APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.—No. I.
CHARGES laid beforeKing Eric(the Pomeranian) by the COMMONS OF ORKNEY against DAVID MEYNER (MENZIES) OF WEEM,Præses of the Islands. MCDXXV. Extracted and Corrected from theOrcadesseuRerum Orcadensium Historiæ,AuctoreThormodo Torfæo.Havniæ, 1697, p. 179.
I. Cum adversi frugibus anni affligerent terram,Publico-queConcilio(ipsius quoque Davidis consensu) decretum esset, ne frumentum efferretur, sed indigenis tolerabili pretio venderetur, nihilominus ipsum Præsidem quatuor navibus frumentum in Scotiam avexisse, et antequam hæc constitutio facta esset, quinque aut sex naves frugibus onustas alio amandasse, maximo insularum damno.II. Peregrinos præterea invexisse, qui plebi universæ, etiam iis qui judicia administrabant, admodum graves hospitiis se magnis civium damnis et molestiis violenter ingessissent.III.Publicum Terræ Sigillum, invito Supremo juris Præfecto abstulisse, contraque leges et consuetudines obsignandis quæ libuit adhibuisse; cumque vir quidam Nobilis nomine Christianus Ellingeflet (Linklett) expostularet, præposterèSignaculum Gentisin abusum trahi, magnam eum pecuniæ jacturam fecisse. Cum autem Comes accederet, postularetque idem ad obsignandum Testimonium, quo jus suum in Orcades a marjoribus per ordinem successionis ad se delatum, monstraret et afferreret, simulque ut quidam indigenarum Nobiliores secum ad Serenissimum Regem ejusque senatum transfretare permitterentur, ad statum publicum declarandum, verumque de jure suo testimonium ferendum, nequeSignaculum, neque comites ullos, præter Thomam Sinclerum et Archidiaconum Hialtlandiæ, duosque famulos indigenas impetrasse.IV. Anno proximo ex quo Comes in Dania apud Serenissimum Regem moratus esset, cum prædictus David eo profecturus esset, universos eum insularum incolas convocatos, de testimonio vitæ apud eos transactæ solicitasse, idque scriptis ad Clementissimum Regem eique traditis literis obtinuisse, ea conditione ut Viri primæ Nobilitatis viginti quatuor eum ad Regem sequerentur, quos (cives nequaquam dubitarent) si eo pervenissent, tum de commodis Regis, tum etiam administratione Davidis Regem informaturos; verum itinere a Davide prohibitos, domi remansisse, solum profectum, Sigillum Gentis secum avexisse, nemine Nobilium comitante.V. Regiæ monetæ valorem adeo minuisse, ut uni Scotico duos regios nummos æquari juberet, idque tantisper, donec tantum non omnem regionem monetâ exhausisset. Cum autem Thomas Sinclerus novissimè e Daniâ rediisset, in eundum valorem eam restituisse quem in Norvegia obtinuit, idque publicè promulgasse, quod et hodie teneat.VI. Nec parum incolis nocuisse mulctarum Regi Comitique debitarum (præter legum privilegiorumque aut reformationum regulas), rigidas exactiones.VII.Supremi insularum Judicis, quemNomophylacem(Lawman) appellant, uxorem, ejusque propinquos accusasse, quod is bis comprehensus in Turrim (carcerem) conjectus fuerit, talibus ex causis. Quarum prima, quod Jon de Baddi Nomophylacis minister et propinquus, repetivisset equum suum a Michæle Magio (Menzies?) Davidis propinquo, qui eo invito eum (aliò profecturus) abstulisset, ea de causa Nomophylacem in Plateâ Kyrkinvogensi (TheDom Platzof Kirkwall,nowBroad Street) incedentom apprehensum Turri (Bishop’s Tower) inclusisse, sed postquam dimisisset peregrinos Catanesenses, in domum ejus immissos, templum offringi fecisse et quæcunque ibi continebantur evihi singula quæ in domo erant, magna parvaque corrumpi, nullo omnino excepto. Captum denuo Nomophylacem in Turrim conjecisse, tantùm quod eiSigillum Terræad obsignanda quæcunque volebat tradere recusasset, ibique tam diu detenuisse, donec se ei addixisset, uxorque ejusSigillumetCodicem Legumaltari Divi Magni imposuisset. Exinde prædictum DavidemSigillumetCodicemin suam custodiam assumpsisse, aliumque Nomophylacem constituisse, qui id officium ægrè assumpsisset.VIII. Quo tempore Supremum Judicem Turri incluserat, alium quoque Nobilem indigenam simul in carcerem, contra Leges et sine causâ, intrusisse.IX. Jonem Loggium (Logy) accusasse, se quoque eidem carceri mancipatum, quod requisitum Sigillum negaret sibi, nisi ad custodiendum, commissum esse.X. Thomam Sinclerum mandatarium Comitis expostulasse cum Davide, quod de canonibus annuis Comitis à morte patris ejus et anno qui præcessit, ad octo Libras Anglicas acceperit, præter alia, id quod Comes ad Clementissimum Regem accusare decreverit.XI. Ipsum quoque Thomam Sinclerum suo propriæ nomine questum, quod postquam literis Regiis munitus esset, quibus eum Rex, ejus ministros, bona navem et quæcunque ejus essent, in suam regiam protectionem receperat, nihilominus famulum suum Davidem Smid (Smith) comprehensum, ad sanguinem usque intra suam domum verberatum, inque infima Turris detrusum, ibique compedibus injectis, in reditum suum ê Scotia detentum fuisse. Se vero, cum primum in Orcades reverterit, interponentibus se bonis viris, statim domum suam cum suis