee this day, under a deep sense of my many heinous provocatiouns,
desyring to humble myself in the dust before thee, acknowledging I am
unworthy to lift up mine eyes to thy Heavens or to trade thy earth.
That I have deserved thy eternal wrath and the hidings of thy face
through eternitie. But thou spares when nothing is deserved but wrath.
Thou art a God, mercifull, and gracious, yea, thou invites us to come to
thee, though we have played the harlot with many lovers. Thou hast
also promised whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall find mercy.

Upon which promise I lay hold, and I, Geo. Skene, do incall the
Almighty, dreadfull Jehovah, God, the Father, Sone, and Holy Ghost, to
whom I., G. S., appeal the sinceritie of my heart, that its the grief of my
soul that ever I should have greeved thy blessed Majesty, and that I
should have offended so oft tymes past number, and more especially that
ever my idol lust should have prevailed so much over me, and that its my
greatest grief I did not divorce them long ere now And therfor I call
heaven and earth to record this day that I, G. S., do give ane ever-
lasting divorce to all and everie known sin, and that from henceforth

1 renounce my dearest lust, even to the end of my lyfe, and that it shall

* From the Rubislaw Charter Chest.

RENUNCIATION OF SINS. 241

be my greatest care never to fall into any sin any more, promising, and
vowing unto thee, the searcher of hearts, that if I have done iniquity that
I shall do so no more.

Only, Lord, lett not unallowed failings make void this everlasting
divorce betuixt sin and my soul.

Almighty God, since I am unable of my self to resist sin for one
moment, I therefore vow to perform, through thy strength alone and
desayre wholly to rely upon thee, O God never leave me nor forsake me.

And now I, Geo. Sk., again incall the Almighty, dreadfull Jehovah,
God the Father, Sone, and Holy Ghost, that this is the fixt resolution of
my soul never to fall into any known sin, and more particularly to guard
against any idol sin, never to give it a kyndly look any more. And now,
Almighty, all-seeing Lord, what is done on earth let it be ratified in
heaven (even so help me God).

(Signed) GEO. SKEYNE.

In confirmatioune whereof I seal it with my hand and wished to doe
it with my blood, upon the bended knee both of soul and body.

A SOLEMNE VOW AND COVENANT BETWIXT THE ALMIGHTY LORD
GOD OF HOSTS AND GEORGE SKENE, FROM THIS DAY FROM
HENCEFORTH AND FOREVER.

Augt 24, 1684.

0 ALMIGHTY, Dreadful, Covenant-keeping Lord, who searches the heart
and tryes the reines, I have run farr away from thee, I have sind against
heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy sone, O
that thou woldst make me as the meanest of thy servants, yet since of
thy infinit mercy thou hast provided mercy to all that turn in unto thee,

1 desayre trembling to come and fall down before thee, to through away
all the weapons of my rebellion, and wholly to submitt myself to thy
laws.

And since thou hast promised to all such as forsake their evil ways
and turn to thee with their whole heart, that thou wilt be their God, and
they shall be thy people,

GG

242 APPENDIX NO. IX.

I, Geo. Skene, do her take heaven and earth to record that I take the
great God, Father, Sone, and Holy Ghost, for my portion and chief good,
and do give up myself, soul and body, wholly to thy service, and to
strengthen thus my resolution, I promise to vow and forsake all that is
dear unto me in a world, rather than to forsake thee, and that no tempta-
tion to sin shall withdraw me from thy service, promising and vowing to
serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life.

And since thou hast appointed Christ as the only way for lost sinners
to come to thee, I doe here, upon the bended knees, of my soul and body
accept of Christ, as the only way by which I, ane lost, undone wretch,
may have access unto thee, and do here solemnly joyn myself in a mar-
riage covenant to be his for ever, to take him as my alon Lord and
Saviour, without whom I am undone through eternity. I hear take him for
my head and husband, to be ruled and governed by him, and that I do
take my lott with him, come what will come. I'll never forsake him,
verily, supposing that neither death nor lyfe shall separate me from the
love of God in Jesus Christ.

Onely Lord let not unallowed misscarriages make void this everlast-
ing covenant betwixt thee and my soul.

And since O Lord, I am unable of myself to think a good thought,
much less to keep closs with the throughout my lyf, therefore I vow to
perform only through the assistance of thy spirit ; never leave me, therefor,
nor forsake me, for if thou leave me I cannot stand one moment. Now,
I, G. S., again call thee to witness the sinceritie of my heart, and that I
doe it without any grudge, solemnly promising and vowing to own the
for my Lord, and live to thee so long as I have a breathing tyme here
(even so help me God), and now what is done on earth, lett it be ratified
in heaven.

(Signed) GEO. SKENE.

In confirmation whereof I seal it with my hand, and wish I could doe
it with my blood, upon the bended knees both of my soul and
body.

APPENDIX N° X.

INTRODUCTION TO CANTO FOURTH OF MARMION.
To JAMES SKENE, ESQ.

As/iestiel, Ettrick Forest.

AN ancient Minstrel sagely said,
" Where is the life which late we led ? "
That motley clown in Arden wood,
Whom humorous Jaques with envy view'd.
Not even that clown could amplify,
On this trite text, so long as I.
Eleven years we now may tell,
Since we have known each other well ;
Since, riding side by side, our hand
First drew the voluntary brand ;
And sure, through many a varied scene,
Unkindness never came between.
Away these winged years have flown,
To join the mass of ages gone ;
And though deep mark'd, like all below,
With chequer'd shades of joy and woe ;
Though thou o'er realms and seas hast ranged,
Mark'd cities lost, and empires changed,
While here, at home, my narrower ken
Somewhat of manners saw, and men ;
Though varying wishes, hopes, and fears
Fever'd the progress of these years,

244 APPENDIX NO. X.

Yet now, days, weeks, and months but seem
The recollection of a dream,
So still we glide down to the sea
Of fathomless eternity.

Even now it scarcely seems a day,
Since first I tun'd this idle lay ;
A task so often thrown aside,
When leisure graver cares denied,
That now, November's dreary gale,
Whose voice inspir'd my opening tale,
That same November gale once more
Whirls the dry leaves on Yarrow shore.
Their vex'd boughs streaming to the sky,
Once more our naked birches sigh,
And Blackhouse heights, and Ettrick Pen,
Have donn'd their wintry shrouds again :
And mountain dark, and flooded mead,
Bid us forsake the banks of Tweed.
Earlier than wont along the sky,
Mix'd with the rack, the snow mists fly.
The shepherd, who in summer sun,
Had something of our envy won,
As thou with pencil, I with pen,
The features traced of hill and glen ;
He who, outstretch'd the livelong day,
At ease among the heath-flowers lay,
View'd the light clouds with vacant look,
Or slumber'd o'er his tattered book,
Or idly busied him to guide
His angle o'er the lessen'd tide; —
At midnight now, the snowy plain
Finds sterner labour for the swain.

When red hath set the beamless sun,
Through heavy vapours dark and dun ;

INTRODUCTION TO CANTO FOURTH OF MARMIUN. 245

When the tired ploughman, dry and warm,
Hears half-asleep, the rising storm
Hurling the hail, and sleeted rain,
Against the casement's tinkling pane;
The sounds that drive wild deer, and fox,
To shelter in the brake and rocks,
Are warnings which the shepherd ask
To dismal and to dangerous task.
Oft he looks forth, and hopes, in vain,
The blast may sink in mellowing rain ;
Till, dark above, and white below,
Decided drives the flaky snow,
And forth the hardy swain must go.
Long, with dejected look and whine,
To leave the hearth his dogs repine;
Whistling and cheering them to aid,
Around his back he wreathes the plaid :
His flock he gathers, and he guides,
To open downs, and mountain-sides,
.Where fiercest though the tempest blow,
Least deeply lies the drift below.
The blast, that whistles o'er the fells,
Stiffens his locks to icicles;
Oft he looks back, while streaming far,
His cottage window seems a star, —
Loses its feeble gleam, — and then
Turns patient to the blast again,
And, facing to the tempest's sweep,
Drives through the gloom his lagging sheep.
If fails his heart, if his limbs fail,
Benumbing death is in the gale :
His paths, his landmarks, all unknown,
Close to the hut no more his own,
Close to the aid he sought in vain,
The morn may find the stiffen'd swain :
The widow sees, at dawning pale,
His orphans raise their feeble wail ;

346 APPENDIX NO. X.

And, close beside him, in the snow,
Poor Yarrow, partner of their woe,
Couches upon his master's breast,
And licks his cheeks to break his rest.

Who envies now the shepherd's lot,
His healthy fare, his rural cot,
His summer couch by greenwood tree,
His rustic kirn's* loud revelry,
His native hill notes tuned on high,
To Marion of the blithesome eye ;
His crook, his scrip, his oaten reed,
And all Arcadia's golden creed ?

Changes not so with us, my Skene,
Of human life the varying scene ?
Our youthful summer oft we see
Dance by on wings of game and glee,
While the dark storm reserves its rage,
Against the winter of our age :
As he, the ancient Chief of Troy,
His manhood spent in peace and joy ;
But Grecian fires, and loud alarms,
Call'd ancient Priam forth to arms.
Then happy those, since each must drain
His share of pleasure, share of pain, —
Then happy those, beloved of Heaven,
To whom the mingled cup is given ;
Whose lenient sorrows find relief,
Whose joys are chasten'd by their grief.
And such a lot, my Skene, was thine,
When thou, of late, wert doom'd to twine, —
Just when thy bridal hour was by, —
The cypress with the myrtle tie.
Just on thy bride her Sire had smiled,
And bless'd the union of his child,

* The Scottish Harvest Home. Note by the Author.

^INTRODUCTION TO CANTO FOURTH OF MARMION. 247

When love must change its joyous cheer

And wipe affection's filial tear.

Nor did the actions next his end,

Speak more the father than the friend :

Scarce had lamented Forbes paid

The tribute to his Minstrel's shade ;

The tale of friendship scarce was told,

Ere the narrator's heart was cold — *

Far may we search before we find

A heart so manly and so kind !

But not around his honour'd urn,

Shall friends alone and kindred mourn

The thousand eyes his care had dried,

Pour at his name a bitter tide;

And frequent falls the grateful dew,

For benefits the world ne'er knew.

If mortal charity dare claim

The Almighty's attributed name,

Inscribe above his mouldering clay,
" The widow's shield, the orphan's stay."

Nor, though it wake thy sorrow, deem

My verse intrudes on this sad theme ;

For sacred was the pen that wrote,
" Thy father's friend forget thou not:"

And grateful title may I plead,

For many a kindly word and deed,

To bring my tribute to his grave: —

Tis little— but 'tis all I have.

To thee, perchance, this rambling strain
Recalls our summer walks again ;
When, doing nought, — and, to speak true,
Not anxious to find aught to do, —

* These lines allude to Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, having died shortly after his
daughter's marriage to Mr. Skene, and after he had completed his life of Dr. Beattie, author of
"The Minstrel."

248 APPENDIX NO. X.

The wild unbounded hills we ranged
While oft our talk its topic changed
And, desultory as our way,
Ranged, unconfined, from grave to gay.
Even when it flagg'd, as oft will chance
No effort made to break its trance,
We could right pleasantly pursue
Our sports in social silence too ;
Thou gravely labouring to pourtray
The blighted oak's fantastic spray ;
I spelling o'er, with much delight,
The legend of that antique knight,
Tirante by name, yclep'd the White.
At cither's feet a trusty squire,
Pandour and Camp,* with eyes of fire,
Jealous, each other's motions view'd,
And scarce suppress'd their ancient feud.
The laverock whistled from the cloud ;
The stream was lively, but not loud ;
From the white thorn the May-flower shed
Its dewy fragrance round our head :
Not Ariel lived more merrily
Under the blossom'd bough than we.

And blithesome nights, too, have been ours,
When Winter stript the summer's bowers.
Careless we heard, what now I hear,
The wild blast sighing deep and drear,
When fires were bright, and lamps beam'd gay,
And ladies tuned the lovely lay.
And he was held a laggard soul,
Who shunn'd to quaff the sparkling bowl.
Then he whose absence we deplore,
Who breathes the gales of Devon's shore,
The longer miss'd bewail'd the more ;

* Pandour was a fine wolf hound Mr. Skene had brought from the Continent. Camp
is one of the dogs in Raeburn's portrait of Sir Walter Scott.

INTRODUCTION TO CANTO FOURTH OF MARMION. 249

And thou, and I, and dear-loved Rae,*

And one whose name I may not say, — -f-

For not Mimosa's tender tree

Shrinks sooner from the touch than he, —

In merry chorus well combined,

With laughter drown'd the whistling wind.

Mirth was within ; and Care without

Might gnaw her nails to hear our shout.

Not but amid the buxom scene

Some grave discourse might intervene —

Of the good horse that bore him best,

His shoulder, hoof, and arching crest :

For, like mad Tom's, J our chiefest care,

Was horse to ride, and weapon wear.

Such nights we've had ; and, though the game

Of manhood be more sober tame,

And though the field-day, or the drill

Seem less important now — yet still

Such may we hope to share again. §

The sprightly thought inspires my strain !

And mark, how like a horseman true,

Lord Marmion's march I thus renew.

* Sir William Rae of St. Catharines, Bart.

1 1 believe, Colin Mackenzie of Portmore.

JSee King Lear. Author's Note.

§ Both Sir Walter Scott and Mr. Skene belonged to the troop of Yeomanry Cavalry.

H H

INDEX.

Aberdeen, Freedom Land of, 5, 6.

— William, Bishop of, 95.
Achum, Eliza, 87.

Adie, /Edie.

— , or Skene, 124.

— Catharine, or Skene, 134, 135.

— David, of Newark, 39, 125, 131,

13.2, 133, 134-

— David, merchant burgess, 124.

— George, in Dantzick, 131.

— George, son of David of Newark,

40, 132.

— Giles or Skene, 4, 39, 40, 41, 48,

IS*. 132.
Adloche, 22.
Agria, 169.

Allan, , or Skene, 44.

Alexander I., 8, 9.

— III., II, 12.

— Sir Williame, of Menstrie, 197, 199,

204, 212, 213, 216, 224.
Allemaigne, Uniuersitez d', 157.
Alshenor, Bessie, or Skene, 31, 32. 101.

— Patrick, 32.

— Robert, 31, 32, 101, 239.

— William, 32, 101.
Anandie, dominus vallis, 14.
Anderson, Andersone.

— , of Linkwood, 74»

- — Arthur, of Deebank, 73.

— David, Provost of Kintoir, 30.

— Gulihelmus, notarius publicus, 239.

— Isobel, or Skene, 99.

— John, of Standingstones, 30.

— John, farmer, Slains, 129.

— Professor John, 134.

— Katharine, or Skene, 129.

— Mary Ann, or Skene, 74.

— Principal, 95.
Andreapolis, 171.
Angelscroft, in Futtie, 31.

Angus, 9th Earl of, 29.
Annand of Ochterellon, 100.

— Bessie, or Skene, 100.

— Gilbert, 100.
Annandalia, 170.

Anstruther, Sir James, of Airdrie, 54.

— General Philip, of Airdrie, 54, 62.
Arbuthnot, David, in Lamfute, 232.

— James, of Lentusche, 228-230.

— James, in Portertoun, 231, 23?.

— Johnn, in Egie, 231, 232.
Archesone, Arch., 224.
Arnot, Sir Jhon, 189.
Arskyne, Lord, 224.
Arthour, William, 93.
Aslowne, 37.

Atterbury, Bishop, 58.
Auchinlech, Nether and Over, 5.
Auchmor, 24, 37.
Auchorie, 23, 24, 37, 49.
Auchtererne, 151, 152.

— John, 151.

— Margery, or Skene, 151, 152.
Auchtertule, 50, 51.

Auldjo, George, of Portlethen, 129.

— Margaret, or Skene, 129.
Axelia Flandrise, 166.

Bacon, Antoine, 157.

Badinapettis, 37.

Baird, Elizabeth, or Skene, 38, 42, 43.

— Marjorie, or Lyoun, 232.
Balendinius, Jacobus, 177, 178.
Balfour, John Hay, of Leys and Rander

ston, 61.

Balnadodill, 23, 24.
Balnamoon, 42.
Banchrie, 54.
Bane, Donald, 8, 13.
Banerman, James, 237-9.

— Johne, in Boigfairlie, 23".

252

INDEX.

Barclay, Bercley, Berkley.

— , minister of Keig, 39.

— Adam, minister of Nigg, 35.

— Dauid (miles), 14.

— David, of Mernys, 18.

— James, 39.

— Walter, in Courtestoun (father), 231.

— Walter, in Courtestoun (son), 231.
Barroun, Christian, or Guthrie, 97.
Beane, Johnne, in Eister Ardow, 232.
Beattie, Dr. (of The Minstrel), 247.
Belches, Sir Alexander, of Tofts, 118.
Belhelvie, 123.

Bernardus, abbate del Aberbrothoc, chan-
cellor, 14.

Berrytullich haugh, 42.

Bervie, 5.

Beset, Thomas, 19.

Betoune, Alexander, Erchdeine of Law-
theane, 96.

Binning, Lord, 192.

Black, Alexander, 31.

— Elizabeth, or Skene, 24, 26.

— John, m. Agnes Skene, 26, 27.

— John, singar, 107.