rediisse, ibique ad finem diei permansisse, quo tunc Johannes Kroge (Craigie) filiusque sororis ejus, cum pluribus aliis se accessisse suasisseque, ut in Templum (Kirk ofSt. Magnus) aut aliò profugeret, ni cum suis incendio perire mallet; quò cùm se recepisset, ad jura Templi literasque tutelæ regiæ quas simul exhibuerit, nequiequam provocasse; tandem clam elapsum, Clementissimi Regis suisque amicis collectis, postulasse, ut in gratiam Regis, se ab oppressione vindicarent, legum pro se suisque præsidia sæpius inclamasse. His comitatum, ubi ad Templum rediisset, suosque ministros inde exemisset, cæsum esse sororis suæ filium. Inde interponente se Nomophylace cum aliis Primariis Viris, litem istam ita compositam, ut datis ab utraque parte prædibus, causam omnem Regis aut Comitis judicio decidendam committerent; cavisse prædibus Thomam duodecim, Davidem nullo. Cumque ille in Scotiam rediisset, Comitem decessisse; quo côgnito, Davidem prædibus istis duodecim triginta sex libras Anglicas expressisse, omnemque dilationem, quoad simul judicio Regis senatusque sisterentur, abnuisse. His ita ordinatis, eos qui Thomæ Sinclero ad Ædem Sacram protectoriis literis Regis conservandis adhæserant, octuaginta Libris Anglicis et quinquaginta solidis multasse; fuisse autem qui Davidis Thomæque verba exceperant, cum Thomas ad Legis et judicis sententiam provocaret, nimirum Nicolaum Myrium (Muir), Dominum Laurentium, Dominum Johannem Canonicum, Wilhelmum de Hedal (Heddle), Alexandrium de Suderlandia, Johannem de Krage (Craigie), Wilhelmum Yrving (Irving), Wilhelmum Flet (Flett), Adamum de Nestegaard, Christiamum de Ellingeklat (Linklett) multosque alios terræ istius Bonos viros, et presbyteros et laicos.XII. Wilhelmum quoque Bressium (Brass), sine ullo juridico processu, nedum criminis alicujus convictum, compedibus constrinxisse, tantùm quòd ad colloquium cum Comite in Scotiam profectus esset.XIII. Cùm plebs de Rognvaldzö (South Ronaldsey) Præsidi provinciæ suæ quereretur, de Scotorum quos Feros (wild Highlanders) appellant, nimiâ, sibique commissationibus aliisquemolestiis, gravi frequentatione; professa se mori malle, quàm tantis identidem injuriis vexari, respondisse Davidem, ‘Non omnes eos uno eodemque die morituros, singulis tamen ‘diebus quoad is iis præesset, aliquos.’’XIV. Davidem Meynerum Henricho Garoch (Garrioch) duas selibras Anglicas abstulisse, quod prædicto Thomæ in Regii diplomatis autoritate vindicanda adhæreret.XV. Joni Simonis filio undecim solidos Anglicos, eodem die abstulisse.XVI. Malcun Jonis (Malcolm Johnson) etiam questum, nave se bonisque aliis, pretio ducentorum nobliorum, sine actione juris spoliasse.XVII. Prædictum Davidem Jonem Jonis filium, comprehendi curasse, adque livorem et sanguinem contusum in Turrim conjecisse, eique unam naviculam sex scalmorum, pretio duarum Librarum Anglicarum, emuuxisse, cum pluribus aliis bonis sine causâ.XVIII. Nauclerum Thomam Brun questum, conjectum se à Davide in Turrim, quòd ad primum nuncium eum non accessisset.XIX. Et cum David novissime ex Dania rediisset, onustam mercibus prædicti Thomæ navem arripuisse, inque Scotiam se invito misisse, ibique similagine pretio viginti quatuor nobliorum eum spoliasse, detenuisseque, maximam partem hiemis, cujus exitu cum domum navigasset navis, mercium nautarumque aliquot jacturam fecerit.XX. Jonem Loggium quiritatum, exutum se a Davide ex prædictæ navis vectura decem cadis (tounas vocat) hordeo, octo similagine refertis, octo cupis pice uno ferro distentis, undecim mensuris ceræ quasLapidesappellant, viginti sex lebetibus magnis parvisque, duabus stateris, duobus molegis malluviis, centum et octo libris cannabis, sex cantharis stanneis, undecim albarum et rubrarum patinarum decadibus, quæ simul in summam viginti sex librarum Anglicarum ascenderint.XXI. Prædictum Davidem Andreæ Jonis ex eadem nave sex lebetes, pretio sex nobliorum, eripuisse.XXII. Præfatum Davidem Nicolaum Jonis (Nicol Johnson) spoliari fecisse quadraginta solidis Anglicanis, in auro et argento, eo quod se Thomæ Sinclero conjunxisset, Clementissimique Regis diplomati satisfecisset; ad leges se sed frustra provocasse.XXIII. Patricio Thyrgelsonio duas vaccas, bovemque castratum, eadem de causa ademptum.XXIV. Jonem Fif in Turrim conjectum, compedibus ferreis duriter constrinxisse, vigintique nobliis mulctasse, sine juris processu, tantum quod dixisset Comitem esse ad comitatum Orcadensem illo jure potiorem, essetque Comiti sanguine junctus.XXV. Joni Blatto (Flett?) quinquaginta marcas Anglicas de nocte eripuisse, quod in mandatis regiis vindicandis, cum Thoma Sinclero unum fecisset; eum quoque leges judiciumque implorasse, sed nullo successu.XXVI. Wilhelmun Graa (Gray) conquestum, se ab eo coactum ad transmittendam navem suam ad insulam in mari longè dissitam, Solsker (Soulis skerry) dictam, sub minis exilii, cumquenavi duos fratres suos minorennes et octo alios indigenas imposuisset; omnes cum ea periisse; navem cum armentis mercibusque quindecim marcis Anglicis æstimatam.XXVII. Samsonem Vilhelmi filium (Williamson) deplorasse, se Templo violenter ereptum, damnatorum in morem vinctum, protinus capitis supplicio à Davide destinatum, ni Canonici cum uxore ejus intercessissent. Expressos tamen sibi unum et quinquaginta solidos Anglicos, sine juris processu, sine judicio, tantum quod imputaret sibi, quod ministrum suum vulnerasset; se legibus crimen diluere volentem, non admissum.XXVIII. Paridem Lutzit (Louttit) professum esse, se quoque inclusum Turri, coercitum ferreis compedibus, tribus integris diebus ac noctibus; liberationem deinde impendio decem marcarum signatarum constitisse, inobservato se nullius criminis convictum, tantum quod a Thoma Sinclero dependens, Regis mandatis velificari studuerit.XXIX. Prædictum mandatum Paridi inter recitandum, a Davide ereptum, referente, ‘se tales Literas in alium sermonem translatus, octodecim denariis Anglicis in Dania ‘emere posse;’ retenuisse deinde, et in eum diem quo hæc querela instituta est, retinere.’XXX. Thomæ Bimsoni (Beenson) unam et viginti marcas Anglicas, inauditâ causâ, eripuisse.XXXI. Inaudita quoque causâ, sine judicio, contra leges Magno de Jennelandia (Mainland?) duodecim cados hordeo plenos, viginti quatuor solidorum Anglicorum pretio erepuisse.XXXII. Wilhelmum Geredsonium (Garson) ejusque equos in Turrim conjecisse, sine legitimo processu, tantum quod Thomæ Regiique mandati partes susceperit, tredecim marcis Anglicis liberationem emercari coactum.XXXIII. Eadem de causa Sanderum Brunum (Saunders Brown) de nocte viginti septem marcis Anglicis spoliasse.XXXIV. Et prædicti Sanderi ministrum undecim marcis Anglicis, ejusdem intentati criminis prætextu.XXXV. Dominum Nicolaum Myrium (Muir) et Dominum Laurentium, Canonicos, questos esse, quod sigillum capituli arcâ quæ in penetrali Templi stetit, eximisset, præterque semestre detenuisset; quid scribi illoque obsignari fecerit non sibi constitisse.Multo plura esse quæ ad Clementissimum Dominum suum Regem de gestis Davidis Meyneri, illatisque ab eo populo Orcadensi damnis, scribi possent, necessariaque essent; sed molem ejus criminum, longamque seriem, in præsens se exponere nequisse; tantum in horum capitum firmius testimonium, majoremque securitatem, Terræ suæ Populique Sigillo has literas obsignatas, etiam sigillis Reverendi probique viri Wilhelmi Thurgilssonii Regionis nomophylacis, Kolbeini Flæt (Flett) Jonis Magni filii (Manson) et Wilhelmi Urving (Irving) confirmatas.
I. Cum adversi frugibus anni affligerent terram,Publico-queConcilio(ipsius quoque Davidis consensu) decretum esset, ne frumentum efferretur, sed indigenis tolerabili pretio venderetur, nihilominus ipsum Præsidem quatuor navibus frumentum in Scotiam avexisse, et antequam hæc constitutio facta esset, quinque aut sex naves frugibus onustas alio amandasse, maximo insularum damno.
II. Peregrinos præterea invexisse, qui plebi universæ, etiam iis qui judicia administrabant, admodum graves hospitiis se magnis civium damnis et molestiis violenter ingessissent.
III.Publicum Terræ Sigillum, invito Supremo juris Præfecto abstulisse, contraque leges et consuetudines obsignandis quæ libuit adhibuisse; cumque vir quidam Nobilis nomine Christianus Ellingeflet (Linklett) expostularet, præposterèSignaculum Gentisin abusum trahi, magnam eum pecuniæ jacturam fecisse. Cum autem Comes accederet, postularetque idem ad obsignandum Testimonium, quo jus suum in Orcades a marjoribus per ordinem successionis ad se delatum, monstraret et afferreret, simulque ut quidam indigenarum Nobiliores secum ad Serenissimum Regem ejusque senatum transfretare permitterentur, ad statum publicum declarandum, verumque de jure suo testimonium ferendum, nequeSignaculum, neque comites ullos, præter Thomam Sinclerum et Archidiaconum Hialtlandiæ, duosque famulos indigenas impetrasse.
IV. Anno proximo ex quo Comes in Dania apud Serenissimum Regem moratus esset, cum prædictus David eo profecturus esset, universos eum insularum incolas convocatos, de testimonio vitæ apud eos transactæ solicitasse, idque scriptis ad Clementissimum Regem eique traditis literis obtinuisse, ea conditione ut Viri primæ Nobilitatis viginti quatuor eum ad Regem sequerentur, quos (cives nequaquam dubitarent) si eo pervenissent, tum de commodis Regis, tum etiam administratione Davidis Regem informaturos; verum itinere a Davide prohibitos, domi remansisse, solum profectum, Sigillum Gentis secum avexisse, nemine Nobilium comitante.
V. Regiæ monetæ valorem adeo minuisse, ut uni Scotico duos regios nummos æquari juberet, idque tantisper, donec tantum non omnem regionem monetâ exhausisset. Cum autem Thomas Sinclerus novissimè e Daniâ rediisset, in eundum valorem eam restituisse quem in Norvegia obtinuit, idque publicè promulgasse, quod et hodie teneat.
VI. Nec parum incolis nocuisse mulctarum Regi Comitique debitarum (præter legum privilegiorumque aut reformationum regulas), rigidas exactiones.