— William, 83.
Blackdog, Farm of, 123, 128.
Blackburn, Alexander, 78.
Blackball, 90.

Blackmill, 151.
Blairtoun, 123.
Blantyre, Walter, Lord, 108.

— William, 2nd Lord, 106, 112.
Blumendorf, Louisa von, or Skene, 67.
Bohemia, 159.

Booth, George Edward, 59.

— Rev. R., 59.

Bowbrig, " The briggis callit," 102.
Brandes, Gerhardus, 167, 169.
Brewster, Sir David, 139, 140.
Bridgend, Over and Nether, 65.
Broad iach, 5.
Brochholls, 103.
Brocklaw, 42.
Broomhill, 5.
Brown, Hugh, I2O.
Browne, Elspett, or Skene, 129.
Bruce, Sir Alex., 4th Earl of Kincardine,
114.

— Brig.-Gen., of Kennet, 119.

— Edith Agnes Kathleen, 142.

— Ellen Mary, 142.

— Francis Rosslyn Courteney, 142.

— Grace Guendolen, 142.

— Helen Jane Theodora, 142.

— Irene Mary, 142.

— Sir James, of Downhill, Bart., 142.

— Lloyd Hervey, 142.

Bruce, Rev. Lloyd Stewart, Canon of York,
142.

— King Robert, 5, 8, 12, 14, 34.

— Sir Robert, of Broomhall, 1 14.

— Robert Douglas, 142.

— Rosamond Hilda, 142.

— Thomas, in Parkhill, 51.

— Wilfrid Montagu, 142.

— William, Notary Public, 71.

— Zoe Mary, or Spencer, 142.
Buchan, Andrew, of Auchmacoy, 19.

— Marjory, or Skene, 84.

— William, of Auchmacoy, 84.
Budowiez, Vuenceslaus, 160, 163, 164.
Buk, Thomas, 27, 228, 230.

Burd, Christian, or Skene, 80.

— Captain Edward, of Foord, 80.
Burnet, Burnett.

— , or Skene, 90.

— Alexander, heir of Sir Thomas, of

Leyes, 37.

— Alexander, of Shedockslie, 83.

— Alexander, of Sluie, 71.

— Sir Alexander, of Leys (1582), 102.

— Sir Alexander, iv. of Leyes, 38, 43.

— Janet, m. Alexander Skene, 34.

— Janet, m. James Skene, 102.

— Jean, or Skene, 12, 37, 38.

— John, m. Margaret Skene, 69, 70.

— John, minister at Cluny, 72.

— John, of Leyis, 19.

— Robert, of Crimond, 37.

— Sir Thomas, of Leyes, 34, 37.
Byset, W., n.

Cadell, , of Asloun, 49.

— Bessie, or Calder, 49.
Csesarea, Mtus., 159.

Calder, , of Aswanlie (father), 35.

— , of Aswanlie (son), 36.

Calderwood, , of Pittedie, 57.

Caletus, 1 66.

Calvinistae, 177, 178.
Campbell, Miss, of Lochnell, 74.

— Dugald John, of Skerrington, 63.

— Jessie, or Skene, 63.
Caraldstone, 38, 42, 46.

Carnegie, Alexander, Town Clerk, 137.

— John, of Boysach, 54.
Carnegy, Lord, 193, 195.
Carron, Alexander, 9.
Castle Fraser, 16.

Caw, William, 87.

Chalmers, George, F.R.S.S.A., 4.

— Margaret, or Skene, 125.

— Robert, of Dantzig, 125.
Champlain, Lake, 59.
Chancellor, Alex., of Shieldhill, 144.

INDEX.

253

Chancellor, George, W.S., 144.
Chapman, Alexander, of Blairdati, 237-9.
Charles I., 51, 224.
Charteris, Colonel, of Amisfield, 120.

— Janet, Countess of Wemyss, 120.
Chastillon, Francis William Guichenon de,

66.

— Henrica Adela Guichenon de, or

Skene, 66.

Cheape, James, of Strathtyrum, 61.
Chene, Ranald, of Crechie, 19.
Cheyne, Robert, 35.

— William, minister of Dyce, 30, 35.
Christisone, John, 25.

Clark, Clarke, Clerk.

— Alexander, 126.

— George, at the Mylne of Haltoun,

232, 237.

— George, in Overhill, 234-7.

— Johnne, in the Pottartoun, 228, 232.

— Robert, in the Maynesof Ardow, 232.

— William, in Haltoun, 126.
Clintrayes (Easter and Wester), 53.
Clubsgovill, Lands of, 88.

Cluny, 5.

Cockburn, Margaret, or Skene, 94.

Cold, Andro, in Haltoun, 232.

Colpnay, 123.

Cope, Sir John, 42.

Cordiner, Elizabeth, or Skene, 32.

— William, Notary Public, 32.
Corntoun, 16.

Cottoun, 32.

Coultis, Master William of, Vicar of Tar-
lane, 19.
Coupar, Cowpar.

— Sir John, of Gogar, 3, 5, 6, 8.

— John, of Gogar, 118.

— Robert, 3, 5.
Court estoun, 231.

Coutts, , of Auchtertoull, 64.

— Jean, or Skene, 64, 68.

— William, in Caminter 64.
Cragydarg, Lands of, 5, 26.
Craigies, Farm of, 123.
Craigivs, Thomas, 182.
Craigtoune of Auchtertule, 53.
Craigytocher, 65.

Crambie, Andro, 230-1.

— Jeane, 231.

— Marjorie, 231.

— Thomas, 230, 231.
Crawford, Alexander, Earl of, 24.

— David, Earl of, 33, 50.

— John, Earl of, 23.

— John, of Tarbathill, 130.
Creichtoun, William, of Ryhill, 188.
Croatia, 159.

Cromwell, Oliver, 35.
Crusius, D. Adamus, 175.
Culbleun, 7.
Cullen, Alexander, 32, 95, 103.

— Andrew, 32.
Cullinges in Futtie, 31.
Culloden, 58.
Culquhorsie, 69.

Cumberlege, Beatrice Marjory Herschel,
or Skene, 74.

— Colonel, 74.
Cumeris, le, 23, 24.
Cuming, Gumming.

— , or Gordon, 87.

— Alexander, of Culter, 102.

— Sir Alexander, of Coulder, 35.

— Sir Alexander, of Cults, 36.

— Barbara, or Gordon, 87.

— General John Gordon, of Pitlurg,

87, 89.

— Robert, of Birness, 87.
Cunningham, James, 230.
Currie, Elizabeth, or Skene, 121.
Curriehill, no.

— Lord, see Skene, Sir John.
Cushney, Jeane, or Skene, 32.

Daeman, Helena Maria, or Skene, 66.

Dagleisius, Nicol., 171.

Dalhousie Family, 3.

Dalrymple, Lord, 56.

David II., 14.

Davidson, William, 123.

Deane, John, 70.

Dee, " The king's fermes north of," 16.

Denmark, King of, 7-

Dettingen, 58.

Donald, Lord of the Isles, 7, 15.

Donaldson, Catharine, or Skene, 147.

— Isobell, or Skene, 149.

— Janet, or Skene, 27.

— John, 27.

— John, merchant burges, 149.
Dorrsoilt, 37.

Douglas, Alexander of, 20.

— Sir Archibald, of Cavers, 114.

— Sir Archibald, of Glenbervie, 29.

— Barbara, or Skene, 65.

— Jacobus dominus, 14.

— Jean, of Strathhenry, 6l, 62.

— Johanna, or Skene, 29, 31, 49.

— Regiment, Sir William, 120.
Drake, Rev. Dr., Tyrrwhitt, 60.
Drumblate, II.

Drumgovane, 231.

Drumino, 153.

Drummond, Anna, or Skene, 53.

— David, in Campvere, 30, 148.

254

INDEX.

Drummond, George, of Carlowrie, 120, 121.

— James, Cultmalundie, 54.

— Janet, or Skene, 120, 225-7.

— John, 57.
Drumnalunda, Lands of, 37.

Duff, Hon. Alexander, 3rd Earl of Fife, 45.

— General the Hon. Sir Alexander,

45. 47-

— Alexander, of Hatton, 135.

— Catharine, 45.

— George, R.N., 135.

— George Skene, 45.

— James, 135.

— Louisa Tollemache, 45.
Dulcis, Catharinus, 157, 164.
Dulpoty, 17.

Dumbreck, 69.

Dunbar, David, Bailyie of Forres, 30.
Dundas, Sir James, of Arniston, 114.
Dundonald, Eupheme, Countess of, 6, 8,
112.

— 1st Earl of, 6, 112.
Dunkeld, Alexander, Bishop of, 51.

— William Lindsay, Bishop of, 53.

— Bishops of, 50.
Durie, George, 83.

— Helen, or Skene, 83.
Durward, Alan, 10, n, 13.

— Thomas, 13.
Dyce, I, ii.

Easter Carney, 5.

Easter Kinmundie, 5.

Easter Skene, 5, 6, 9, 17, 18.

Eberbach, Henricus ab, 164.

Echt, 5.

Edgar, King, 8.

Edinburgh, 5, 9, 10, 224.

Edmand, Walter, in Haltoun, 232.

Edward I., 9.

Ehlerus, Joachimus, 167.

— Joannes, 164, 165, 167, 168.
Ellibank, Patrick, 1st Lord, 118.
P^lphinstone, Master of, 98, 193-5.
Elzenor, John, 101.

Erskine, Sir Charles, of Alva, 1 14.

— Hon. Edward Morris, 141.

— Maud Mary, or Skene, 141.
Esson, George Auldjo, 129.
Estertown, 17.

Ettles' Inn, 138.

Fairlie, William, of Bruntsfield, 118.
Farquhar, Alexander, 148.

— Margaret, ;;/. John Skene, 87.

— Margaret, m. Robert Skene, 148,

149.

— Robert, 87.

Farquharson, Charles, 39.

— ' Donald, 39.
Ferguson, , of Pitfour, 45.

— David, 101.
Fiddie, 5.

Fife, Alexander, 3rd Earl, 45.

— James, 4th Earl, 45, 48.

— James, 5th Earl, 45, 48.

• — Alexander William George, 6th Earl
of, i.

— Farm of, 123, 129.
Filmer, Captain Edmund, 73.

— Sir Edmund, 73.

Finnic, Thomas, of Wellbrae, 134.

Firmian, Janka, Countess, or Skene, 67.

Flanders, 58, 166.

Flandrensis, R., II.

Folay, Johne, 236.

Fontenoy, 58.

Forbes of Rubislaw, 85, 132.

— of Tolquhon, 77.

— , burgess of Aberdeen, 101.

— , of Corsinday, 31, 104.

— , m. Gilbert Skene, 104.

— Agnes, or Skene, 23, 90.

— Alexander, Master of, 36.

— Alexander, of Auchintoull, 95.

— Alexander, in Foveran, 125.

— Sir Alexander, of Foveran, 38, 42,

43. 44, 77-

— Andrew, portioner of Kinellar, 71.

— Arthur, BaillieofOld Aberdeen, 32.

— Arthur, Lord, 35, 36.

— Arthur, of Echt, 71.

— Barbara, Lady Skene, 51.

— Barbara, m. Gilbert Skene of Dyce,

84.

— Barbara, m. Gilbert Skene in Tilli-

birloch, 69, 70.

— Barbara, m. Robert Skene, 105.

— David, 101.

— Duncan, of Corsinday, 23, 24, 25.

— Duncan, of the Letter, 27, 29, 30.

— Elizabeth, or Barclay, 231.

— Elizabeth, ;;/. Alex, de Skene, xi.

of that ilk, 25, 26, 27, 82.

— Elizabeth, m. Alex. Skene, xiv. of

that ilk, 35-36.

— Elspett, or Skene, 75.

— George, m. Eupheme Skene, 153.

— George, of Alford, 41, 45.

— Isobel, or y£die, 124.

— James, of Tilliboy, 27,- 28.

— James, 2nd Baron of, 23, 145.

— Jane, or Skene, 139.

— Janet, or Skene, 75.

— Jean, d. of Mirabell Skene and

Forbes, 101.

INDEX.

255

Forbes, Jean, or Skene, 64.

— John, m. Violet Skene, 126.

— John, merchant, 148.

— John, minister of Delft, 30.

— John, of Boquharm, 27.

— John, of Byth, 103.

— John, of Camphill, 28, 30, 32, 49.

— John, eld. of Echt, 69, 70.

— John, yr. of Echt, 70.

— John, of Leslie, 30.

— John, of Tolquhon, 27.

— Johnne, servitor to the parson of

Kinkell, 27.

— Lucia, IOI.

— Margaret, </. of Forbes of Corsin-

day, 24.

— Margaret, m. Alex. Skene, 88, 89.

— Margaret, m. Andrew Skene, 30.

— Margrett, m. Robert Skene, 126.

— Margaret, m. William Skene, 152,

153-

— Marjorie, m. Patrick Skene, 101.

— Marjorie, m. Robert Skene, 76, 78,

81.

— Mary, of Alford, 47.

— Patrick, of Cask, 65.

— Patrick, of Pittalochie, 152.

— Petrus, 1 68.

— Robert, burgess of Aberdeen, 237.

— Robert, of Drumlassie, 64.

— Robert, of Echt, 69, 70, 72.

— Robert, portioner of Findrossie, 50.

— Robert, of Rubislaw, 85.

— Thomas, 85.

— Walter, of Tolquhone, 32.

— William, of Cothellmill, 85.

— William, of Cotton, 84, 105.

— Sir William, of Craigievar, 51.

— William, Advocate in Edinburgh, 32.

— William, of the Manor Place,

Monymusk, 28.

— Sir William, of Pitsligo, 139, 247.

— William, of Pittalochie, 32.

— William, m. Katharine Skene, 71.

— William, professor of law, 84.

— William, s. of John of Tolquhone,

27.

— William, Master of, 35, 36, 37.
Fordyce, Miss, of Ay ton, 44.
Foremen, William, 98. .'" ^ • '
Forest, Patrick, IQI.
Foresterseat, Lord, 106, 112.

Forsyth, Gilbertt, at the Mylne of Ar-

docht, 232.

Fotheringham, Dr., 41.
Fox, Charles James, 45.
Fraser of Corntoun, 16.

— of Muchal, or Castle Fraser, 16.

Fraser, , or Skene, 16, 17, 21.

— Alexander, miles, 14.

— Alexander, of Corskil, 71.

— Andrew, Master of, 36.

— Andreas, de Staneywood, 90.

— James, of Balbrydie, 32.

— Thomas, of Corntoun, 16.
Frewen Hall, Oxford, 140.
Fullerton, Helen, or Skene, 78.
Friermilne, Lands of, 55.
Futtie, Sir John, 107.

Gablenz, Baron Kurt, 67.

Gairne, Thomas, in Blairtoun, 231.

Galloway, Alexander, parson of Kinkell,

n.
Garioch, John, 34, 35.

— William, of Tilliebethie, 35.
Garlogie, 5, 151.

Gedanus, 165, 167.

George, Alexander, 234, 236, 237.

Gilbertus de Strivelyng, n.

Gilderoy, Mary, or Skene, 129.

Gillespie, John, minister of Kirkaldie, 77.

— Lilias, or Skene, 77, 78.
Gladsmuir, Battle of, 42.
Glammes, Family of, 123.
Glammis, Patrick, Lord, 231-4.
Glasgow, Archbishop of, 186-192.
Glenshiel, 58.

Goodwyn, Rev. F. W., 142.
Gordon, Gordoun, Gordoune.

— , of Gordon's Mills, 84.

— Alexander, of Lesmoir, 153.

— Alexander, Provost of Aberdeen,

133-

— Charles, of Abergeldie, 73.

— Francis, of Craig, 72.

— General, of Fyvie, 45.

— George, in Cragie, 231, 232.

— George, burgess of Aberdeen, 228,

230.

— George, s. of Provost Alex., 133.

— James, of Banchory, 87.

— James, of Craig, 87.

— Dr. James, of Straloch; 87.

— Sir John, of Pitlurge, 232.

— Jeane, m. George Gordoun, 231.

— L., 193.

— Margaret, or Skene, 73.

— Mary, or Skene, 72.

— W., of Abergeldie, 76, 78.

— William, s. of George, 231.
Gorgie, no.

Govan, Dr. John, 61.

Grammar School, Aberdeen, 107.

Gray, Alexander, 107.

— Andrew, 69, 70.

256

INDEX.

Graystone, 5.
Greenough, Mr., 139,
Greenmyre Commonly, 53.
Gregorius de maleuile, II.
Grierson, John Foster, 142.
Guestrow, Aberdeen, 132.
Gtithrie, James, of Eister Balnabriech
(father), 97.

— James (son), 97.

Hadintoun, Earl of, 224.

Hafnia, 158, 168, 170.

Haig, Obadiah, 78.

Haliburton,Jean, or Sommerville, III, 112.

Hall Forest, 12.

Halyards in Fife, Castle of, 51.

— Lake of, 51.

— Skenes of, 1,49-63.
Halyards in Kirkliston, 10.
Halyards in Lothian, I, 117.
Halyburtoun, Andro, 231.
Hamburg, 173.
Hamilton, Australia, 129.

— Jean, or Skene, 126.

— Patrick, of Greine, 99.

— Sir Thomas, in.
Harlaw, Battle of, 15, 17, 18.
Hattown, 5.