VII.Supremi insularum Judicis, quemNomophylacem(Lawman) appellant, uxorem, ejusque propinquos accusasse, quod is bis comprehensus in Turrim (carcerem) conjectus fuerit, talibus ex causis. Quarum prima, quod Jon de Baddi Nomophylacis minister et propinquus, repetivisset equum suum a Michæle Magio (Menzies?) Davidis propinquo, qui eo invito eum (aliò profecturus) abstulisset, ea de causa Nomophylacem in Plateâ Kyrkinvogensi (TheDom Platzof Kirkwall,nowBroad Street) incedentom apprehensum Turri (Bishop’s Tower) inclusisse, sed postquam dimisisset peregrinos Catanesenses, in domum ejus immissos, templum offringi fecisse et quæcunque ibi continebantur evihi singula quæ in domo erant, magna parvaque corrumpi, nullo omnino excepto. Captum denuo Nomophylacem in Turrim conjecisse, tantùm quod eiSigillum Terræad obsignanda quæcunque volebat tradere recusasset, ibique tam diu detenuisse, donec se ei addixisset, uxorque ejusSigillumetCodicem Legumaltari Divi Magni imposuisset. Exinde prædictum DavidemSigillumetCodicemin suam custodiam assumpsisse, aliumque Nomophylacem constituisse, qui id officium ægrè assumpsisset.
VIII. Quo tempore Supremum Judicem Turri incluserat, alium quoque Nobilem indigenam simul in carcerem, contra Leges et sine causâ, intrusisse.
IX. Jonem Loggium (Logy) accusasse, se quoque eidem carceri mancipatum, quod requisitum Sigillum negaret sibi, nisi ad custodiendum, commissum esse.
X. Thomam Sinclerum mandatarium Comitis expostulasse cum Davide, quod de canonibus annuis Comitis à morte patris ejus et anno qui præcessit, ad octo Libras Anglicas acceperit, præter alia, id quod Comes ad Clementissimum Regem accusare decreverit.
XI. Ipsum quoque Thomam Sinclerum suo propriæ nomine questum, quod postquam literis Regiis munitus esset, quibus eum Rex, ejus ministros, bona navem et quæcunque ejus essent, in suam regiam protectionem receperat, nihilominus famulum suum Davidem Smid (Smith) comprehensum, ad sanguinem usque intra suam domum verberatum, inque infima Turris detrusum, ibique compedibus injectis, in reditum suum ê Scotia detentum fuisse. Se vero, cum primum in Orcades reverterit, interponentibus se bonis viris, statim domum suam cum suis rediisse, ibique ad finem diei permansisse, quo tunc Johannes Kroge (Craigie) filiusque sororis ejus, cum pluribus aliis se accessisse suasisseque, ut in Templum (Kirk ofSt. Magnus) aut aliò profugeret, ni cum suis incendio perire mallet; quò cùm se recepisset, ad jura Templi literasque tutelæ regiæ quas simul exhibuerit, nequiequam provocasse; tandem clam elapsum, Clementissimi Regis suisque amicis collectis, postulasse, ut in gratiam Regis, se ab oppressione vindicarent, legum pro se suisque præsidia sæpius inclamasse. His comitatum, ubi ad Templum rediisset, suosque ministros inde exemisset, cæsum esse sororis suæ filium. Inde interponente se Nomophylace cum aliis Primariis Viris, litem istam ita compositam, ut datis ab utraque parte prædibus, causam omnem Regis aut Comitis judicio decidendam committerent; cavisse prædibus Thomam duodecim, Davidem nullo. Cumque ille in Scotiam rediisset, Comitem decessisse; quo côgnito, Davidem prædibus istis duodecim triginta sex libras Anglicas expressisse, omnemque dilationem, quoad simul judicio Regis senatusque sisterentur, abnuisse. His ita ordinatis, eos qui Thomæ Sinclero ad Ædem Sacram protectoriis literis Regis conservandis adhæserant, octuaginta Libris Anglicis et quinquaginta solidis multasse; fuisse autem qui Davidis Thomæque verba exceperant, cum Thomas ad Legis et judicis sententiam provocaret, nimirum Nicolaum Myrium (Muir), Dominum Laurentium, Dominum Johannem Canonicum, Wilhelmum de Hedal (Heddle), Alexandrium de Suderlandia, Johannem de Krage (Craigie), Wilhelmum Yrving (Irving), Wilhelmum Flet (Flett), Adamum de Nestegaard, Christiamum de Ellingeklat (Linklett) multosque alios terræ istius Bonos viros, et presbyteros et laicos.
XII. Wilhelmum quoque Bressium (Brass), sine ullo juridico processu, nedum criminis alicujus convictum, compedibus constrinxisse, tantùm quòd ad colloquium cum Comite in Scotiam profectus esset.
XIII. Cùm plebs de Rognvaldzö (South Ronaldsey) Præsidi provinciæ suæ quereretur, de Scotorum quos Feros (wild Highlanders) appellant, nimiâ, sibique commissationibus aliisquemolestiis, gravi frequentatione; professa se mori malle, quàm tantis identidem injuriis vexari, respondisse Davidem, ‘Non omnes eos uno eodemque die morituros, singulis tamen ‘diebus quoad is iis præesset, aliquos.’’
XIV. Davidem Meynerum Henricho Garoch (Garrioch) duas selibras Anglicas abstulisse, quod prædicto Thomæ in Regii diplomatis autoritate vindicanda adhæreret.
XV. Joni Simonis filio undecim solidos Anglicos, eodem die abstulisse.
XVI. Malcun Jonis (Malcolm Johnson) etiam questum, nave se bonisque aliis, pretio ducentorum nobliorum, sine actione juris spoliasse.
XVII. Prædictum Davidem Jonem Jonis filium, comprehendi curasse, adque livorem et sanguinem contusum in Turrim conjecisse, eique unam naviculam sex scalmorum, pretio duarum Librarum Anglicarum, emuuxisse, cum pluribus aliis bonis sine causâ.
XVIII. Nauclerum Thomam Brun questum, conjectum se à Davide in Turrim, quòd ad primum nuncium eum non accessisset.
XIX. Et cum David novissime ex Dania rediisset, onustam mercibus prædicti Thomæ navem arripuisse, inque Scotiam se invito misisse, ibique similagine pretio viginti quatuor nobliorum eum spoliasse, detenuisseque, maximam partem hiemis, cujus exitu cum domum navigasset navis, mercium nautarumque aliquot jacturam fecerit.
XX. Jonem Loggium quiritatum, exutum se a Davide ex prædictæ navis vectura decem cadis (tounas vocat) hordeo, octo similagine refertis, octo cupis pice uno ferro distentis, undecim mensuris ceræ quasLapidesappellant, viginti sex lebetibus magnis parvisque, duabus stateris, duobus molegis malluviis, centum et octo libris cannabis, sex cantharis stanneis, undecim albarum et rubrarum patinarum decadibus, quæ simul in summam viginti sex librarum Anglicarum ascenderint.
XXI. Prædictum Davidem Andreæ Jonis ex eadem nave sex lebetes, pretio sex nobliorum, eripuisse.
XXII. Præfatum Davidem Nicolaum Jonis (Nicol Johnson) spoliari fecisse quadraginta solidis Anglicanis, in auro et argento, eo quod se Thomæ Sinclero conjunxisset, Clementissimique Regis diplomati satisfecisset; ad leges se sed frustra provocasse.
XXIII. Patricio Thyrgelsonio duas vaccas, bovemque castratum, eadem de causa ademptum.
XXIV. Jonem Fif in Turrim conjectum, compedibus ferreis duriter constrinxisse, vigintique nobliis mulctasse, sine juris processu, tantum quod dixisset Comitem esse ad comitatum Orcadensem illo jure potiorem, essetque Comiti sanguine junctus.
XXV. Joni Blatto (Flett?) quinquaginta marcas Anglicas de nocte eripuisse, quod in mandatis regiis vindicandis, cum Thoma Sinclero unum fecisset; eum quoque leges judiciumque implorasse, sed nullo successu.
XXVI. Wilhelmun Graa (Gray) conquestum, se ab eo coactum ad transmittendam navem suam ad insulam in mari longè dissitam, Solsker (Soulis skerry) dictam, sub minis exilii, cumquenavi duos fratres suos minorennes et octo alios indigenas imposuisset; omnes cum ea periisse; navem cum armentis mercibusque quindecim marcis Anglicis æstimatam.
XXVII. Samsonem Vilhelmi filium (Williamson) deplorasse, se Templo violenter ereptum, damnatorum in morem vinctum, protinus capitis supplicio à Davide destinatum, ni Canonici cum uxore ejus intercessissent. Expressos tamen sibi unum et quinquaginta solidos Anglicos, sine juris processu, sine judicio, tantum quod imputaret sibi, quod ministrum suum vulnerasset; se legibus crimen diluere volentem, non admissum.
XXVIII. Paridem Lutzit (Louttit) professum esse, se quoque inclusum Turri, coercitum ferreis compedibus, tribus integris diebus ac noctibus; liberationem deinde impendio decem marcarum signatarum constitisse, inobservato se nullius criminis convictum, tantum quod a Thoma Sinclero dependens, Regis mandatis velificari studuerit.
XXIX. Prædictum mandatum Paridi inter recitandum, a Davide ereptum, referente, ‘se tales Literas in alium sermonem translatus, octodecim denariis Anglicis in Dania ‘emere posse;’ retenuisse deinde, et in eum diem quo hæc querela instituta est, retinere.’
XXX. Thomæ Bimsoni (Beenson) unam et viginti marcas Anglicas, inauditâ causâ, eripuisse.
XXXI. Inaudita quoque causâ, sine judicio, contra leges Magno de Jennelandia (Mainland?) duodecim cados hordeo plenos, viginti quatuor solidorum Anglicorum pretio erepuisse.
XXXII. Wilhelmum Geredsonium (Garson) ejusque equos in Turrim conjecisse, sine legitimo processu, tantum quod Thomæ Regiique mandati partes susceperit, tredecim marcis Anglicis liberationem emercari coactum.
XXXIII. Eadem de causa Sanderum Brunum (Saunders Brown) de nocte viginti septem marcis Anglicis spoliasse.
XXXIV. Et prædicti Sanderi ministrum undecim marcis Anglicis, ejusdem intentati criminis prætextu.
XXXV. Dominum Nicolaum Myrium (Muir) et Dominum Laurentium, Canonicos, questos esse, quod sigillum capituli arcâ quæ in penetrali Templi stetit, eximisset, præterque semestre detenuisset; quid scribi illoque obsignari fecerit non sibi constitisse.
Multo plura esse quæ ad Clementissimum Dominum suum Regem de gestis Davidis Meyneri, illatisque ab eo populo Orcadensi damnis, scribi possent, necessariaque essent; sed molem ejus criminum, longamque seriem, in præsens se exponere nequisse; tantum in horum capitum firmius testimonium, majoremque securitatem, Terræ suæ Populique Sigillo has literas obsignatas, etiam sigillis Reverendi probique viri Wilhelmi Thurgilssonii Regionis nomophylacis, Kolbeini Flæt (Flett) Jonis Magni filii (Manson) et Wilhelmi Urving (Irving) confirmatas.
APPENDIX.—No. II.