Hauseur, Jeanne Catherine, or Skene, 67.
Hay, , Lady Johnston, 1 12.

— A., 195.

— Alexander, Clerk Register, 106.

— Alexander, in Foveran, 126.

— Sir Alexander, Lord Foresterseat,

106, 112.

— George, 195.

— Jean, or Skene, 79.

— William, parson of Turriff, 98.
Hedelberg, 175, 179.
Heidenstam, Baron Charles de, 141.
Helmstadt, 173, 175.

Hendrie, Gilbert, 98, 234-9.
Henrie, Alexander, 236.
Henrisoun, Thomas, 231.
Hepburn, , of Brunston, 119.

— Beatrix, or Skene, 119.
Heyden, Katharina, or Skene, 58, 59.

— Samuel, of Arklow, 58.
Hill, Lands of, no.
Hoffman, Geheimerath, 66.

— Johanna Jacoba Theodora, or Skene,

66.
Hog Family, 3.

— James, of Blairiedryne, 105.
Home, Major, of Carlensyde, 118.

— Sir Patrick, of Polwart, no.
Hope, Sir Thomas, of Craighall, 33.
Hophill, 123.

Hossack, Angus,' 141.

— Jane Elizabeth Huddleston, or

Skene, 141.
Hostiarius, Alan, see Durward, Alan.

— Colmerus, n.

Howard, Hon. Major-General Charles, 62.

Howiesoun, Mertine, 230, 231.

Hulsta, 1 66.

Hungaria, 159.

Hunter, Thomas, 97.

Hurrie, , of Pitfichie, 101.

— Marjorie, or Skene, 101.
Hurry, Willelmus, de Pitfechie, 90.

Inglis, Sir Archibald, of Ingliston, 114.
Innes, Alexander, in Garnwatter, 100.

— Alexander, of Pethenick, 34.

— James, of Tilleburies, 83.

— Patrick, of Tibbertie, 103.
Inverie House, Banchory, 46.
Irvine, Irving, Irwing.

— , or Skene, 105.

— Sir Alexander, of that ilk (1507),

23, 24, 25.

— Alexander, advocate, 70.

— Captain, of Mondurch, 31.

— Christian, or Skene, 31.

— John, in Quhytrigis, 50.

— Johne, in Funerssy, 236.

— Robert, " procurator of Band, " 26.

— Robert, of Cults, 105.

— Robert, of Mincoffer, 30.

Jaffray, Jafray.

— Andrew, in. of Kingswells, 78, 79.

— Gilbert, in Eister Ardow, 232.

— Gilbert, in Kingswells, 150.

— Janet, or Skene, 133.

— John, of Delspro, 133.
Jak, Wilelmus, 82.

James I., 16.

— Duke of York, 132.

— vi., 186-192, 228.

— David, solicitor, London, 59.

— Henrietta, or Skene, 59.
Jardine and Wilson, 144.

— Sir Henry, 137, 144.
Jenkins, John, 130.
Jobson, William, 71.
Johannes de vallibus, II.

Johnston, Johnstone, Johnstoun, Jonstonus.

— , of Crimond, 31.

— Ann, or Skene, 85.

— Sir Archibald, 112.

— Archibald, advocate, 115.

— Archibald, 189.

— Christiane, or Skene, 31.

— Elizabeth, Lady Strathallan, 112.

INDEX.

257

Johnston, Sir George, of Caskieben, 29.

— George, of Cairnie, 83.

— Janet, or Skene, 113, 114.

— Johan., 171.

— Lady John, of Hilton, 189.

— • Sir John, of Hilton and Sheen, 113.

— Margaret, or Skene, 29, 30.

— Patrik, of Haltoun, 231, 232.

— Samuel, 115.

— Sir Samuel, of Slains, 115.

— Sir Samuell, of Elphinstoun, 198.

— Thomas, 232.

— Dr. William, of Caskieben, 85.
Jones, Richard, in Turriff, 64.

Kay, Johnne, in Mureburne, 232.

— Williame, in Mureburne, 232.
Kebety, Lands of, 104.

Keir, 228.
Keith, Keth.

— Agnes, or Skene, 71.

— Egidia de, Lady Forbes, 23.

— Gilbert, of Affrosk, 71.

— Janet, or de Skene, 15.

— Janet de, 20, 21, 22.

— John, 71.

— Lady Margaret de, 1 8, 19.

— Robert de, 20.

— Lord William de, 17, 18.
Kempt, Johne, 239.

Kennocht, , of Craigmyle, 19.

Ker, Kerr.

— Sir Andro, 193.

— George, in Benvellis, 228.

— James, of Mersingstone, 119.

— Mary, or Skene, 119, 120.

— Thomas, 228, 230.

Kilgour, Ahdro, in Auld Aberdeen, 230.

Kilmacoe, 60.

Kilsayth, Lord, 195.

Kinarde, Mariot of, or Skene, lj.

Kincaid, Robert, ofOverGogar Mains, 121.

Kincardine, 4th Earl of, 114.

Kinellar, 5, u.

King, Alexander, 232, 234.

— Andro, 230.

— James, 239.
Kinkell, 5, u, 12, 72.
Kinnaird, Thomas, of that ilk, 21.
Kinnernie, 5.

Kintor, Gilbert, 107.
Kintore, 5, n, 12, 18.

— 1st Earl of, 12.

Kirke, Thomas, "a Yorkshire squire," 92.
Kirkton, Margaret, or Skene, 150.
Kirktown of Belhelvie, 123.
Kirkton of Skene, 5,, 9, 19, 20.
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, 10.

Knollis, David, 236.
Knows, Andrew, of Pittside, 83.
Kynnarde, Alan of, 17, 21, 22.
Kyntor, Castrum de, 1 1.
Landgravius, Wilhelmus, 178.
Landmeter, Sarah Catharine, or Skene, 66.
Langseitt, 228.
Lapati, Eustache, 141.

— Zoe, 141.
Lauderdaill, Lord, 193-5.
Lauder's Regiment, 121.
Lawider, Robertus de, 14.
Lawson, Agnes, or Skene, 96.

— James, of Hieriggis, 94.

— John, of Boghall, 94.
Lawton, William John Percy, 142.
Layng, Johne, 237.

— William, in Drumgovane, 231.
Learmonth, , of Balcomie, 112.

— Anne, or Skene, 98.

— Robert, advocate, 98, 106, 112.
Leask, Alexander, Rector in Turriff, 64.

— Sara, or Skene, 125.

— William, of Leask, 125.
Leith, Leyth.

— John, of Likliehead, 32.

— Joanes, advocate, 239.

— Patrik, in the Bra, 232.

— Patrick, of Likliehead, 32, 82.

— Robert, in Likliehead, 32.

— William, 239.
Lely, Sir Peter, 54.
Lesly, Leslie.

— Duncan, 27.

— Elizabeth, or Skene, 27.

— General, Earl of Leven, 51.

— Jean, or Skene, 72.

— Margaret, or Wylie, 94.

— Patrick, of Kincraigie, 72.

— Patrick, burgess of Aberdeen, 239.

— William, in Ley of Tulliebardie, 51.

— William, of Balquhane, 94.
Lethentie, 88, 89.

Letter, 5, 24.
Leuchlerus, Doctor, 178.
Leven, 1st Earl of, 51.
Liddach, 5, 19, 20, 22, 34.
Liddelius, Doctor, 173, 174, 175, 176.
Liddell, Sarina Charlotte, or Skene, 63.

— The Very Rev. Dean, 63.
Lindesay, Lindsay, Lyndesay.

— Dominus de, 23.

— Sir David, 97.

— James, of Dowhill, 53.

— William, Bishop of Dunkeld, 53.
Lindsay's Regiment, 120.

Listen, Lordship of, 117, I2O. ,

Little Watterston, 42.

I I

258

INDEX

Livingstone, William, 39.
Livingstoun, Sir Thomas, 120
Lochorishburne, Loch of, 53.
Loft, Rev. J. E. W., 60.
Logic, Vicarage of, 151.
Lothean, Lord, 193, 195.
Luff, Castle of, 9.
Lumsden, Lummisden.

— , of Cushney (circ. 1540), 90,

91.

— , of Cushnie (arc. 1765), 150.

— , "bairn at the sang skuill,"

107.

— Elizabeth, or Cullen, 32.

— Janet, m. " Black " James Skene,

147.

— Janet, m. James Skene in Bandodle,

90, 91, 92.

— Margaret, or Skene, 150.

— Thomas, rector of Kinkell, II, 95.

— William, of Leach, 64.
Lynch, , of Jamaica, 44.

Lyoun, Anclro, eld., in Eister Ardow, 232.

— Andro, yr., in the Maynes of Ardow,

232.

— Dauid, 232.

— James, in Smyddie Croft, 232.

• — Patrik, burges of Dundie, 232, 233.

— Sir Thomas, of Auldbar, 233, 234.

McDonald Family, 6.
Macdonald, Rev. Mr., 47.

— Thomas, W.S., 45.

McGill, David, of Cranston Riddell, 28,
109.

— David, of Rankeillor, 53.

— Margaret, or Skene, 53, 56.
Mackenzie, Colin, of Portmore, 249.

— George, of Kintowdie, 35.

— Sir George, 7.
MacLeod, Reverend Walter, 2.
MacWilliam, Donald Bane, 13.
Maitland, Richard, of Pitrichie, 37.
Malcolm Canmore, 7, 8, 9, 13.

— n, 8.

— Michael, of Balbeadie, 52.
Mamwir, Patrik, 123.

Maneris, Thomas, messinger Sheref, 228,

230.

Mannie, dominus, 14.
Many, 123.
Mar, Earldom of, 13.

— John, 7th Earl of, 1 14.

— Thomas, Earl of, camerarius Scocie,

'5-

Marischal, William, ist Earl, n, 12, 20,

23, 33, 34.

— William, 2nd Earl, 20,

Marischal, Countess, 71.
Marjoribanks, Edward, 121.
Marlborough, Duke of, 38.
Marmion, 243-9.
Martin, Margaret, or Skene, 93.
Maude, Charles, 59.

— Warren, 59.
Maxuell, Lord, 193.
Medhop, Lord, 193.

Meinzies, Katherene, in Horscruik, 232.

Mekill, Wardes, 96.

Meldrum, George, of Fyvie, 108.

Melfort, Duke of, 57.

Melros, Lord, 193-5.

Melrose, John, 96.

Melville, Sir James, 108.

Mercer, , Baron of Adie and Meik-

lure, 14.

— Cristina, or Skene, 22.

— Elizabeth, or Skene, 70, 71.

— Elspett, or Skene, 82, 83.

— Lawrence, 82, 83.

— Marion, or Skene, 14.
Merscone, Thomas, 100.
Mersington, Lord, 119.
Middelburgus, 166.
Middleton, S., 87.
Milboy, 5, 19, 20.

Mill, , or Skene, 129.

— of Dulpoty, 17.

— of Keir, 5.

Milne of Auchtertule, 53.
Milnehills, 54.

Milnetoune of Auchtertule, 53.
Moir, Gilbert, 87.

— James, IV. of Stoneywood, 135.

— Jane, or Skene, 135, 137.

— John, of Ruthrieston, 148.

— William, " Doctor of Physick," 84.
Mollyson, Marjorie, or Skene, 71.

— Thomas, 71.
Moncrieff, Ann, or Go van, 61.

— Catharine, or Balfour, 61.

— Christian, 61.

— Douglas, 6l.

— Captain George, 61, 63.

— Colonel George, of Recldie, 61.

— Helen, or Cheape, 6l.

— Jane, 61.

— Patrick, 61, 63.

— Patrick George, see Skene, P. G.
Monro, Dr. Alex., of Craiglockhart, 143.

— Georgiana, or Skene, 143, 144.
Montrose, James, Marquis of, 36.
Moravia, Egidia de, dominade Culbin, 17.
Mores, Sir David, 52.

Moresin, Morison, Morrison.

— Anna Marianna, or Farquhar, 87.

INDEX.

259

Morison, Docteur, 157.

— Elizabeth, 87.

— Elizabeth, or Skene, 61, 63.
Mortlich. 7.

Mowat, Mowatt.

— , of Balquhollie, 98.

— Barbara, or Oswald, 99.

— Walter, 99.

Mowtray, Elizabeth, or Skene, 98, 99.

Muchal, or Castle Fraser, 16.

Munroe, Rev. Dr., 44.

Murray, Catharine, Lady Somerville, 108.

— Charles, Earl of, 57, 58.

— Colonel, 42.

— Lord Edward, 54.

— Giles, of Cowbin, 21.

— Jhon, 1 86, 187.

— John, of Falahill, 108.

— John, s. of Lord Edward, 54.

— Sir William, of Hermiston, 118.
Murtoun, 228.

Musancherius, 164.

Mylne, Andro, in Haltoun, 232.

Mylneden, 123.

Mylne Lands, 152.

— of Durno, 70.

— of Auchinacher, 231.

— of Potterton, 123, 125.

Naper, Archibald, Lord, of Merchistoun,

197, 224.

Nethrogall, in Monimail, 87.
Neuhauss, Baron de, 157.
New Elphinstoun, 198.
New Grange, 53.
New Scotland, 197-224.
Newton, 5.

Newtoune of Auchtertule, 53.
Newtyle, I, 75-81.
Nicolson, Jacobus, 171.

— Johnne, 27, 232, 234.
Niddrie's Wynd, Edinburgh, 96.
Norham, in Coul, 90.
Norroway, 171.

fNorvele, William, 1 8.

Ogilvy, Ogilvie.

— Isabel!, or Leask, 125.

— Lord, 97.
Oliphant, S. W., 195.

— William, 232, 233.
Orcanensis, Comes, 164, 165, 167.
Ord, 5.

Orrock, Elizabeth, or Skene, 51.
Ostend, 166.
Oswald, Andrew, 99.
Ot land is, 199.
Overhill, 123.

Overtown of Dyce, Lands of, 30.
Overtown, Old, 123.

Paget, Rev. Canon, 142.

— Mabel Sophia, or Thomson, 142.
Parkhill, 88.

Passage, Elizabeth, or Skene, 66.
Paton, Sir S. Noel, 144.
Perry, Elizabeth, or Skene, 128.
Perth, Duke of, 57.

— -, Mercer, Provost of, 14.

Petkarne, John, 17.

Pettens, 123.

Philippus Hispanorum, 176.

Piguet, Major de, 59.

Pilmure Commonly, 53.

Pinkie, Battle of, 24, 25, 101, 102.

Pitcairn, Helen, or Skene, 54, 55, 61, 62.

— Henry, of Pitlour, 55,

— Patrick, of Pitlour, 54, 55.
Pitlour, Easter and Wester, 55.
Pitmedden, 85.

Pitmuxton, 148, 149.
Pittintagart, 98.
Polonia, 169.

Praga, 159, 161, 162, 163.
Prerau, in Moravia, 67.
Preston, Battle of, 42, 58.

— Henry Edward, 142.

— Janet, or Skene, 31.

— Dom. Johannes, 171.

— John, Merchant Burgess of Aber-

deen, 31.

— T. H., of Moreby Hall, 142.

Rae, Paul, 232.

— Sir William, of St. Catherine's, 249.
Rait, Raitt

— , of Halgreen, 105.

— , or. Skene, 105.

— Emily, or Skene, 63.

— James, of Anniston, 63.
Ramelius, Henricus, 158, 168, 170.
Ramore, Skene of, I, 90-105.
Ramsay, Colonel, 2nd Foot, 137.

— David, of Balmain, 50.

— David, of Grangemuir, 52.

— John, of Menies, 3.

— Patrik, at the Mylne of Haltoun,

232.

— Patrik, at the Nethir Mylne, 236.
Ranaldsone, David, 236.
Rannaloch, 103, no, 113.
Ranulphus, Thomas, comes Moravie, 14.
Redcliffe, Lord Stratford de, 141.
Reid, Elizabeth, or Skene, 31.

— Robert, minister of Banchorie-

ternan. 31.

260

INDEX.

Reid, William, 27.
Reiclhall, in Midlothian, no.
Rennecherus, Hermanus, 156, 179.
Rhind, Elspeth, or Skene, 128.

— Thomas, 128.

Richardson, Sir Robert, of Pencaitland,

107, 112.

Richeson, William, of Cranstoun, 97.
Riddell, Principal, 97.
Rigg, Alison, or Skene, 118.

William, of Athernie, 118.
Rizo Rangabe, Alexandre, 142.

— Rhalou, or Skene, 141.
Robertson, Helen, or Skene, 103.

— Jane, or Skene, 129.

— Ninian, 83.

— Struan, of Athole, 6, 7-

— W., and Sons, 129.
Robineus, Lodouicus, 164.
Rodgerhill, 5.

Rolland, Marjory, or Skene, 124.
Rollocvs, P., 181.

Rose, Mr., of Banff, genealogist, 137.
Rosembergicus, Ad., 161.
Rosenbaum, Francisca de, or Skene,
67.

— Lieutenant-Colonel de, 67.
Ross, Captain James, 30.
Round Table in Aberdeen, 24.
Row, William, 118.

Row's Regiment, 121.
Roxburgh, Earl of, 224.
Rubislaw, 131-145.
Russell, Rvssellvs.

— Gideon, in.

— Joannes, 185.

— John, 87.

— Marion, or Skene, 87.

— Mungo, in.

— Mr., of Selkirk, 122.

— Rev. William, 121.
Ruthrieston, 147-50.

St. Lucia, Battle of, 67.

Saltoun, 188.

Sancto Michaele, William de, 18.

Sandie, Gilbert, in Mekle Mure, 232.

Sandisvs, Patricivs, 182.

Sang Skuill, Aberdeen, 31, 107.

Sauoye, 157.

Scharpe, Johnne, 232, 233.

Schoeller, Auguste von, or Skene, 67.

Scott, Helen, Lady Blantyre, 112.

— Sir John, of Scotstarvet, 106, 224.

— Sir Walter, 139, 140, 243-9.

Scott, Sir William, of Arclross, 106, 112.
Scrymgeour, David, 19.
Seaforth, Kenneth, Earl of, 35.
Seaton, Claris, or Skene, 126, 131.
Shepletoune, Lands of, 53.
Simonides, Wilhel., 184.
Simpson, Baillie, of Aberdeen, 43.

— Sarah, or Skene, 43, 45.
Sinclair, Lady, 100.

— Lord, loo.
Skelbo, 21.

Skene, Sceyn, Schene, Skeen, Skeene,
Skein, Sken, Skyen, Skeyn,
Skeyne.

— of Auchtererne, 17, 151-4.*

— of Bandodle, I.

— of Belhelvie, 123-130, 228-239.

— of Blackdog, 126.

— of Curriehill, I, 4, 23, 106-116, 136. «

— of Dumbreck, i, 27, 69-74.

— of Dyce, I, 27, 82-9.

— of Fintrie, I.

— of Halyards in Fife, I, 4, 30, 48,

49-60.

— of Halyards in Lothian, I, 4, 23,

117-122.

— of Newtyle, I, 27, 75-81.

— of Pitlour, 30, 54, 61-3.

— of Prerau, in Austria, 64-8.

— of Ramore, I, 3, 23, 90-105.

— of Rubislaw, I, 4, 23, 131-45.

— of Ruthrieston, 147-150.

— of that ilk, I, 3, 4, 5-48.

— of Tillibirloch, I.

— of Westercorse and Ramore, 90-105.

— , or Haig, 78.

— , /;/. Rev. George Skene, 31.

— Adam de, III. of that ilk, 15, 33, 34.

— Adam de, IV. of that ilk, 15, 33, 34.

— Adam de, v. of that ilk, 15, 17, 18,

19, 34-

— Adolf, 67.

— Agnes, or Black, 26, 27.

— Agnes, or Burnett, 72.

— Agnes, or Innes, 83.

— Agnes, or Spens, 69.

— Agnes, d. of John, in Turriff, 65.
Alex, of Auchtererne, 153-4.

— Alex.

— Alex.

— Alex.

— Alex.

86,

— Alex.

— Alex.

in Australia, 129.

II. of Dumbreck, 69, 70-1.

II. of Dyce, 82, 83.

of Dyce (1665-1704), 84, 85-

?8.

of Dyce (1732-1743), 87, 88.

farmer in Fife, 129.

* The references in a heavier type are to pages on which members of the different branches of the family
in direct line of descent are given under separate headings.

INDEX.

26l

Skene, Alex., at Mylne of Commeris, 75.

— Alex., of Newtyle, i, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9,

23, 24, 37, 76, 77-8, 79-

— Alex., of Prestoun, 102.

— Alex., vn. of that ilk, 17, 20, 21,

22,34-

— Alex., ix. of that ilk, 22-23, 28, 34,

90, 145-

— Alex, de, x. of that ilk, 23-24, 34,

90.

— Alex, de, XI. of that ilk, 24-8, 29,

34, 69, 82.

— Alex., xin. of that ilk, n, 30, 31,

33-35, 75, 103.

— Alex., xvi. of that ilk, 3, 4, 6, 8,

37, 38, 39-42, 45, 48, 131, 132.

— Alex., xx. of that ilk, 45, 47-8.

— Alex., advocate, 82, 93-5.

— Alex., " Barron of the Letter," 29,

49-

— Alex., Capt., H. E. I. Co., 74.

— Alex., Capt., R. N., 44.

— Alex., officer in the army, 129.

— Alex., Provost of St. Salvador's, 52.

— Alex., Secy, of Dutch Embassy at

Cologne, 66.

— Alex., Town Councillor, 17.

— Alex., writer, s. of Sir John of

Curriehill, 111-2, 191-2.

— Alex., s. of Alex, of Dyce (1665-

1704), 85.

— Alex., j. of Alex, of Newtyle, 78.

— Alex., s. of Alex., XI. of that ilk,

27, 28.

— Alex., s. of Alex., xvi. of that ilk,

41, 44-

— Alex., s. of Andrew, apothecary,

149.

— Alex., s. of David of Zamoski, 40,

125, 131, 132.

— Alex., s. of Gilbert, in Tillebirloch,

50-

— Alex., s. of "White James," 79.

— Alex., s. of James of Blackdog, 128.

— Alex., s. of John, I. of Halyards in

Midlothian, 118.

— Alex., j. of John, in Turriff, 66.

— Alex., s. of Patrick of Bandodle, 32.

— Alex., s. of Robert of Rannaloch,

!°3, 153-

— Alex., s. of Robert of Tillibirloch,

31.

— Alex., s. of Thomas, in Potterton,

125.

— Alex., s. of William, master of the

Song School, 31.

— Alfred, of Alexavitz, 67.

— Alfred, of Prerau, 67, 68.

Skene, Alison, Lady Mersington, 119.

— Alison, d. of Dr. George, 74.

— Alison, d. of John, I. of Halyards

in Midlothian, 118.

— Andrew, in Aberdeen, 30.

— Andrew, of Auchorie, 30, 49, 50,

64.

— Andrew, of Chappelton, 33, 75.

— Andrew, of Dyce (1729-1732), 85,

86, 87-8.

— Andrew, of Dyce (1747-1815), 88,

89.

— Andro, in the Glak, 27.

— Sir Andrew, n. of Halyards in Fife,

34, 49, 50-3.

— Andrew, of Lethenty, 42.

— Andrew, in Many, 100.

— Andrew, in Overdyce, 35, 37, 148.

— Andrew, in Overtown, 37.

— Andrew, in Pitmuxton, 148, 149.

— Andrew, of Ruthrieston, 30, 132,

147, 148.

— Andrew, of Ruthrieston? ("quarto

vicit 1667") 79.

— Andrew, yr. of Wester Bogie, 51.

— Andrew, in Whytecairns, 128.

— Andrew, apothecary, 149, 150.

— Andrew, Capt. in the Royal Scots,

57, 58-

— Andrew, 52nd Regiment, 74.

— Dr. Andrew, 149, 150.

— Andrew, minister at Banff, 150.

— Andrew, parson of Turriff, 64, 65.

— Andrew, Solicitor-General for Scot-

land, 3, 73.

— Andrew, grandson of Sir Andrew

of Halyards in Fife, 52.

— Andrew, s. of Sir Andrew of Hal-

yards in Fife, 51, 52, 55.

— Andrew, s. of George, xvm. of

that ilk, 45.

— Andrew, s. of Gilbert, in Overhill,

124, 125.

— Andrew, s. of Capt. James, 44.

— Andrew, s. of "White James," 80.

— Andrew, s. of John, xv. of that

ilk, 37-

— Andrew, s. of John, in Turriff, 64,

65-

— Andrew Motz, 59.

— Andrew Philip, vm. of Halyards

in Fife, 59^50.

— Andrew Philip, ix. of Halyards in

Fife, 59, 60.

— Ann, d. of Alex, of Dyce (1665-

1704), 86.

— Ann, d. of David, in Langseat, 129.

— Anna, d. of " White James," 80.

262

INDEX.

Skene, Anna, d, of John of Dyce (1704-
1729), 87.

— Anna, d. of Robert, 65.

— Anna, d. of the Rev. Robert, 81.

— Anna, or Barclay, 37, 39.

— Anna, or Forbes, 125.

— Anna, or Robertson, 83.

— Arthur, of Auchtererne, 103.

— Arthur, in Tullocht, 153.

— Arthur, s. of Robert, in Tullinturk,

»$!•

— Arthur, s. of William, 80.

— August, 67.

— Augusta Maria, or Maude, 59.

— Barbara, nat. d. of Alex., 27.

— Barbara, or Calder, 36.

— Barbara, or Forbes, 85, 86.

— Barbara, or Mores, 52.

— Barbara, or Sturgeon, 44.

— Barbara, or Tytler, 38, 39.

— Beatrice, </. of John, in. of Hal-

yards in Midlothian, 121.

— Beatrice Harriet Annie, 74.

— Beatrix, or Forbes, 27.

— Bessie of Elzenor, 32, 101.

— Bessie, or Johnstone, 83.

— Bessie, or Ross, 30.

— Betty, 47.

— Caroline Christian, 142.

— Catharine, d. of David, I. of Pit-

lour, 61.

— Catherine, d. of Thomas, advocate,

119.

— Catherine, Lady Foresterseat, 106,

112.

— Catherine, or Grierson, 142.

— Catharine, or Jardine, 137.

— Charles, in Virginia, 120.

— Dr. Charles, 74.

— Captain Charles of Dumbreck, 74.

— Charles, sailor, R.N., 119.

— Charles, s. of Charles, 67.

— Charles, s. of Dr. George, 73.

— Charles, s, of "White James," 80.

— Charles, s. of John, IV. of Halyards

in Fife, 55, 56.

— Charles, s. of Philip William, 67.

— Christian, </. of Andrew of Ruth-

rieston, 149.

— Christian, d. of "Black James,"

147-

— Christian, d, of "White James,"

80.

— Christian, d. of Treasurer RoLcrt,

J*

— Christian, or Drummond, 30.

— Christian, or Fraser, 32.

— Christian, or Jaffray, 78.

Skene, Christian, /;/. Andrew Skene, 148.

— Church of, 5, n.

— David, in Langseat, 129.

— David, at the Mylne of Potterfeild,

232.

— David, at the Mylne of Potterton,

124-6, 127, 131, 133, 135, 230-1,

234-9.

— David, I. of Pitlour, 54-5, 61-2.

— David, iv. of Pitlour, 61, 63.

— David, of Zamoski, 40, 125, 131-

132.

— David, Captain, 28th Regiment, 61,

63-

— Dr. David, 150.

— David, s. of Alex., xvi. of that ilk,

41.

— David, s. of George, xvm. of that

ilk, 45.

— David, s. of Captain James, 44.

— David, s. of John, IV. of Halyards

in Fife, 55, 57.

— David, s. of William, in Australia,

130.

— David James, 59.

— Dromondus, 121, 226, 227.

— Duncan, 92, 97-8, 100.

— Edward, s. of John, IV. of Halyards

in Fife, 55, 57.

— Edward, s. of William, 80.

— Eliza, d. of David in Langseat, 129.

— Eliza, or de Heidenstam, 141.

— Eliza, or Jenkins, 130.

— Elizabeth, d. of Dr. George, 73.

— Elizabeth, d. of George, iv. of

Halyards in Midlothian, 121, 122.

— Elizabeth, d. of James of Blackdog,

128.

— Elizabeth, d. of James, vi. of Hal-

yards in Fife, 58.

— Elizabeth, rf. of "Black James,"

147.

— Elizabeth, d, of Thomas, advocate,

119.

— Elizabeth, or Calderwood, 57.

— Elizabeth, or Livingstone, 37, 39.

— Elizabeth, or Munroe, 44.

— Elizabeth, or Russell, 121.

— Elizabeth, m. George Skene, 38,

41, 42, 43, 44.

— Elizabeth, Lady Wardlaw, 54.

— Elizabeth Rosa, 59.

— Elspett, d. of David in Langseat,

129.

— Elspet, or Bruce, 51.

— Elspett, m. Andrew Forbes, 71.

— Elspeth, ;«. John Forbes, 27.

— Elspeth, or Gray, 69, 70.

INDEX.

263

Skene, Emilia, or Filmer, 73.

— Ethel Mary, 141.

— Eupham, or Wilkie, 121.

— Euphame, Lady Inglis, 114.

— Euphemia, Lady Richardson, 107,

112.

— Euphemie, or Forbes, 152, 153.

— Felicia, Mary Frances, 143.

— Felix James Henry, 141.

— Fergusius de, 1 7.

— Francis, Prof, of Civil and Natural

History, 72-3.

— Francis, Royal Fusiliers, 119.

— Francis, s. of Dr. George, 73.

— Gabrielle, or de Widman, 67.

— Major George, of Caraldstone, 37,

38, 41, 42, 43, 44, 48, 154.

— George, IV. of Halyards in Mid-

lothian, 1 20, 121, 122.

— George, in Knockhall, 103,

— Sir George, I. of Rubislaw, 4, 39,

40, 126, 131-3, 135. I45i 240-2.

— George, n. of Rubislaw, 40, 132,

133. 134, 135-

— George, in. of Rubislaw, 134, 135.

— George, iv. of Rubislaw, 135-8.

— George, v. of Rubislaw, 138, 139.

— George, vu. of Rubislaw, 141,

143-4.

— George, xvn. of that ilk, 38, 41,

42-44.

— George, xvin. of that ilk, 44-45.

— George, XIX. of that ilk, 45-7, 48.

— George, parson of Kinkell, 31, 72.

— George, Dempster of the Court,

98, 100, 101.

— Dr. George, 89.

— George, Ensign, H. E. I. Co., 74.

— George, Prof, of Natural History,

73-4.

— George, s. of Dr. Andrew, 150.

— George, s. of David of Zamoski,

39, 125, 131, 132.

— George, s. of Capt. James, 44.

— George, s. of " White James," 80.

— George, s. of John in Turriff, 65.

— George, s. of Patrick in Old Aber-

deen, 128.

— George, j. of Robert, 40.

— George Alexander, 141.

— George Robert, 60.

— Rev. George William Charles, 141.

— Gilbert, of Dyce, 71, 82, 83, 84-5,

105.

— Gilbert, in Overhill, 124, 125, 126,

228-30, 232, 234-7.

— Gilbert de, viu. of that ilk, i, 22,

34-

Skene, Gilbert, in Tillibirloch, 26, 27, 50,
69-70, 75-

— Gilbert, in. of Westercorse, 32,

102, 104.

— Gilbert, in Whytecairns, 127.

— Dr. Gilbert, 91, 95-7, 126.

— Gilbert, merchant, 148.

— Gilbert, minister at Cariston, 71.

— Gilbert, student, 71.

— Gilbert, s. of Alex, of Dyce (1665-

1704), 86.

— Gilbert, s. of Gilbert of Dyce, 84.

— Gilbert, s. of Patrick of Bandodle.

32.

— Gilbert, s. of Robert in Tullinturk,

151.

— Gilian de, n. of that ilk, 10, 15.

— Harriet, 74.

— Helen, d, of George, minister of

Kinkell, 72.

— Helen, d. of George, iv. of Rubis-

law, 137.

— Helen, d. of James, writer, 98.

— Helen, d. of John, in. of Halyards

in Midlothian, 121.

— Helen, or Brown, 120.

— Helen, or Coupar, 3, 118.

— Helen, or Duff, 135.

— Helen, Lady Dundas, 114.

— Helen, or Fraser, 71.

— Helen, or Moncrieff, 61, 63.

— Henrietta, or Trotter, 60.

— Henry, grandson of Sir Andrew of

Halyards in Fife, 52.

— Henry, s. of Peter, 66.

— Hew, 125.

— House of, 5, 7, 38.

— Hugh, 121, 225-6.

— Isabella, d, of John in Turriff,

65-

— Isabella, d. of Thomas, 129.

— Isobel, d. of Alex., xi. of that ilk,

28.

— Isobell, d. of Andrew in Auchorie,

49.

— Isobell, d. of James of Blackdog,

128.

— Isobell, d. of "White James," 80.

— Isobell, d. of William, master of

the Song School, 31.

— Isobell, or Calder, 35.

— Isobell, or Tosh, 71.

— Isobel, or Keith, 71.

— Isobell, or Knows, 83.

— Isobel, or Warrand, 30.

— James, of Auchtererne, 151.

— James, of Blackdog, 127, 128.

— James, in Charlestown, 73.

264

INDEX.

Skene, Sir James of Curriehill, 75, 76, 106,
107, no, in, 113-5, Fii6, 117,
137, 147, 186-190, i93-224-

— Tames, vi. of Halyards in Fife,

57, 58.

— James, of Grange and Kirkcaldy,

53-54.

— James, of Rubislaw, I, 4, 89, 139-

43, 243-9.

— James de, VI. of that ilk, 15-21,

22, 34.

— James, xil. of that ilk, 27, 28-32,

33, 34, 49.

— James, xiv. of that ilk, 33, 34, 35-

36, 37-

— James, in Turriff, 64.

— James, of Wester Bogie, 51-52, 55.

— James, I. of Westercorse and Ra-

more, 23, 25, 26, 90-101, 106,
no, 123, 145, 153.

— James, II. of Westercorse and Ra-

more, 92, 94, 96, 98, 102-3.

— James, iv. of Westercorse and Ra-

more, 97, 104.

— Captain James, 44, 89.

— James (" Black James "), 2, 79, 147.

— James (" White James "), 76, 78-80,

147-

— James, " the martyr, 36.

— Jacobus, notarius publicus, 17.

— James, surgeon, H. E. I. Co., 58.

— James, writer, s. of James, 127.