The earliest Survey and Valuation of Orkney (1263) was the counterpart—perhaps the pattern—of theAULD EXTENTof Scotland made by Alexander III. somewhat later and subsequently to his intimate relations with Norway. It was to the Islanders an event of such importance, that history and tradition have combined to commemorate its date, place, and circumstances with picturesque minuteness. It was on St. Martin’s day 1263 that Hacon IV., in an upper chamber of Bishop Henry’s palace in Kirkwall, lay down to die of a broken heart and mortified ambition. But the cares of royalty followed him even to his deathbed; his troops and seamen, the relics of the storm and battle at Largs, were starving and houseless; and in the absence of Magnus Jarl III., he issued orders to divide the whole occupied lands of Orkney and Zetland intoMARKLANDScontaining 8EyrislandsorUrislands, each of which should find quarters and supplies for a Hofding and a fixed number of men, probably in proportion to the Skatts formerly paid.
In the comparatively fertile and populous Orkneys, more minute subdivision soon became necessary; and some Scottish Jarl divided each Norse Urisland into the Scottish denominations of 18 Pennylands, and each pennyland into 4 Farthings or Merks, or (in some districts) into 6 Uriscops or Mæliscops, and finally into 10 Yowsworths, to suit the excessive partition of Odal heritage. Though the Mark is still the vague denomination of land measure in Zetland, as being sufficiently minute for its large tracts of comparatively valueless waste, even there it has been found convenient to estimate the unequal value of the Markland by Pennies, and to apportion its Skathald, Skatt, and Landskylld to the number of Pennies ascribed to each Mark, an alteration traditionally attributed to English valuators under a commercial Treaty between England and Norway—perhaps that of 1431. From the confusion of terms of value, weight, and size,—of Mark and Merk—of Peningr and Penny—of Urisland and Uriscop—of Marklands in Zetland of 4, 8, and 12 pennies per mark—and of Pennylands in Orkney of 3, 4, 5⅛, and 8 merks to the penny—so many difficulties beset this subject, that I rejoice that I am not required to attempt their solution; for the denominations of land-value still exist as fixed by Hacon’s Survey, practically undisputed by subjects or rulers—neither the ground of oppression nor the cause of complaint.
This Survey was probably grounded partly on traditions of taxation, as early as the Norwegian Conquest, and partly upon theMatricula Regis, King Sverrer’s Register of the Odals confiscated under penal terms of redemption (1196)—and from its results was compiled the firstLiber Census, orSkatt Bookof Orkney and Zetland, the authentic Statement of the extent of each Odal Tun then in occupation, and of itsStentor proportion of Butter Skatt. As population increased, eachTunor subdivision thereof paid for its enlarged area of cultivation a Malt Skatt also, marking at once the advance from pasture and the increase of culture; and the oldLiber Censuswas from time to time replaced as out of date, by a new and more complete record of such changes. The only specimen extant is a copy of theSkatt of Zetland, compiled by one of the Sinclair Earls, without a date, but so ancient that the scribe of the fifteenth century apologises for the illegible writing and uncouth terms, as unintelligible even to himself. This Skatt Book distinguishes each Thing; describes the extent of each Tun in Marks of so many pennies per mark; and under distinct heads charges against each possession its Odal-Skatt and Leangr, or Tenant’s Land-male of wadmæl, oil, or fish—or sometimes both Odal and Tenant burdens; probably because such lands, though formerly Odal, had fallen by confiscation to the King or Earl, and been set to a tacksman, subject to both the old and new exactions. But though it thus records a fewland-males(showing the small extent of land in Zetland under tacksmen), the Skatt Book seems to have been a fair and distinct statement of National Taxation, unblemished by the studied confusion of tax and rent, of Odal and Feudal terms, which rendered its successor, the Rental, so oppressive to the Odaller. Like the Doomsday Book of another Northman race, the Skatt Book was the simple Record of the revenue and rule of taxation—its successor, the Scottish Rental, claimed to be also the substitute for a written title, the limit of every claim, the standard of every burden, the authority for every exaction; but compiled in secret, and jealously closed against public inspection, it rather favoured the claims of the ruler than secured the rights of the subject. The first duty imposed by James III. upon his new vassals, the Earl and Bishop of Orkney, was the compilation of such a rental, including not only the land-males or rents of his own newly acquired Earldom, and of the Church lands, but also the whole Skatts and other Odal taxes of the Skatt Book, exigible from the lands of free Odallers. The “Auld Parchment Rental,” Earl William’s last legacy of spite against the Bishop and the Odallers, has unfortunately been lost, but it is evident from other authorities that he revenged himself on the Churchman by pitiless exposure of his fraud and rapacity, and on the Laymen, by suggesting the close similarity and easy identity of Odal and Tenant rights and burdens. The same fate has overtaken the Rental prepared by Bishop William Tulloch, partly for the Crown’s instruction, partly in self-defence against the Earl’s accusations ofSkatts abstractedandlands gripped, and other encroachments during the Lieutenancy of Bishop Thomas and himself. Of these conflictingRentals, and their mutually truthful recriminations of embezzlement and oppression, much may be learned from the succeeding Rentals of Henry Lord Sinclair, of which the earliest was prepared in 1492, more than twenty years after the Impignoration, and therefore affording ample time for such Crown officers as Bishop Tulloch to alter every land right in the Islands. Accordingly, this Rental shows an aggravation of the number, nature, and amount of the Odaller’s burdens, and a studied confusion of his rights with those of the Tacksman of the Crown or Kirk. Thus, the Odal lands are charged with the ancient Skatt, but this is sometimes doubled and paid both to King and Bishop. TheFör-kaupis no longer the fee of the Lawman (whose salary of £12 is charged against the Crown in the tacksman’s account), but under the feudal name ofForcopis again exacted from the Odaller as atriennial grassumfor the use of the once free and common pasture. TheVotn-telis entered under the corrupted name ofWattel; but in despair of its lost Norse meaning, the fancy of the Feudalist has explained it as a tax for holy water, or for the good offices of some saintly lady whose profitable virtues had outlived her name; while its ancient purpose of the Underfoud’s fee, is again supplied by theBalliatus, a new impost on the parish. Another parish burden ofHawkhens for the King’s falconsis first mentioned in thecompotaof Bishops William and Andrew (1478–9), and first charged in this Rental, where the Escheits of Moveables and Heritage are entered as an ordinary item of revenue, under the suggestive name of “Chetry.” The purely Scottish claims of Wrack and Waith (which in time ripened into the full Droits of Admiralty and the Leges Forestarum) were new and violent invasions of the Odal freedom of hunting, fishing, and sea-beach; and every occasional or temporary payment once paid became a tax for ever.