— James, writer, s. of Robert, no,

126.

— James, writer, s. of Thomas, 98-9.

— James, s. of George, iv. of Rubis-

law, 138.

— James, s. of George, xvm. of that.

ilk, 45.

— James, s. of James, writer, 99.

— James (1615), s. of Sir James of

Curriehill, 114.

— James (1621), s. of Sir James of

Curriehill, 114.

— James, s. of Captain James, 44.

— James, not. s. of James, in army, 44.

— James, J. of "White James," 79-

— James, s. of John, I. of Halyards

in Midlothian, 118.

— James, s. of John, XV. of that ilk,

38.

— James, s. of John in Turriff, 65.

— James, s. of Robert in Tullinturk,

I5I-

— James, s. of Thomas, advocate, 119.

— James Francis, 143.

— James Henry, Consul-General at

Aleppo, 141.

Skene, James Henry, s. of F. J. H. Skene,
141.

— Jane, d. of David, I. of Pitlour, 61.

— Jane, or Bruce, 142.

— Jane, or Crawford, 130.

— Jane, Lady Scott, 106, 112.

— Jane Catharine, 130.

— Jane Georgina, or Tytler, 143.

— Janet, d. of Robert in Belhelvie,

126, 127.

— Janet, d. of William of Auchtererne,

152.

— Jannet, m. David Anderson, 30.

— Janet, m. John Anderson, 134.

— Janet, or Barclay, 35.

— Janet, or Burnett, 71.

— Janet, or Forbes, 103.

— Janet, or Gordon, 133.

— Janet, or Kincaid, 121.

— Janet, or Jobson, 71.

— Janet, or Row, 118.

— Janet, m. Robert Skene, 103, 153.

— Jean, d. of Andrew in Auchorie,

49-

— Jean, d. of George, iv. of Rubislaw,

138-

— Jean, d. of James of Blackdog, 128.

— Jean, d. of James, writer in Edin-

burgh, 127.

— Jeane, d. of "White James," 79.

— Jean, d, of Robert of Tillibirloch,

31-

— Jean, Lady Belches, 1 1 8.

— Jean, or Bruce, 71.

— Jeane, or Clarke, 126.

— Jean, or Dunbar, 30.

— Jean, or Farquharson, 37, 39.

— Jean, m. George Forbes, 41, 45.

— Jean, #/. John Forbes, 32.

— Jean, Lady Forbes, 38, 42, 44.

— Jeane, or Hamilton, 99.

— Jean, or Innes, 34.

— Jean, or Jone^, 64.

— Jemima Margaret, or Booth, 59.

— Jenny, or Gablenz, 67.

— Johan de, del counte de Edneburh,

8, 9-10, 13, 15.

— Johanna, or de Chastillon, 66.

— Johanna Carolina, 66.

— Johannes de Auchterarnane, 24.

— Johannes, s. of Robert in Tullin-

turk, 151.

— Johannes, witness (1504), 23.

— John, of Auchtererne, 151.

— John, of Bandodle, 32.

— Sir John, I. of Curriehill, 3, 50, 82,

90, 91, 92, 94, 97, 98, loo, 106-
13, 126, 155-92.

INDEX.

265

Skene, Sir John, in. of Curriehill, Bart.,
114, 115, 122.

— John, of Doorlathers, 65-6.

— John, of Dyce (1704-1729), 40, 85,

86-7, 88.

— John, of Dyce (1743-1747), 88-9.

— John, in. of Halyards in Fife, 37,

51, 52, 53-5, 56, 57-

— John, iv. of Halyards in Fife, 53,

55, 56-7.

— John, v. of Halyards in Fife, 55,

56, 57-8.

— John, I. of Halyards in Midlothian,

3, S1. 97, 98, ioo, in, 116, 117-
9, 127, 186, 190, 191.

— John, II. of Halyards in Midlothian,

in, 118, 119-20.

— John, in. of Halyards in Midlothian,

119,120-1.

— John, v. of Halyards in Midlothian,

122.

— John, in Knowheade, 34, 35.

— John, of Newtyle, 77, 78.

— John, of that ilk, 2, 3, 8, 12, 36-9,

40, 132.

— John, in Mill of Turriff, 64.

— John, of Wester Bogie, 52.

— John, last of Wester Bogie, 52,

— John, in Whytecairns, 126, 127.

— John, burgess of Aberdeen (1443),

17-

— John, Ensign, 120.

— John, Kintyre pursuivant, 80.

— John, librarian, Marischal College,

72.

— John, merchant burgess of Aber-

deen, 69, 70.

— John, servitor to the Earl Marischal,

8.3-

— John, m. Jean Skene, 64.

— John, grandson of Sir Andrew of

Halyards in Fife, 52.

— John, s. of Alex., XVI. of that ilk,

41-2, 44.

— John, s. of Andrew of Rudrestoun,

30.

— John, s. of Andrew in Whytecairns,

128.

— John, s, of Francis, 73-

— John, s. of Dr. George, 73.

— John, s. of Hugh, 121, 226.

— John, j. of Sir James of Curriehill,

114.

— John, s. of James, XII. of that ilk,

32-

— John, s. of Capt. James, 44.

— John, s. of James, writer, 99.

— John, s. of James, yr., writer, 127.

Skene, John, s. of "White James," 79.

— John, s. of John of Dyce (1704-

1729), 87.

— John, s. of John in Turriff, 65.

— John, s. of Robert, "glassenwright,"

147.

— John, s. of Thomas in Potterton,

125.

— John, s. of William of Auchtererne,

152.

— Katharine, d. of Dr. Andrew, 150.

— Katharine, d. of George, minister

of Kinkell, 72.

— Katharine, d. of James of New

Grange, 54.

— Katharine, or Aedie, 39, 125, 131,

132..

— Katherine, m. Robert Cheyne, 35.

— Katherine, m. William Cheyne, 30.

— Katharine, m. Arthur Forbes, 32.

— Katharine, m. William Forbes, 71.

— Katharine, or Lindsay, 53.

— Katharine, Lady Edward Murray,

54-

— Katharine, Lady (William) Murray,

118.

— Katharine, or de Piguet, 59.

— Katherine, or Thomson, 134.

— Katharine Elizabeth, or Chancellor,

144.

— Katharine Heyden, or Wilkinson,

60.

— Keatren, or Fotheringham, 41.

— Lands of, 7, 8, 9, n, 12.

— Laurence, bank agent in Portree,

130.

— Laurence, s. of Patrick, 82, 84.

— Lilias, d. of Alex, of Newtyle, 77.

— Lilias, d. of "White James," 79.

— Loch of, 5, 7, 34.

— Louis, 67.

— Louisa Jacoba, 66.

— Margaret, d, of Alex, of Dyce (1665-

1704), 85.

— • Margaret, d. of Alex., fiar of that
ilk, 29.

— Margret, d. of Alex., XVI. of that

ilk, 41.

— Margaret, d. of Dr. Andrew, 150.

— Margaret, d. of Andrew of Ruthrie-

ston, 149.

— Margaret, d. of Andrew in .Whyte-

cairns, 128.

— Margaret, d. of Dr. Charles, 74.

— Margaret, d. of David in Langseat,

129.

— Margaret, d. of James of Blackdog,

128.

K K

INDEX

Skene, Margaret, d. of James, xil. of that
ilk, 32.

— Margaret, d. of "Black James,"

147-

— Margaret, d. of John of Dyce (1704-

1729), 87.

— Margaret, d. of John, IV. of Hal-

yards in Fife, 57.

— Margret, d. of John, XV. of that

ilk, 37-

— Margaret, d. of William in Australia,

130.

— Margaret, m. Arthur Anderson, 73.

— Margaret, m. John Anderson, 30.

— Margaret, m. Alex. Burnett, 83.

— Margaret, m. John Burnett, 69, 70.

— Margaret, or Carnegie, 54.

— Margaret, or Esson, 129.

— Margaret, or Fairlie, Il8.

— Margaret, or Finnic, 134.

— Margaret, or Forbes, 30.

— Margaret, or Gordon, 84.

— Margaret, or Hog, 105.

— Margaret, or Learmonth, 106, 112.

— Margaret, or Ramsay, 137.

— Margaret, m. Alexander Skene of

Letter, 29.

— Margaret, m. George Skene, 72.

— Margaret, m. John Skene in Know-

heade, 34.

— Margaret, or Smith, 88, 89.

— Margaret, or Smyth, 71.

— Maria, d. of George, IV. of Rubis-

law, 138.

— Maria Isabella, 143.

— Marjory, d. of Robert, II. of New-

tyle, 76.

— Marjory, or Hay, 126.

— Marjory, or JafTray, 150.

— Mary, d. of Dr. Charles, 74.

— Mary, d, of Dr. George, 73.

— Mary, d. of George, minister of

Kinkell, 72.

— Mary, or Clark, 149.

— Mary, or Gumming, 87.

— Mary, Countess Fife, 45.

— Mary, or Mackenzie, 35.

— Mary, m. Alfred Skene, 67, 68.

— Mary, or Thomson, 150.

— Mary Anne, 73.

— Mary Anne Margaret, 59.

— Mary Isabella Frances, 74.

— Max, 66.

— Mirabell, or Forbes, 101.

— Moncrieff Patrick George, 63.

— Olive Maud, 141.

— Patrick de, 9, 10, 13.

• — Patrick, in Bandodle, 31-2, lot.

Skene, Patrick, of Blackdog, 128.

— Patrick, in Dantzick, 86.

— Patrick, in Old Aberdeen, 128.

— Patrick, in Whytecairns, 127-8.

— Patrick, ancestor of Skene in Aus-

tria, 49, 64-5.

' — Patrick, ancestor of Skene of Dyce,
26, 27, 28, 29, 82-3.

— Patrick, writer in Edinburgh, 84, 85.

— Patrick, s. of Sir Andrew of Hal-

yards in Fife, 52.

— Patrick, s. of James in Bandodle,

101.

— Patrick George, v. of Pitlour, 6l,

63.

— Peter, in Venloo, 66.

— Peter, s. of Lieut. William, 66.

— Peter Ludwig William Max, 66.

— Philip, in. of Pitlour, 62.

— Philip Orkney, 59.

— Philip Wharton, vil. of Halyards

in Fife, 58-9.

— Philip William, 66, 67.

— Rachel, d. of Alex, of Newtyle, 78.

— Rachel, Lady Douglas, 114.

— Robert, in Belhelvie, 95, 123-7.

— Robert, of Dumbreck, 71.

— Robert, in Lamington, 52.

— Robert, of Maryland, 86.

— Robert, I. of Newtyle, 69, 70, 75.

— Robert, II. of Newtyle, 2, 75-7, 78,

79, 81.

— Robert, of Pitlour, 61, 62.

— Robert, of Rannaloch, 96, 103, jio,

153-

— Robert de, I. of that ilk, 14, 15, 20.

— Robert, in Tilliebirloch, 29, 30-37.

— Robert, of Westercorse and Ramore,

104.

— Robert, burgess of Posen, 124, 127.

— Robert, founder of Skene of Ruth-

rieston, 147, 148.

— Robert, minister, 80-1.

— - Robert, notary public, 99.

— Robert, rector of Aberdeen Gram-

mar School, 72.

— Robert, schoolmaster at Banchorie,

3i, 37-

— Treasurer Robert, 40, 125, 132, 133,

134-

— Robert, vicar of Logy, 151, 152.

— Robert, vicarius de Logymar, 17,

IS'-

— Robert, s. of Alex, of Newtyle, 77.

— Robert, s. of Andrew, parson of

Turriff, 65.

— Robert, s. of Andrew of Ruthrieston,

30, 132, 148, 149.

INDEX.

Skene, Robert, s. of George, II. of Rubis-
law, 134.

— Robert, s. of Gilbert in Overhill,

124, 125, 126, 232, 236.

— Robert, s. of "White James," 79.

— Robert, s. of Robert, schoolmaster,

31-

— Robert, s. of Robert in Tullinturk,

IS'-
- — Samuel, 114.

— Sarah, or Lynch, 44.

— Sarah, or Macdonald, 45.

— Baillie Thomas, "of the Auldtown,"

128.

— Thomas, in Australia, 129.

— Sir Thomas, of Curriehill, Bart.,

114, 115.

— Thomas, in Blackdog, 128.

— Thomas, in the farm of Fyfe, 129.

— Thomas, in Potterton, 125, 133.

— Thomas, of Whytecairns, 126, 127.

— Thomas, advocate, 119, 121.

— Thomas, Lieut, in army, 38, 39.

— Thomas, writer, 98-9.

— Thomas, j. of Alex., Officer in the

army, 129.

— Thomas, s. of James of Blackdog,

128.

— Thomas, s. of John, iv. of Halyards

in Fife, 55, 56.

— Thomas, s. of Thomas, writer, 99.

— Thomas, s. of Thomas, of the farm

of Fyfe, 129.

— Thomas, s. of William in Australia,

130.

— Thomas Alexander, grain merchant,

129,

— Tower of, 5, 9, 12, 38.

— Violet, or Forbes, 126.

— William, of Auchtererne, 152.
• — William, in Australia, 129.

— William, of Newtyle, 79, 80.

— Colonel William, H. E. I. Co., 74.

— William, Commissar of St. Andrews,

92-3-

— William, lieutenant in the navy, 66.

— William, master of the Song School

of Aberdeen, 31.

— William, schoolmaster at Hadding-

ton, 84, 87.

— William, J. of Adam de, V. of that

ilk, 15.

— William, s, of Alex, of Dyce (1665-

1704), 86.

— William, s. of Alex., XI. of that ilk,

26, 27.

— William, s. of Andrew in Auchorie,

49-

Skene, William, s. of Sir Andrew of Hal-
yards in Fife, 52.

— William, j. of Dr. Charles, 74.

— William, s. of Francis, 73.

— William (1616), j. of Sir James of

Curriehill, 114.

— William (1620), s. of Sir James of

Curriehill, 114.

— William, s. of James, n. of Wester-

corse, 103.

— William, s. of Sir John, I. of Currie-

hill, 112, 172-6.

— William, s. of John, iv. of Halyards

in Fife, 55, 56, 57.

— William, s. of Philip William, 67.

— William, s. of Robert, "glassen-

wright," 147.

— William, s. of Robert, and Barbara

Douglas, 65.

— William, s. of Treasurer Robert, 76.

— William, s. of William and Eliza-

beth Lesly, 27.

— Baillie William, X. of Pitlour, 63.

— William Forbes, historian, 46, 54,

141, 143, 144-5.

— William Forbes, s. of F. J. H.

Skene, 141.

— William Robertson, 130.

— William Wallace, 60.

— Zoe, d. of F. J. H. Skene, 141.

— Zoe, or Thomson, 142.
Skeneborough, 58, 60.

Sklatter, Andro, " watter baillie in Leyth,"

231.
Slesvici Holsatise, Dominus Johannes, Dux,

169.
Smith, Adam, advocate in Aberdeen, 88.

— Andrew, became Skene of Lethen-

tie, 88, 89.

— James, in Eister Ardow, 232.

— Rev. James, of Cobham, 58.

— John, Captain, R.N., 88.

— Mary Ann, orSkene, 58.

— William, 88.

Smyth, George, in Tannareis, 232.

— Henrietta, or Walter, 60.

— John, 71.

— Margaret, or Skene, 127.

— Richard, 60.

— Thomas, in Bandache, 82.
Somerville, Someruell.

— Helen, or Skene, 108, 1 10, in, I iz

— Sir John, of Camnethan, 108.

— Dame Nicolas, Lady Blantyre, 108.

— Patricius, 169.

— Samuel, 112.

— William, 119.

Sorgen, Petronella van, 121, 225-7.

268

INDEX.

Spencer, Rev. Charles, 142.
Spens, John, of Condie, 96.

— Thomas, 69, 70.
Spiers, Rachel, or Skene, 115.
Spryng, Thomas, 18.

Stein, Anne, Lady Duff, 45.

— James, of Kilbogie, 45.
Stewart, Colonel, 109.

— Sir James, 189.

— Lord John, of Invermey, 18.

— Katharine, or Skene, 27.
Stocket Forest, 7.
Stoneywood, 16.

Strachan, Strathaquhyn, Strauchan, Strath-
auchin.

— of Carmylie, 34.

— David, of Carmylie, 23, 28, 29.

— Sir David, of Carmylie, 28.

— Elizabeth, or Skene, 103.

— James, of Carmylie, 28.
Strang, Georgeus, 174.
Strathallan, General Viscount, 112.
Stratoun, Arthur, of Canterland, 50.
Strigoniensis Arx, 159.
Strigonium Castra, 162.

Stuardus, D. Vihelmus, 158, 162, 164.
Stuart, Mrs. Annie, or Skene, 57.

— Sir John, of Grandtully, 42.
Sturgeon, , 44.

Styvart, Walter, 25.

Summer, Alexander, merchant, 87.

— Alexander, of the Footguards, 87.

— Anna Catherine, 87.

Swinton, Alexander, Lord Mersington, 1 19.

— Helen, or Charteris, 1 19.

— Mary, or Bruce, 119.
Syme, Joneta, or Skene, in, 112.
Symesoun, Thomas, in Fischischillis, 232.

Tailzeour, , or Sandie, 232.

— Andro, 232.

— Patrik, or Yronruffis, 232.
Tanistry, 24, 37, 49.
Tearavell, 5.