The several exactions may be classed in the order in which they are named in the Rental. 1st. Odal; 2nd. Tenant; and 3rd. District or Parochial Burdens.
The Odal payments consisted of—
1st.Stent, the Butter Skatt assessed by ancient valuation in proportion to the pennylands.
2nd.Butter Skatt,præter the Stent, an obviously unwarranted and often large increase of the tax—generally as much more.
3rd.Malt Skatt.
4th.Silver Skatt.
5th.Forcop, already explained, but of such arbitrary and unequal exaction as fully to warrant the definition of Dufresne, “Forcop,Forcapium, exactio, tributum haud debitum, per vim et contra jus captum.”
6th.Wattel, the Fee of the Underfoud, paid or estimated in grain.
The Land-male or Rent of Tenants or Tacksmen consisted of—
1st.Cost, or victual—generally paid in a commutation of two-thirds of malt, one-third of meal.
2nd.Flesh—paid in cattle or live stock, at a conventional estimate of 2 or 3 head to each Last of nominal quantity.
3rd.Pennyworths—an equivalent in grain, butter, oil, or other produce of the lands, in case of deficiency of the other payments.
The parochial exactions (all of Scottish origin) are summed up with a quaint acknowledgment of omnivorous rapacity; “And all thissupra, ispræterthe Skattmarts, Wrack, Waith, Hawkhens, Chetry, Balliatus, and uthir profittis and Revenues that may happen ony maner of way.”
The relative share of the Odaller and Tenant in these new parish burdens is not expressed, but both must have looked back with regret to the worst of their ancient rulers, and watched with dismay the rising tide of Scottish oppression which was slowly but inevitably sapping their rights and overwhelming their liberties.
Of the taxes, rents, and assessments of the Rental, only a very small part was payable in money, and every coinage seems to have been current, though at an exchange often and arbitrarily fluctuating.
The rest of theDebts and Duties, as they were called, were paid in kind or produce, and measured by thePundarandBysmar—theCanandBarrell—theCuttelandPack—the native Standards and Instruments respectively of weight, capacity, and extent. The correctness and uniformity of these instruments was guarded with jealous care by the Thingmen, and the Wardthing of every Parish elected aLögrettmanorLawrightmanto watch the measuring of its debts or duties by the Underfoud, and to take charge of its Standards, which were from time to time compared and corrected in presence of the Thing, by reference to a Common Standard of each kind of instrument of mensuration. Each of these common Standards was more solemnly authenticated by the Common Seal, or the signature or mark of the Lawman, by authority of the Lawthing, and severally kept by one of the Lawrightmen of four different districts, honoured by law or custom with their custody. This system of inspection, counter-checks, and separate guardianship, effectually precluded fraudulent or ignorant tampering with the Weights and Measures of the country, till virtually cancelled by the violence of the Donatary and his agents in superseding the Lawrightmen.
Of measurement by weight the instruments were—1st, ThePundarorPundlar, identical with the Steelyard orStatera, and of two kinds—theMalt Pundarfor weighing Malt and other bulky articles, and theBere Pundarfor Bere only, using the same weights, but each a third less than the same denomination on the Malt Pundar; and 2ndly, theBysmar,on which were weighed the butter and other articles requiring more minute mensuration. The following figures will explain the form of the Pundar and Bysmar better than description, and show their liability to error and fraud, and the consequent necessity for the jealous watch of the Lawrightman upon the weigher’s crafty hand.
The first is a facsimile of the woodcut which occurs in the original edition of theHistoria de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, of Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala, p. 468, Romæ, 1555, folio. The other is copied fromThe General Grievances and Oppression of the Isles of Orkney and Shetland(by James Mackenzie), p. 19. Edinb. 1750, 8vo.: Both cuts are figured in Dr. Hibbert’s Shetland.
The weights in use were—
Bysmer Pundar
Of measurement by capacity, the instruments were the Can orKannaof Norway, and the Barrel orBarielof fifteen Lispunds.
Of measurement by extent the only instrument was theCuttelorAlin, a wooden rod of the length of the Scottish Ell. The Cuttel of Wadmæl became in Zetland the general measure of value, standard of barter, and substitute for a current coinage; 6 Cuttels being equivalent to anEyrirorounceof land taxation, and 6 score or alarge hundredof Cuttels being the standard price of an ox or six sheep.