Thomson, Alexander, of Banchory, 150.

— Alexander, advocate in Aberdeen,

134-

— Alexandra, 142.

— Andrew, of Banchory, 150.

— Basil Home, 142.

— Beatrice Mary, or Preston, 142.

— Bernard Henry Home, 142.

— Elizabeth, or Kay, 232.

— Ethel Zoe, or Goodwyn, 142.

— Helen, or Skene, 135.

— Jocelyn Home, R.A., 142.

— Madiline Ita Mary, 142.

— Wilfrid Forbes Home, 142.

Thomson, William, Archbishop of York,
142.

— Zoe Jane, 142.

Tillcrie, Johnne, in Hilbray, 232.
Tolmie, Jane, or Skene, 130.
Tosh, William, 71.

Trotter, Caroline Elizabeth, or Wilkinson,
60.

— Catherine Francis, or Walter, 60,

— Charles Vaughan, 60.

— Emily Katharine, 60.

— Harriet Susannah, or Drake, 80.

— Henry John, M.P., 54, 60.

— Colonel John, 60.

— Margaret Jane, or Loft, 60.

— William Dale, 60.
Tulivale, 22.
Tullerbe, 152.
Tullibrochloch, 23, 24.
Tullinturk, 151.
Tullocht, 25.
Tulynahiltis, 23, 24.
Turcae, 162, 163, 177.
Turing, , of Foveran, 100.

— Sir John, of Foveran, 78.

Tytler, Catherine Elizabeth, or Skene, 144.

— George Michael Fraser, 143.

— Georgina Mabel, 144.

— James, of W'oodhouselee, 143, 144.

— John, 39.

— Maurice William, 144.

Uddart, John, 96.

Udnie, Alexander, of that ilk, 78.

Unsta (insula), 167.

Urquhart, Alexander, of Dunlugus, 36.

— John, of Craigstone, 36.

Valche, Jacobus, 166.
Vaus, John, 103.
Velicherus, Laurentius, 168.
Venloo, 66.

W. magister officialis Aberdonensis, 1 1 .
Wallace, , or Drummond, 57.

— Elizabeth, or Skene, 56, 57, 58.

— Sir Thomas, of Craigie, 56, 57.

— Sir William, 60.

— Sir William, of Craigie, 56.
Walmesley, James, 59.

— Rachel Jemima, or Skene, 59.
Walter, Canon, 60.

— W. J., 60.

— senescallus Scocius, 14.
Wardlaw, Christian, or Skene, 52.

— Sir Henry, of Pitreavie, 54.
Warrand, David, Town Clerk of Forres,

30.

INDEX.

269

Wartumberg, 160.

Waterearn, 151.

Watstoun, in Cambusnethan, 51.

Weltoun, Lands of, 53.

Wemyss, James, 4th Earl of, 120.

Westbourne, 123.

Wester Bogie, 51, 52.

— Carney, 5.

— Fintray, 39, 40, 131, 132.

— Kinmundie, 5.

— Skene, 6.
White, Quhyt.

— Francis, 38.

— Major Andrew, 54.
Whitecross, or Quhytcross, Alexander, 100.
Whitehills Commonly, 53.

Whitelaw, or Quhitlaw, Alexander, of

Ester Liffe, 94.
Widman, Baron de, 67.
Wilkie, John, minister at Uphall, 121.
Wilkinson, George Hutton, 60.
Willelmus de Brechyne, II.
William the Lyon, 7, 9, 13.
Williamson, Rev. A., 60.

Williamson, George, 75.
Wilson, David, writer, 120.
Winkelmannus, D. Johannes, 178.
Wischart, Georgius, 100.
Wishart, Wilyam, 98.
Wittemberg, 157.

Wod, Andro, in the Pottartoun, 232.
Wood, Elizabeth, or Skene, 59.

— Richard, 59.
Wylie, James, 94.

Yoill, John, 19.

— Sir John, 18, 19.
York, James, Duke of, 132.

— William Thomson, Archbishop of,

142.

Young, Sir Peter, 193.
Yrwin, Alexander, of Stradie, 19.

Zerotin, Carolus, 161.

— Carolus Baro, 156.

— D. Fredericus a, 160.

— Johannes Dionisius a, 160, 161, 162,

163.

PRINTED BY MILNE AND HUTCHISON, ABERDEEN.

ERR A TA.

Page 61, line 13, for Emily Raitt read Lucy, daughter of Peter Hay of Leys.
Page 63, line 2 from foot, for Sarina read Lorina.

Bew Spalbing Club.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

i 88 7.

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL, 2$th NOVEMBER, 1886.

That the following gentlemen be appointed an Acting Committee,
to manage the finance and general business of the Club, to
make arrangements for the printing and distribution of the
works to be issued, and to receive and deal with the
Reports from the Special Committees : with power to add
to their number : three to be a quorum. Mr. Ferguson,
Convener ; Dr. Francis Edmond, Mr. Alexander Walker,
Mr. George Walker, Dr. Webster ; the Conveners of the

!l'i> . 'iL'-Xj .')! ': J

Special Committees ; the Secretary and the Treasurer.

\Principal Geddes, added i2th January, 1887; Rev. Mr.

s y.\ • ;

Gammack, added 26th January.]

i J J \ K .svpfffi Is.*

That the following gentlemen be appointed a Special Committee
to determine on the works to be issued by the Club, and
to select the editors : with directions to report to the Acting
Committee as often as requisite : with power, &c., as above.
Mr. Dalrymple, Convener ; Dr. Alexander, Principal
Geddes, Dr. Grub, Mr. Moir. [The Secretary, added
1 9th May, 1887.]

That the following gentlemen be appointed a Special Committee
to investigate the contents of charter chests and other
family and territorial records within the North-Eastern
Counties of Scotland, or relating thereto : with directions,
&c., as above. Colonel Allardyce, Convener ; Mr.

Dalrymple, Mr. A. Davidson, Mr. C. B. Davidson,
Mr. Ferguson, Mr. J. M. Garden, Mr. Wolrige Gordon,
Mr. Morice ; the Treasurer.

That the following gentlemen be appointed a Special Committee
to investigate the municipal, judicial, and commercial
records of the N. E. Counties : with directions, &c., as
above. Mr. Cran, Convener; Dr. Davidson, Inverurie,
Lord Provost Henderson, Mr. Kemlo, Mr. Littlejohn,
Mr. Mattliews, Sheriff Rampini, Elgin, Mr. Ramsay,
Banff, Sheriff Dove Wilson.

That the following gentlemen be appointed a Special Committee
to investigate the ecclesiastical and educational records of
the N. E. Counties, and the records of Scottish educational
institutions at home and abroad : with directions, &c.,
as above. Mr. Moir, Convener ; Rev. Mr. Cooper, Mr.
J. P. Edmond, Rev. Mr. Gammack, Principal Geddes,
Rev. Dr. Gregor, Dr. Griib, Major Ramsay. [Mr. Robert
Walker, added 7th January, 1887.]

That the following gentlemen be appointed a Special Committee
to investigate the place-names, folk-lore, and general
topography and archaeology of the N. E. Counties : with
directions, &c., as above. Rev. Dr. Gregor, Convener ;
Dr. Alexander, Mr. Crombie, Mr. Ferguson, Colonel Ross
King, Rev. Mr. Michie, Mr. Moir, Mr. Robertson.
[Rev. Mr. Temple, added i7th March, 1887.]

REPORT BY THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

(approved at the Meeting of the Acting Committee on Wednesday \
I2th January, i88j).

THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE are glad to report that they have
received from gentlemen in various parts of the country a
number of offers to edit works of interest and importance.
These offers they have carefully considered, and they now
beg to recommend the following works as the first issues of
the Club.

ist. The Rev. James Cooper, Aberdeen, has undertaken
to edit for the Club THE CHARTULARY OF THE COLLEGIATE
CHURCH or SAINT NICHOLAS. This was one of the works
contemplated by the Spalding Club, and there seems a peculiar
fitness in its receiving precedence and priority among the works
to be issued by the new Club. Your Committee recommend
that the Text of the Chartulary should be printed and distributed
first, and that Mr. Cooper's Prefatory Notes on the Chartulary,
and Materials for a History of the Church of Saint Nicholas,
should follow as a separate issue, to be afterwards prefixed
to the Text. Mr. Cooper proposes to incorporate in his Notes
the substance of a monograph on the Church, by the late Mr.
James Logan, an interesting work in manuscript, containing a
number of coloured illustrations. Your Committee have to
acknowledge the courtesy of the Society of Advocates in placing

at their service Mr. Logan's volume, and also a transcript of the
Chartulary, the possession of which will enable the printing of
the work to proceed without delay.

2nd. Dr. W. F. Skene, Historiographer Royal for Scotland,
has kindly consented to edit for the Club a HISTORY OF THE
FAMILY OF SKENE (based on four old manuscript Histories),
similar to "Ane Account of the Familie of Innes," edited for
the Spalding Club by Mr. Cosmo Innes. Your Committee
gladly accepted an offer from an antiquary so distinguished,
and they feel assured that his contribution to the works of the
Club will be most acceptable to the Acting Committee. It is
confidently hoped that this volume will be issued within the
first year, as Dr. Skene expects to be able to put the manuscript
into the printer's hands in about three months.

^rd. The Secretary, Mr. P. J. Anderson, has in preparation
SELECTIONS FROM THE RECORDS OF MARISCHAL COLLEGE AND
UNIVERSITY, and your Committee look forward to obtaining,
in the course of the second year, a part of his work. This
work when completed will form, it is hoped, a companion
volume to the " Fasti Aberdonenses."

4th. The Rev. James Gammack, Aberdeen, has undertaken
to compile for the Club, COLLECTIONS FOR THE HISTORY OF
ANGUS AND THE MEARNS, similar to the Collections printed by
the Spalding Club for the History of the Counties of Aberdeen
and Banff.

Your Committee have been in communication with Mr.
William Troup, Bridge of Allan, relative to a " History of the

Family of Forbes," on which that gentleman has bestowed much
labour, and which he is willing to submit for examination by
the Committee.

Your Committee have also considered the propriety of
printing under the auspices of the Club the recently discovered
" Lives of the Saints " attributed to Barbour. They were
favoured with the views of Professor Masson on this subject.
That eminent scholar is of opinion that the "Lives of the Saints"
in its entirety naturally falls to be edited by the Scottish Text
Society, but that a volume of " Barbouriana," containing all that
is known about Barbour from documents, or that can be gathered
from his writings, would be a very suitable work for the Club
to take up — the life of Saint Machar, the local saint, forming
a nucleus. If a competent editor can be found for such a work,
your Committee would heartily recommend it.

Among other works which have been mentioned, but
regarding which no exact information is as yet before the
Committee, are "The Book of Banff," by Mr. W. Cramond,
Cullen, and a new edition of "The Book of Bon- Accord," by
Mr. A. Kemlo, Aberdeen.

WM. D. GEDDES, pro C.

REPORT BY COMMITTEE ON BURGH AND
JUDICIAL RECORDS

(approved at the Meeting of the Acting Committee on Wednesday,

1 2th January, 1887).

I. — DOCUMENTS IN THE CHARTER ROOM, TOWN HOUSE.

Your Committee beg to report on the various documents
in the Burgh Charter Room as follows : —

1. Burgh Charters. — There is a large number of Royal and other
Charters of an interesting nature in the possession of the Town, the
printing of which has been undertaken by the Town Council, apart from
the Club. These Charters are at present in process of being translated
and prepared for the press by the Secretary of the Club.

2. Council Registers. — With the exception of a single volume the
series is complete from 1398 to 1883 (when the Minutes began to be
printed), and consists of 118 volumes. Four volumes of extracts from
the Registers have been printed : two by the Spalding Club, embracing
the period from 1398 to 1624, and two by the Burgh Record Society, con-
tinuing the selection from the last date down to 1747. It would be desir-
able to have a complete index of subjects, names of persons and places ;
and Mr. Anderson, when reporting to the Town Council on the matter,
in April of last year, estimated that by adopting certain conditions the
bulk of the index matter might be condensed into three volumes of
1000 to 1 200 pages each.

9

3. Sasine Registers or Protocol Books. — This series commences in
1484, and is complete to the present time. The period from 1484 to
1800 occupies 83 volumes. Your Committee are confident that material
suitable for the Club's publications can be obtained from these volumes,
but would defer reporting more fully upon them at present.

4. Correspondence , &c. — A collection of " Letters," covering the period
from 1552 to 1800, is contained in 20 volumes, having an average of 400
letters each, or 8000 in all. Besides letters received there are also copies
of letters sent, copies of instructions to the Burgh representatives at the
Convention of Burghs, receipts and memoranda of a miscellaneous
character, connected with the business of the Burgh during the period
indicated. The Council Registers also will furnish copies of letters
received before the commencement of this collection, chiefly Royal and
Privy Council Missives. There is likewise a series of " Letters sent,"
beginning in 1729, and comprising about 1600 letters from that period
till 1800. As the two series are of considerable historical importance,
a Calendar of all the letters would doubtless prove interesting to the
members of the Club, while some of the more important letters might
be printed in extenso.

5. Register of Deeds, Bonds, Contracts, &c. — This series is complete
from 1569 to 1710, and embraces 15 volumes. The Contracts from the
latter date to 1809 are not bound in volumes, but arranged in bundles,
and are not so accessible. The Contracts, Deeds, &c., recorded in this
Register are of a very interesting nature, comprising contracts of
marriage, wadsets of County and Burgh properties, agreements between
heirs-portioners, and such like. A comprehensive Calendar of these
Deeds might be prepared, and where of general interest the Deeds
might subsequently be printed in full.

6. Propinquity Books. — This series comprises four volumes, and
embraces the period from 1637 to 1797. Previous to 1637 it would appear

10

that the Birth Brieves were recorded in the Council Registers, and an
examination of these would carry the period of commencement back to
a much earlier date than the first recorded in this series. Specimens of
these Birth Brieves, from the first volume of the series, have been
printed in the 5th volume of the Miscellany of the Spalding Club.

7. Accounts. — The importance of Accounts in illustrating contempor-
aneous events is well known, and it may be proper to keep in mind that
the archives of the Town contain the following sets of Accounts : —

Treasurer's Accounts, 1569-1800. 9 vols. A few extracts are printed
in volume V. of the Spalding Club Miscellany, from the Council
Registers, in which the earlier Accounts are engrossed.

Guildry Accounts, 1453-1800. 8 vols. A large number of extracts
from these Accounts is given in the volume above referred to.

Shore Work Accounts, 1596-1800. 4 vols.

Kirk and Bridge Work Accounts, 1571-1800. 8 vols. Your Com-
mittee beg to draw the attention of the Family History
Committee to the very complete lists contained in this series of
Accounts, of Interments in St. Nicholas Churchyard, from 1571
downwards.

Hospital Accounts, 1607-1800. 6 vols.
Mortification Accounts, 1615-1800. 12 vols.

II. — SHERIFF CLERK'S RECORDS.

There are in the custody of the Clerk of Supply 21 MS.
volumes of Extracts made by the late Mr. John Grant Leslie,
Sheriff Clerk Depute, some of which are said to have been
prepared with a view to publication by the Spalding Club. They
consist of a Report on the State of the Parochial Registers of the

1 1

County of Aberdeen, now in the General Register House, Edin-
burgh; copies of services of heirs; copies of proceedings at Head
Courts of the County and in the Sheriff Court, &c., &c.

Your Committee have appointed a Sub-Committee of their
number to examine and report on these volumes, and generally
as to the Records under the charge of the Sheriff Clerk.

After full consideration your Committee are of opinion that
as a first instalment of the matter above referred to, a Calendar
of the Correspondence should be prepared, and a number of the
most interesting and important letters printed, and they accord-
ingly beg to recommend the General Committee to remit to
the Editorial Committee to report on the desirability of this
being carried out by the Club. They further recommend that
the work of calendaring should be entrusted to Mr. Alex. M.
Munro, who has expressed his willingness to undertake it.

P. M. CRAN, C.

REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON ECCLESIASTICAL AND
EDUCATIONAL RECORDS

(approved at the Meeting of the Acting Committee on Wednesday,
1 2th January, i88j).

YOUR Committee are glad to learn that the Rev. James Cooper
has undertaken to edit for the Club the St. Nicholas Chartulary,
and that the Secretary, Mr. Anderson, is engaged on the Fasti
of Marischal College, both of which works have been approved
by the Editorial Committee.

There is also some prospect of an interesting monograph on
the emblazoned ceiling of St. Machar's Cathedral being submitted
to the Club. Principal Geddes has kindly offered to furnish the
historical part of the work, and Mr. Peter Duguid, Advocate^
is willing to undertake the elucidation of the heraldic portion,
embracing the Forty- Eight Shields represented on the roof of
the Cathedral.

A reference to the Reports of the Royal Commission on
Historical Manuscripts will show that there is a wide field of
investigation open to your Committee. The collection of
manuscripts belonging to the late Bishop Kyle, and now
preserved at Buckie, includes an immense mass of letters and
papers connected with the Ecclesiastical History of Scotland
(chiefly of the Northern District), from about 1597 ; as well as
seventy-two original letters of Mary Queen of Scots. This col-
lection also contains ample materials for the history of the Scots

13

Colleges at Valladolid, Ratisbon, and Rome. Bishop Macdonald
has courteously promised tomse his influence to obtain for the
Club's editorial staff full access to these, as well as to the Collec-
tion at Blair's College, which includes, among other interesting
material, a History of the Scottish Benedictine Monastery of
St. James at Ratisbon from the earliest times, and copies of
bulls, charters, &c., relative to the Scots College at Ratisbon.
There are also said to be at Blairs many papers and books
which belonged to the Scots College at Paris. This statement
alone would justify an enquiry into the contents of this interest-
ing library.

Other Ecclesiastical documents connected with the district
and still unedited are : —

The Charters of the Maturin, Dominican, Carmelite and
Franciscan Friars of Aberdeen, 1211-1560. (Mr.
Anderson looks forward to edit these.)

The Charters of the Priory of Restennet in Angus. (It is
understood that the late Dr. John Stuart made some
progress in preparing these for publication.)

The " Martyrologium Secundum usum Ecclesiae Aberdon-
ensis," which lies in the Library of Edinburgh
University.

The Kalendar of the Prsemonstratensian House of Fearn,
which is preserved in the Library at Dunrobin Castle.

With regard to Ecclesiastical Records generally, your
Committee propose as a preliminary course to send out a series
of queries, addressed to Synod, Presbytery, and Session Clerks,
Parish Clergymen, Town Clerks, and others, resident within

14

the five Counties which form the more immediate field of the
Club's operations, asking for information as to the Records in
their possession, the dates of the commencement of these
Records, the nature of their contents, references to Educational
and Social Questions, &c. Your Committee request that you
will grant them authority to incur the necessary expenses.

Apart from the Secretary's promised " Fasti," nothing has
as yet been done in connection with Educational Records. It
is felt that until the Ecclesiastical and Town Council Records
have been thoroughly explored, any broad treatment of the
History of Education in the district will be impossible.

Your Committee would hope that by the publication of the
History of the Scots Colleges at Ratisbon, Valladolid, Paris
and Rome, much information would be gained regarding the
" Scot abroad." The printing of the " Register of Propin-
quities," preserved in the Town House Charter Room, would
throw much light on the origin of the Scots who visited the
Continent ; but a recommendation having this object in view
might come more appropriately from the Committee on Burgh
Records.

JAMES MOIR, C.

REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON FAMILY HISTORY

(approved at the Meeting of the Acting Committee on Wednesday,
26tli January, i88f).

YOUR Committee beg to report that they have sent letters of
enquiry to a number of parties within the area embraced in the
operations of the Club, who are supposed to have material that
is suitable for historical and genealogical purposes. They have
received very favourable replies regarding the amount of material
and the willingness of owners to co-operate in the work before
the Club. The Committee must particularly acknowledge the
generous offers of the use of documents and special infor-
mation from their own collections or from those under their
charge, made to the Committee by, amongst others, the Marquis
of Huntly, the Earls of Southesk, Northesk, and Aberdeen,
Lord Forbes, the Lyon King of Arms, and Mr. Dickson,
Curator of the Historical Department in H.M. Register House,
Edinburgh.

In estimating the work that comes naturally before this
Committee and the amount of documentary material that is
likely to be found in the north-east of Scotland, or can be drawn
from other quarters in order to illustrate its history, the Committee
turned first to the published Reports of the Royal Commission
on Historical Manuscripts, in so far as they relate to the district,
and then to the sources from which the Spalding Club obtained
both charter evidence and other contributions. For convenience
in preparing the Report, the plan is here adopted of dividing,

i6

by the general line of the Dee, the ground to be specially
investigated.

I. ELGIN, BANFF, AND ABERDEEN. — In the counties of Elgin, Banff,
and Aberdeen, the following Charter-chests and Libraries have been
examined and reported upon by the Historical MSS. Commissioners
with more or less of fulness : — Gordon Castle, Burgh Records and
Registers of Aberdeen, Aboyne Castle, Dunecht, Castle Forbes, Crathes
Castle, Drum Castle, Whitehaugh, Aberdeen University, Cullen House,
Duff House, Auchmacoy, Invercauld, Haddo House, Craigievar and
Fintray, Fyvie Castle, and Gordonstone. Of these, the following have
contributed special articles to the Spalding Club Miscellany,, besides
many illustrative charters : Gordon Castle, Burgh Records &c. of
Aberdeen, Crathes Castle, Drum Castle, Whitehaugh, Auchmacoy,
and Aberdeen University. But while the Collections at Gordon Castle,
Aberdeen Burgh Registers &c., Castle Forbes, Aberdeen University,
Cullen House, Auchmacoy, Invercauld, Haddo House, Craigievar and
Fintray, Fyvie Castle, and Gordonstone appear to be reported upon
with considerable minuteness and care by the Royal Commissioners,
there is evidently much that remains to be done at Aboyne Castle,
Dunecht, Crathes Castle, Drum Castle, Whitehaugh, and Duff House.
Some of these are reported to be peculiarly rich in material for the
history and pedigrees of Scotch families : such are the Collections at
Gordon Castle, Aboyne Castle, Castle Forbes, Crathes Castle, White-
haugh, Cullen House, Duff House, Invercauld, Haddo House, Craigievar
and Fintray, Fyvie Castle, and Gordonstone.

There are many other valuable repositories within the Northern
counties that should still yield a rich harvest, although some of them
have already provided selections to the Spalding Club. In Aberdeen-
shire may be mentioned the Collections at Slains Castle, Keith-hall,
Philorth, Monymusk, Castle Fraser, Leith Hall, Craigston, Meldrum,

Druminnor, Fetternear, Pittodrie, Cluny Castle, Strichen, Straloch,
Brucklay, Parkhill, Wardhouse, &c. ; in Banffshire, at Forglen House,
Montblairy, Troup, Ballindalloch, Park and Drummuir, Kinninvie,
Letterfourie, Edingight, &c.; and in Elgin, at Darnaway, Brodie,
Dunphail, Duffus, Altyre, Gordonstone, &c. This list is far from
exhaustive, and there are many others that will come into view as time
permits investigations to be made.

II. KINCARDINE AND FORFAR. — Keeping in view the compilation
of COLLECTIONS FOR THE HISTORY OF ANGUS AND THE MEARNS,
undertaken by the Rev. James Gammack, Aberdeen, and sanctioned by
the Editorial and Acting Committees, your Committee have carefully
enquired into the documentary resources of these counties. The following
Charter-chests and Libraries have been examined and reported upon
by the Historical MSS. Commissioners : — Panmure House, Brechin
Castle, Glamis Castle, Cortachy Castle, Guthrie Castle, Blairs College,
Montrose Burgh Records, Monboddo, House of Dun, Kinnaird Castle,
and Arbuthnott House. To this may be added a reference to the
papers at Buchanan Castle and at Ochtertyre, which are also reported
upon, and contain numerous documents that bear upon the families
connected with the Lindsays and the Keiths-Marischal : the Collection
belonging to Mrs. Barclay Allardice is most valuable for many Kin-
cardineshire families. The Spalding Club has published contributions,
obtained from the following Houses : — Panmure House, Brechin Castle,
Cortachy Castle, House of Dun, and Arbuthnott. The owners of these
and others are willing to allow the Committee to use whatever is suitable
among their muniments, and means will be adopted for definitely
bringing the wants of this Special Committee before them.

There is evidently an abundant supply of illustrative documents in
the Collections already named, as well as in many old family Houses
throughout the two counties, such as Aldbar, Airlie Castle, Balnamoon,
Fotheringham, Guynd, Baldovan, Tealing, Anniston, Fettercairn, Fasque,

i8

Thornton, Dunninald, Brotherton, Usan, &c. The Town Records of
Montrose, Brechin, Forfar, Arbroath, and Dundee are practically un-
touched for this purpose, while in the Public Offices in Edinburgh
there must be unlimited stores.

From the enquiries made, as described above, the Com-
mittee are fully convinced of the existence of a very large
amount of most interesting and valuable information, suitable
for the compilation of Volumes either as Antiquities or as
Miscellanies. At the same time, however, it may be mentioned
that, both south and north of the Dee, the ground has already
been gone over for works now published by other literary clubs,
though these works are more connected with Ecclesiastical
objects than with those of Family History. Of such a character
are the Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis, Registrum Episco-
patus Moraviensis, Liber Pluscardensis, and Records of the
Monastery of Kinloss, belonging to the three northern counties ;
and the Registrum Episcopatus Brechinensis, Registrum de Aber-
brothoc, Registrum Prior atiis Sa Andree, Registrum de Pan-
mure, Chartulary of Cupar Abbey, and History of the Carnegies,
Earls of Southesk, for the two southern. But these have not
exhausted the field, especially in the direction that is contem-
plated by this Committee.

J. ALLARDYCE, C.

SECOND REPORT BY THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

(approved at t/te Meeting of the Acting Committee on Tuesday,

5th July, 1887).

THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE, believing that it would interest the
members of the Acting Committee, and of the New Spalding
Club generally, to learn what further works, suitable for issue
by the Club, are in progress, or are likely to be placed at their
disposal, have pleasure in submitting the following Report : —

5///. The Committee have gladly accepted the offer of a
Monograph on the EMBLAZONED CEILING OF ST. MACHAR'S
CATHEDRAL, ABERDEEN, the historical and literary part of which
will be contributed by Principal Geddes, and the heraldic by Mr.
Peter Duguid, Advocate. In connection with this, the Principal
reports that the trustees of the late Mr. Andrew Gibb have
offered to afford the Club the use of a volume of illuminations,
executed by Mr. Gibb, containing the complete series of
escutcheons on the ceiling, on certain terms and conditions,
which appear to be very moderate and reasonable. The Editors
wish to have the proposed book illustrated by reproductions in
colour of these beautiful drawings ; also by sketches of the
Cathedral as it now is ; of the ground plan ; of the heraldic ceiling
as a whole ; of the fretwork connecting the roof with the walls ;
and of the tomb of Bishop Gavin Dunbar, erector of the heraldic
ceiling ; also by a photogravure of his portrait in the possession
of the University. We cordially adopt these proposed additions

2O

to the volume, which bids fair, with such illustrations, to form
one of the most attractive ever issued by any Book-Society ;
and we hope that the Acting Committee may be able, when the
time comes, to find that the finances of the Club admit of the
work being brought out as soon as it is reported to be ready
for the press, which is expected to be early next year.

6th. We have also much satisfaction in announcing that the
Rev. Walter Gregor, LL.D., Pitsligo, has in preparation a
work on the PLACE-NAMES AND FOLK-LORE OF NORTH-EASTERN
SCOTLAND, which he has placed at the disposal of the Club, and
which we, as Editorial Committee, gladly accept. We consider
that the Club is to be congratulated on the prospect of posses-
sing a book which, there can be no doubt, judging by other work
coming from the same source, will gain a permanent and even
European reputation.

Jth. Mr. George Burnett, LL.D., Lyon King-of-Arms, has
consented to compile for the Club a volume on the ancient
baronial FAMILY OF BURNETT OF LEYS, amplified and illustrated
by materials of great interest, existing in this country and on the
Continent. Sir Robert Burnett, in the most liberal and gratifying
manner, has consented to give the Lyon unreserved access to
his family papers. At the hands of the last-named gentleman,
as Editor, we need scarcely point out that we may look for a work
peculiarly acceptable to our members. Mr. Burnett's letter will be
before the Acting Committee, and we have no doubt that the
very reasonable stipulations made by him will meet with their
cordial sanction and approval.

21

8th. We have, further, the pleasure to announce that Mon-
signor Campbell — who is one of our members — has consented
to edit for the Club the REGISTER OF THE SCOTS COLLEGE AT
ROME, of which ancient institution he is the Rector and Head,
illustrated by historical and biographical notes, which Dr.
Campbell is in all respects peculiarly well qualified to give.
This work, we feel every confidence, will prove to be of no
common interest, throwing light, as it cannot fail to do, not only
on the lives of many distinguished men of Scottish origin, but
on what is of high importance, historically, the intercourse
between this country and the Papal See throughout the Middle
Ages. From the cordial and courteous manner in which we have
been met by those dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church
with whom we have been in communication, we are led to hope
that, in the future, other volumes drawn from materials existing
in this country — notably (as reported by our Ecclesiastical and
Educational Committee in their Report of i2th January last)
those deposited at Blairs, Buckie, and Edinburgh — may be
brought out by the Club, illustrative of the history of the other
Scottish Religious Houses of the Continent. The national
origin of some of these has, we know, been matter of dispute ;
but, though no doubt some were of Hiberno-Scotic foundation,
they all, without exception, became Scottish — in the modern
sense of the word — early in the Middle Ages. And among the
recluses who found a home at Ratisbon and Paris, at Douai,
Madrid, Valladolid, and other such retreats, we know that not a
few had made their way, at one period or another of their lives,
from North-Eastern Scotland, and also that among them were

22

some who left names eminent in Religion, and not unknown in
the Literature of their time.

ytk. It was recommended by the Committee on Burgh and
Judicial Records, in their Report of i2th January last, that the
first work to be taken up within their province should be a
CALENDAR OF THE LETTERS IN THE ABERDEEN TOWN HOUSE,
1433-1800, to be accompanied by a selection of the more in-
teresting and important letters. They further recommended
that the work of Calendaring should be entrusted to Mr. A.
M. Munro. We willingly approve of both suggestions, and shall
be glad to have the Calendar placed in our hands as soon as com-
pleted, with a view to the selection of the letters to be printed.

We find that Mr. WT. Cramond of Cullen will be unable to
have the manuscript of the work on which he is engaged — " The
Annals of Banff" — in readiness for the consideration of the
Committee before September of next year. Mr. Cramond
expresses his strong sense of the courtesy which has accorded
him access to the muniments at Duff House. He reports
that a complete Calendar exists of the Charters, &c., &c., which
form the extensive and multifarious collection there. It is
worthy of consideration whether, with the permission of the Earl
of Fife, a copy of that Calendar should not be obtained for the
Club. As a work of reference, it might be both convenient
and valuable.

Communications have been before the Committee from the
Rev. James Cooper, Dr. W. F. Skene, and Mr. P. J. Anderson,
requesting its approval of certain illustrations to the books on

23

which, under the sanction conveyed in our First Report, they are
now engaged. The desired illustrations are : — For the "St.
Nicholas Chartulary, Part I." — Sketches of the interior of Colli-
son's Aisle ; of the boss of St. Nicholas ; of the ornamentation on
the old bells; of the exterior of the church prior to 1835 ; of
the ground plan prior to 1750; of the old city seals; and of a
page of the Chartulary. For the "Skene History "—-Sketches
by Mr. James Skene, of the houses of Skene, Halyards in Fife,
Halyards in Lothian, and Rubislaw, and of Sir George Skene's
house in the Guestrow; also of the "Skein" or dirk. For the
"Marischal College Fasti, Part I."— Photogravures from por-
traits of George, fifth Earl Marischal, by Jamesone ; of William,
sixth Earl Marischal, by Jamesone ; of Principal Patrick Dun,
by Jamesone ; and of Mr. Secretary Reid ; all four connected
with the incunabula of the College, temp. Jac. VI : also a map,
shewing those portions of the town of Aberdeen that are built
on the crofts of the Grey, the Black, and the White Friars,
which came into possession of the College. These applications
had also been before the Acting Committee ; but such details
being connected with works to be issued, certainly fall to be
decided on by the Editorial Committee. We, however, willingly
agree to them, as proposed. Principal Geddes states that the
Senatus have consented to allow the portraits in their possession
to be photographed. He was, however, not able to report that
the Senatus could contribute, at all events at the present stage,
to the expense of such reproductions.

As regards the printing of the Chartulary, we regret to have
to state that the Transcript which was made in 1846 for the

24

Spalding Club, and on which the Editor relied as his principal
guide, has been found to be so imperfect and inaccurate as to ne-
cessitate much unexpected labour in its collation with the original.
This, unfortunately, will postpone the completion of the work
for sometime. How long, we are scarcely, at present, able to say.
We find also that from various causes Dr. Skene's volume will
not be completed in so short a time as, at the outset, we were
encouraged to hope. Both works are, however, making steady
progress, and are being sent to the press as fast as portions of
the manuscripts are ready.

We have been in communication with the Rev. Mr. Temple,
St. Margaret's, Forgue, with reference to his work on the
District of Formartine, which that gentleman had very oblig-
ingly placed at the disposal of the Club. As, however, this
work brings the history of Formartine down to the present time,
and as the modern portion would be unsuitable for us to issue,
Mr. Temple has elected to withdraw his offer, and to publish
the book in the ordinary way, as he had originally intended. It
would certainly have been unfair to expect that he should curtail
or mutilate a book, the result of great industry and research, and
one which will be of much interest to the general reader, merely
in order to bring it within the limits suitable for the purposes of
our Society. We must, at the same time, express our sense
of the considerate and courteous tone in which Mr. Temple has
conducted the negotiations with us.