6 Cuttels = 1 Gudling or Gullioun—10 Gulliouns = 1 Pack.
6 Cuttels = 1 Gudling or Gullioun—10 Gulliouns = 1 Pack.
6 Cuttels = 1 Gudling or Gullioun—10 Gulliouns = 1 Pack.
6 Cuttels = 1 Gudling or Gullioun—10 Gulliouns = 1 Pack.
The standards of weight and measure were unchanged till Earl Robert, by raising the weight of the fundamental Mark from 8 to 10 ounces, added in the same proportion of one-fifth to every other denomination—and by increasing the Gudling from 6 to 8 Cuttels, he added one-fourth to every Pack of Zetland Wadmæl. Earl Patrick increased the Mark to 12 ounces, thus adding one-third to every Lispund, Meil, and Last; and subsequent Donataries improved the profitable example by aggravating the Mark to 20 ounces, and thus boldly achieving an increase of 250 per cent. upon every denomination of weight or measure. The only apparent exception was the Barrel, which, being a vehicle of foreign export, could not be enlarged, and consequently could only contain 10 of these aggravated Lispunds instead of 15 of the normal size; but the balance was charged inloose Lispundsof similar overweight.
There is no authentic statement of the revenues of James III. as Sovereign and as Earl of Orkney, but assuming and deducting a rise during the Episcopal Tacks proportioned to that which appears between the first and second Rentals of Lord Sinclair, the Skatts and Land-males of the Crown may be approximately stated at between £500 and £600.
Their progressive increase during the sixteenth century may be more minutely estimated by a comparison of Lord Sinclair’s Rentals (1492–1502) with that of Earl Patrick (1600–1), and an unerring tariff of current prices is found in the Rentals themselves, or in the contemporary Rolls of the Scottish Exchequer. The last Rental of Lord Sinclair stands thus—
These revenues, with the unrentalled profits of Wrack, Waith, Chetry, Balliatus, &c., were farmed by Tulloch and other tacksmen, at a rent or Tack duty varying from £366 to £466, till James V. (1540) ascertained by personal investigation, that under the most liberal tack, a duty of £2000 was not too high for the increased value of official perquisites, and the higher prices of conversion, which had raised the Crown’s Rental as follows—
The same Tack duty of £2000 was paid by Lord Robert Stewart as a Feu-duty; and in 1568, the first year of his actual exercise of power, the higher prices of conversion had raised the Crown Rental to the following value, without increase of quantity:—
On his disgrace (1587) and the new grant to Chancellor Maitland and Bellenden on an increased duty of £4000, the Rental, as stated in their Charter, was found to have been raised to the following quantity and value, without distinction of Skatt or Land male.
But this numerical statement of quantities no longer expressed the actual burdens of Orkney. Earl Robert’s increase of the weights and measures had added a fifth to every nominal Mark, Lispund, Meil, or Last in the Rental, and when he was reinstated (1589) (compounding at a reduced Feu-duty of £2075), the quantities and value actually paid under the nominal Rental amounted to—
Accordingly Earl Robert’s final Rental, although the articles of payment differ in arrangement and commutation, amounts, at the former conversions, to nearly the same sum and value:
Thus showing an increase of quantities and value since his first audit of 1569 amounting to—
If to this aggravation of the Rental we add his revenue from Tolls, Customs, Droits, Escheat and triennial Grassums, and consider the forced labour, the diminished area of cultivation, and the doubled penal conversions for every deficiency of these impossible quantities, we may estimate the income of Earl Robert and the misery of the Islanders; though theRentale pro Rege et Episcopo(1592–1600), which exhibits the numerical increase of exaction, is silent as to his aggravation of the Weights and Measures.
This addition of a fifth to every actual payment was augmented to a third by Earl Patrick’s similar aggravation of the Mark to 12 ounces; and increased penal conversions were exacted for all arrears, rests, or unpaid balance of duties beyond what the Islands could produce, till their actual burdens thus aggravated, and valued at the current averages of conversion, amounted to—
But besides this large revenue, and that derived from the Grassums, Droits, Tolls, Customs, Fines, and other unrentalled, unacknowledged, and unestimated perquisites, to the amount of about £6000 more, the Stewart Earls were also Commendators of the Estates of the Church, to which they proved no less dutiful as nursing fathers during their possession of about half a century. The Rental of the Bishopric at the Impignoration or beginning of the sixteenth century cannot be ascertained, but at the time of James V.’s visit, the articles composing the Church Rental (as shortly afterwards attested, and valued at the prices of the period), amounted to the following sums and quantities:—
These quantities were officially attested by Bishop Adam in 1561, and in 1568 (the date of his first contract with Lord Robert), amounted at the current prices to the value and quantity following, viz.—
These articles, the amount of the Bishopric Rental at Earl Robert’s entry, he increased to the following quantities at the same conversion:—
which by his aggravation of one-fifth of every weight and measure, actually represented the following quantities and value at his death, 1592:—
Earl Patrick’s aggravation of one-third in like manner raised the actual quantities paid from the Bishopric in the same proportion, and at the current prices of conversion, to the following value:—
The following Abstract of the results of these Tables will exhibit briefly the progressive increase of the burdens of Orkney during the sixteenth century—
I am not aware of any authentic Rental of the burdens of Zetland during the sixteenth century, except the statement in the Charter to Maitland and Bellenden (1587), and the Comptroller’s Accounts (1588), after twenty years of Earl Robert’s aggravations of weight, measure, and value, when a third had been added to the contents of every Pack of Wadmæl and Lispund of Fat-gude at arbitrary conversions in a coinage as arbitrary. The nominal quantities (for which the Donatary compounded with the Royal Comptroller at £400) are there stated as follows:—
But by the augmented Weight, Measure, and Price, the burdens actually extorted from the Lordship of Zetland were raised (exclusive of Ox-money and other unacknowledged exactions) to the amount and value of—
From these Abstracts of the Revenues of the Crown Estate and Bishopric of Orkney and of the Lordship of Zetland, the income drawn from the Islands by Earl Patrick, exclusive of a multitude of unacknowledged exactions, may be approximately stated thus—