It will interest the members to learn that Mr. Lowe, the
" Times " correspondent at Berlin, who has presented to the
Club a copy of the brief sketch of Field-Marshal Keith by the

25

German writer, Varnhagen von Ense, informs the Secretary that
manuscripts exist in the Royal archives at Berlin which would
be of service in the compilation of an exhaustive biography of
that distinguished son of North-Eastern Scotland. He suggests
that such a work would be peculiarly appropriate as one to be
undertaken by the New Spalding Club. The same idea had
occurred to several of our members, and the Rev. Andrew
Chalmers, Wakefield, calls our attention to similar material pre-
served in the Library of the University of Berlin. It is to be hoped
that this proposal may bear fruit, and that a suitable editor may
be found for a volume dealing not merely with the life of James
Keith, but with the almost equally interesting though less-known
career of his elder brother, George, the last of the Earls Marischal.
Indeed a history of the Keith Family generally, giving authentic
accounts of its many members who have gained distinction in
different spheres of public life, would be singularly attractive in
itself, and, we cannot doubt, would be received with much accept-
ance by our members.

C. ELPHINSTONE DALRYMPLE, C.

REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON TOPOGRAPHY
AND ARCHEOLOGY

(approved at the Meeting of the Acting Committee on Tuesday,

5th July, 1887).

CONSIDERABLE delay has occurred in presenting a Report on the
work of the Topographical and Archaeological Committee. This
delay has arisen from the difficulty of devising a feasible plan
for collecting material necessary for carrying out the work
entrusted to the Committee. The other Committees have
material in existence for the accomplishment of much of the work
committed to them. This Committee has to collect the greater
part of the material necessary for its work. The issue, as a
Club publication, of a Handbook, in the form of a series of
questions on the different subjects coming within the Com-
mittee's province, was at one time thought of. This plan, after
mature deliberation, was considered not adapted to bring about
the wished for end. The Committee would now desire to place
in short form before the members of the Club, and others that
take an interest in the various questions under charge of the
Committee, the kind of information needed, and to ask their
help in collecting such.

The attention of the Committee is directed chiefly to Topo-
graphy and Folk-lore.

The main object of Topography is a collection of the names
of all places (within the bounds embraced by the Club), viz. : —
provinces, parishes, mountains, hills, moors, mosses, farms, fields,

27

forests, caves, lakes, rivers, streams, wells, fords, bridges, roads,
villages, churches, castles, old buildings, &c. Connected with
many of these are legends and rhymes which should be care-
fully chronicled.

The branches of Folk-lore are numerous. Some of them
are Superstitions, connected with great natural objects, as the
Heavenly bodies, the Earth, the Sea ; with Trees and Plants ;
with Animals: with Goblins; with Witches : Leechcraft; Magic
and Divination ; Customs, both festival and ceremonial, e.g.,
Christmas and New- Year customs ; Birth, Marriage and Burial
customs ; Games of all kinds, with their rhymes, if any ;
Nursery tales ; Ballads and Songs ; Jingles, Nursery rhymes,
and Riddles ; Proverbs and Sayings.

The smallest scrap of information on any of these subjects
is of value. Each one who knows, it may be but a single rhyme
or riddle, is earnestly asked to commit it to writing, and send it
to the Convener of the Committee. In writing out tales,
rhymes, jingles, &c., the greatest care must be taken to give
them in the exact words of the speaker. At the same time, the
speaker's age, with place of birth and education, should be
noted. All variants, however slight, should be collected.

When received, each item will be assigned to its proper
section, and when enough material has been collected, it will be
carefully digested with a view to being issued as a volume or
volumes to the members of the Club; such a work having
received the hearty approval of the Editorial Committee.
Material has been already gathered relating to several of the

28

subjects enumerated, but not sufficient to warrant the issue
of an exhaustive volume on any one subject.

As having an important bearing on the other or Archaeo-
logical side of the Committee's duties, and on the primary
object of the New Spalding Club — "to promote the study of
the History of the North-Eastern Counties of Scotland" — it is
desirable to obtain as complete a bibliography as possible of
the materials in or relating to the district under survey, which
are in any way calculated to elucidate and enrich its history. For
this purpose, two things in particular have to be kept in view.

In the first place, it is necessary to repair as far as is
yet possible the oversight of our predecessors in failing to
preserve, systematically, contemporaneous documents. As
materials for history these are much more trustworthy and
satisfactory than oral traditions or histories compiled some
time after the events. In the second place, it is necessary that,
with regard to the events of our own time, steps be taken to
provide the future historical student with such full and faithful
materials as can be procured.

In carrying out the former of these objects, the effort should
be to obtain the co-operation of as many workers as possible
scattered over the length and breadth of the district, who
may be willing to hunt up, and if possible secure, such written
or printed documents, bearing on the history of our region,
as have survived the accidents of time and the ignorance
or indifference of their possessors. If this were done on an
extensive and systematic scale, and especially if attention were

directed to the repositories of old family houses and farm-houses,
there is reason to think that the results might be surprisingly
satisfactory, and that documents of historical value, whose very
existence is at present unknown, or little more than known,
might be brought to light ; while, with regard to others, fuller
and more accurate information might now be obtained. Should
this fortunately prove to be the case, there can be little doubt
that the possessors of such works will be ready to second the
Club in its endeavour to have them duly recorded, and if possible
placed where they can be easily accessible to present and future
students. In the case where for any reason the owners are
unwilling to part with their property, it would be desirable to
have, along with the strict bibliographical account of the works,
an intimation of the owners' names, and such information re-
specting the works and their authors as can be gleaned.

Jn carrying out the second object above mentioned, the aim
in the first place should be to encourage the preservation of
local publications which have just ceased to be of present value
and use, but as yet have not passed into the state of venerable
dignity and worth. This is the crucial stage in the history of
all published works, and in their passage through it many a
volume disappears, of which the historical student has to mourn
the loss. In the next place, in furtherance of the same object,
a systematic effort should be made to record the current publi-
cations of the day which have any literary or historic connection
with the district. Under this designation are included not only
books and pamphlets printed and published in it, or written by
natives of it, though printed elsewhere ; but also such publica-

30

tions as playbills, programmes of public ceremonies, civic and
political squibs, and similar productions which are generally
held to have only an ephemeral interest, but which, systematically
collected and arranged, will be greatly valued by our successors
for the interesting and valuable light they shed on the ideas,
manners, and life of the day.

It is an essential part of the scheme now proposed that a
suitable repository be provided for the safe custody and con-
venient exhibition of books or documents of the kind just men-
tioned. Fortunately on this score there need be no difficulty, the
establishment of a- Public Library in the City of Aberdeen at
once suggesting an appropriate and easily accessible home.
Indeed, one of the objects which the Public Library Committee
has in view is a collection of literature of the very kind now
suggested, and it is gratifying to know that for that purpose it
has already received several valuable gifts. For its successful
building up, however, the sustained and united efforts of an
organised body are required, and by none other could these be
more appropriately supplied than by the New Spalding Club.

Should the proposal now made meet with the desired support,
there is reason to believe that, with time, sufficient material
would be gathered to justify the publication of a Bibliography
of the district within the view of the Club. This is a work
which the Committee believes would have a permanent interest
and value, and accordingly it begs to recommend that the Acting
Committee should remit to the Editorial Committee to report on
the desirability of such a book being included among the publi-

cations contemplated by the Club. In the event of this recom-
mendation being approved of, Mr. A. W. Robertson, Librarian
of the Public Library of Aberdeen, has kindly offered to under-
take the compilation of the work. To him, accordingly, all
documents or other communications bearing on the subject
should meanwhile be addressed, and the Committee trusts that
a liberal response will be made by members of the Club and
others.

WALTER GREGOR, C.

REPORT BY THE COUNCIL

(approved at the. First Annual General Meeting of the Chib, on
Thursday, 2fth October^ 1887).

THE COUNCIL have much pleasure in reporting that the affairs
of the New Spalding Club are in a satisfactory state, and that
its prospects are encouraging.

Considering the short time the Society has existed, the
number of applications for admission has been large, affording
gratifying evidence that the taste for such objects as it was
formed to encourage is very widely diffused.

It will be in the recollection of members that, at the meeting
on the nth November, 1886, at which the Club was constituted,
the number of members was fixed at 400. That limit was
reached within twenty-four hours afterwards, — and the applica-
tions came in so fast that another meeting of the Club was
called, for the i6th December following, to consider whether
the membership might not be extended. It was then, after full
discussion, fixed at 500. By the 22nd of December that further
limit had been reached, and it may be noted that 61 members
of the old Club, 19 of them original members, are of the
number. There are now upwards of 40 candidates waiting for
admission, who will come in according to priority of application.

It will, we feel assured, give much satisfaction to the
members to learn that Her Majesty the Queen has intimated

33

that she "will be happy to become the Patroness of the New
Spalding Club." Her Majesty also becomes a subscriber.

A list of the members will be given in one of the first
volumes issued.

The district over which the operations of the Club are to
extend includes, primarily, the Shires of Angus, the Mearns,
Aberdeen, Banff, Moray, and Nairn ; but, should suitable matter
offer for volumes illustrating other portions of Northern Scotland,
such material will not be rejected, if the acceptance thereof in
no way interferes with the work of other Societies.

On November 25th, the Council elected by the Club met to
consider the future action of the Society, and six Committees
were appointed to carry on different branches of the proposed
work.

No. I. — A Committee to manage the finance and general business of
the Club ; to make arrangements for the printing and distribution of
the works to be issued ; and to receive, and deal with, the reports from
the other Committees.

No. II. — A Committee to determine on the works to be issued by
the Club, and to select the Editors.

&o. III. — A Committee to investigate the contents of Charter
Chests, and other family and territorial records.

No. IV. — A Committee to investigate the Municipal and Judicial
Records of the North-Eastern Counties.

No. V. — A Committee to investigate the Ecclesiastical and Educa-
tional Records of the N.E. Counties, also the records of Scottish
Educational and Ecclesiastical Institutions at home and abroad.

No. VI. — A Committee to investigate the Place-names, Folk-lore and
general Topography and Archaeology of the N.E. Counties.

The Committees have held several meetings since their
appointment. It is proposed to print their reports, and to bind
them with one of the first volumes issued by the Club. It is
desirable that these Committees, whose duties have been
generally indicated above, should as a matter of convenience
be henceforth designated by the following shorter titles :
No. I. Business Committee; No. II. Editorial Committee;
No. III. Committee on Family History; No. IV. Committee
on Burgh Records ; No. V. Committee on Church Records ;
No. VI. Committee on Archaeology.

The Committee on Burgh Records have in preparation an
inventory of the documents under the charge of Town Clerks
and Sheriff Clerks throughout the district. The Committee on
Church Records propose to compile a similar list of the volumes
in the hands of Synod, Presbytery, and Kirk Session Clerks.

The Council wish to express their sense of the courteous
and obliging manner in which the Society of Advocates have
afforded within their premises a room, in which the meetings
of the Council and its Committees are held, and where the
books and papers of the Club can find accommodation. This
arrangement is one of very great convenience to the Club, and,
the Council feel sure, will be duly appreciated by the members,
whose thanks the Council would be glad to have authority to
convey to the Society of Advocates.

It has been arranged to exchange copies of the works issued
by the New Spalding Club for those of the Antiquarian Societies

35

of Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, — also of the
Scottish History Society.

The Council would here offer to the Club their opinion
that a select library of reference, for the use of the editors of
their works, and of the members generally, to be composed
of books bearing on subjects within the scope of its operations,
would be a desirable addition to the working resources of the
Society ; but this would, of course, entirely depend for its progress
on our financial position, from time to time.

A statement of that position, as it stands at present, will be
submitted by the Treasurer, and will be seen to justify the issue
of two volumes at an early date, in return for the first year's
subscription.*

I. — The first of these will be Vol. I. of the CHARTULARY OF
ST. NICHOLAS, edited by the Rev. James Cooper, which,
had our anticipations been realised, would have been
delivered to members before this time. Reliance had been
placed on a transcript of the Chartulary in the possession of
the Society of Advocates, but, on examination, this transcript
proved to be so full of errors that considerable delay in the
issue of the book became unavoidable. This first volume will
give the original text of the Charters, &c., and will probably
be ready in January next. The second volume, to be issued
in a subsequent year, will give a summary, or abstract, of
each document, in English, with an historical introduction,

* [The printing of a financial statement is deferred until payments shall have been made on
account of the two volumes now passing through the press. The Treasurer reports that the
amount of the first year's subscription has been received from every member on the roll, with
two exceptions.]

36

in which will be embodied some very interesting notes and
sketches by the late Mr. James Logan, contained in a
volume also belonging to the Society of Advocates : a full
index to the whole work will be appended.

II.— MEMORIALS OF THE FAMILY OF SKENE, by the venerable
Historiographer Royal of Scotland, William Forbes Skene,
D.C.L., LL.D., will also, it is hoped, be issued early in the
course of next year. Causes which could not be foreseen
have, we regret to say, been the means of delaying this book
also.

Other works which are now in hand, and which, it is hoped,
will carry on satisfactorily the sequence of our issues during the
second year, are : —

III. — A monograph on the emblazoned ceiling of St. Machar's
Cathedral, Old Aberdeen ; the historical and literary portion
to be contributed by Principal Geddes, LL.D., and the
heraldic by Mr. Peter Duguid, Advocate, Aberdeen. This
work will be illustrated by fac-similes of very beautiful
illuminations by the late Mr. Andrew Gibb.

IV. — The "Fasti" of Marischal College, being selections from the
records of the College, with reproductions of portraits
in the possession of the Senatus and others ; to be edited
by our secretary, Mr. P. J. Anderson.

There are also in reserve for future issue, and already com-
menced, several works which promise to be of very considerable
interest. They are : —

V. — Collections for a History of the Shires of Angus and the

Mearns, by the Rev. James Gammack, LL.D.

VI. — The Folk-lore and Place-names of the North-Eastern Province,
with notes thereon, by the Rev. Walter Gregor, LL.D.

37

VII. — A History of the Family of Burnett, by George Burnett, LL.D.,
Lyon-King-of-Arms.

VIII. — The Register of the Scots College at Rome, edited by
Monsignor Campbell, D.D., Rector of the College.

IX. — A Calendar of the Correspondence (which is very voluminous)
in the Town House of Aberdeen, with selections therefrom,
by Mr. A. M. Munro.

Other works to which the Council look forward as possible
issues of the Club (to be edited by the gentlemen whose
names are appended) are : —

X. — The Annals of Banff, by Mr. William Cramond.
XI. — A History of the Family of Forbes, by Mr. William Troup.

XII. — The Book of Bon- Accord, revised and enlarged, by Mr. Alex-
ander Kemlo.

XIII. — A Bibliography of the Shires of Aberdeen, Banff, and Kin-
cardine, by Mr. A. W. Robertson.

Several further books are under consideration, e.g., Bar-
bouriana ; Histories of the Families of Keith, Irvine, Gordon ;
Muniments of the Friars of Aberdeen, &c. ; and others prospec-
tively mentioned in the reports of the different Committees.

The various processes by which portraits, architectural
drawings, &c., can now be reproduced, whether by permanent
photography or photo-gravure, will render it possible to illustrate
the works issued by the Club in a manner which the Council feel
considerable confidence will prove satisfactory to the members,
while the moderate expense will not press unduly on our finances.

38

The Council continue to receive very gratifying assurances
of assistance from those owners of important collections of
historical and family papers to whom application has been made.

GEORGE GRUB, C.

> BY MILNE AND HUT'
70 NETKBKKIRKfcATE,

•j.-'-

0,

-3
j

ALEXANDER J. C. SKENE, '

DEAN OF THE LONG ISLAND MEDICAL COLLEGE.

Prof. ALBX. J. C. SKBNB, M.D., is a direct descendant of
the Skenes of Skene. He was born in the parish of Fy vie,
Aberdeenahire, in 1838. He was educated in Aberdeen,
but was more proficient as an athlete and at hunting and
fishing than in the classics. From his childhood he had a
keen eye to Nature, and not only in the love of the pictur-
esque in wood and wild, but in the closer survey of natural
phenomenon exhibited in the animal life. He would have
made on excellent companion to Edwards, the Banffsbire
shoemaker, whose pockets were generally filled of every
kind of creeping things. In this way, zoology was his
favorite study ; but he early gave his attention to the study
of medicine, and came to America at the age of 19, con-
tinuing his studies in the University of Michigan. In 1863
he graduated Doctor of Medicine at the Long Island

He was immediately appointed Acting
Assistant Surgeon, and served at Port Royal
and Charleston Harbor, South Carolina,
and latterly at Decamp's Hospital, David's
Island. After his return from the army he
was again appointed as adjunct professor
and instructor in the Long Island Medical
College, and has since been actively engaged

College, Brooklyn. Perhaps few of the learned Faculty
saw in the newly fledged young Scottish Doctor of that
day the Dean of the College Faculty of a quarter of a
century later. His abilities, however, were immediately
recognized, and he was appointed assistant to Dr. Austin
Flint, Prof, of the Institutes and Practice of Medicine and
Clinical Medicine. The Civil War was then in the heat
of action, Grant was tightening his grasp around Vicks-
burg, while Lee was making his wild raid into Pennsyl-
vania. The navy of the loyal North was thundering at the
gates of Charleston, and the terrible struggle seemed to
hang in the balance. The young stalwart Scot felt the
breath of battle stir within him. His sympathies were
with the Union, and he resigned his position in the College
and joined the army.

iu professional labors in Brooklyn. He con-
tinued to take much interest in military
affairs, and as a member of the staff of Gen-
eral Edward L. Molineux and surgeon of the
Second Division, he suggested and set in
operation the Ambulance Corps system, now
almost universally adopted by the National
Guard.

Skene, William Forbes
479 Memorials of the fami!

S5 Skene of Skene

1887

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