Act, 29 December 1692, Edinburgh

Att Edinburgh the Tuelth Day off August J^aj vj^c and nyntie tuo years

A1692/8/52

A1692/8/52¹

Letter: royal

Letter from the Councill To The Kings Majestie

The Letter underwreitten being read votted and approven wes signed and ordered to be recorded whereof the tenor followes May it please your Majesty
Wee have sometyme agoe resolved on transmitting to your majestie ane accompt of our proceedings this summer But your Majesties Letter comeing to our hands made us delay wreitting till now that wee can add what further hath been done In obedience to your Comands in it, Sir upon Informatione by her Majesties order of the designe of ane Invasione in May Last And dureing the wholl tyme in which wee were under the apprehensiones of it wee made it our Constant bussines to fall upon such methods for secureing of this Kingdome as seemed to us for the tyme most practicable and effectuall, our First care wes to have the standing forces (except these necessarie for the garisones) quartered in or near Edinburgh And in such maner that they could Conveniently meet upon any sudden occasione Wee also secured the Castles by giveing all necessarie orders Concerning them wee found the magazines much exhausted And in order to supplie them The Comissioners of the theasurie at our desyre bought up armes to the value of three thousand pound sterling Wee found that the militia which at best were never of any great use hade been in desuetude for severall year And so could not on the sudden be put in any order This made us resolve on Calling furth the heretors and Fencible men That they might be in a readiness to Joyne with the standing forces If requyred to doe it Bot here wee were straittened how to know and distinguish these of them whom wee could relye upon The expedient that seemed most and vyseable for the tyme wes to begin with a gentle tryall of there Inclinationes By requyreing all of them If they would be reckoned to be weell affected to the government to enter into ane engadgement not to Joyne with Invaiders wee hoped few would have refused this whose persones wee could have therefore secured But in some shyres This did not succeed according to our expectatione wee made Lykewayes all possible Inquirie into the designes of dissaffected persones off whom wee Imprisoned some and seized upon the horses and armes of others But made no other discoverie then that wee found A great manie horses had been bought up in England and² brought into this Kingdome However wee Called for all men that were under baill upon any publict accompt that wee might be Maisters of there persones whatever should happen The Earle of Sieforth By order from your Majestie wes apprehended And haveing made his escape wes retaken and Comitted closs prisoner in the castle of Edinburgh, The Earle of Pearth being at Liberty upon baill hade orders to enter himself again in the castle of Stirling which he did, Naval Payne wes sent closs prisoner to Blackness And the Late Arch Bishop of Glasgow wes made closs prisoner in the Castle of Edinburgh It seeming not proper at that tyme to send him any where else from under our eye. Upon Informatione that severall ministers did not according to there duety pray for your majesties and the Queen wee ordered the magistrats everie where to make particular Inquirie into the trueth of this And in the mean whyle wee banished severalls from Edinburgh who refused to give any assureance for there duetyfull behaviour in this point But at the same tyme wee receaved Instances of the duety and affections of the people to the government by Addresses from shyres and Cities Containing offers to Levie regiments and mantaine them fourtie dayes in your Majesties service at there oune charges Some of the Addresses would have the nameing of there oune officers which wee allowed them to doe others Left it to be done by your majestie or by us To all these Addresses wee gave the thanks of the boord But upon the happie news of the success of your majesties fleet which delyvered us from our apprehensione wee thought it, not necessarie to put the Countrey to such Charges And for the same reasone put a stopt to the further executione of the orders wee had given about the heretors and fencible men off all these our proceedings particular accompts with the proclamationes and addresses and other publict papers were from tyme to tyme transmitted to the secretaries by the Chancellour or the Clerks Since the sea victorie upon Intelligence from Collonell Hill that a fleet of ships appeared on the North coasts which were supposed to be French wee again secured severalls who hade come in upon baill And whom otherwayes wee hade resoled to dismiss And particularly the Earle of Home But these ships not proveing French wee dismissed both him and the rest of them They still Continowing there baill³ wee have Lykewayes proceeded to put the oaths to such as refused the above mentioned Engadgement And haveing begun with the heretors of this shyre some of them have taken both the alleadgeance and assureance others have refused both whom wee have therefore Imprisoned A third sort took only the alleadgeance whom wee forbore to Imprisone till wee should know your majesties pleasure whether the alleadgeance allone which hade been the single conditione of the Indemnity granted to the Highlanders should not suffice to take off the suspicione of dissaffectione to the government which these have Incurred that refuse the Engadgement But since the receaveing your majesties Comands wee have proceeded without distinctione Imprisoneing equallie these who refuse the assureance only alswell as these that refuse both wee have also Considered the disadvantage the natione wes at dureing the Late danger from the want of ane usefull militia And in obedience to your majesties comands have been at paines on that subject But find the defects of the present Establishment of the milita to be such That without a parliament true remedies will hardly be practicable In the mean whyle wee have transmitted a schem of Fyve thousand foot To be modelled in the maner therein mentioned which we have desyred to be Laid befor your Majestie not doubting But that if it be practicable as wee hope it is It will prove most effectuall for your⁴ majestyes service and the safety of the Kingdome. Wee have further In obedience to your Majestyes Letter Given orders to your Sollicitor for Citeing all these of this Kingdome who have gone to France since your Descent into Brittaine and the declaratione of warr And for raiseing processes of treasone againest the Earle of Sieforth and other officers formerly in Sir Thomas Livingstouns regiment of dragoons And because the witnesses against the Lord Bellinden are in Flanders in your majesties service wee have delayed doeing any thing in that matter till secretarie Stair make a returne to the accompt of it transmitted to him by the sollicitor And so soon as wee understand that the sollicitor hes got prooffs that the Duke of Gordon and others abroad have been in armes with the Late King James wee shall give warrand for process of treasone againest them wee have Lykewayes under our Consideration the setleing of Justiciarie in the Highlands And finding it absolutely necessarie for the quyet of that Countrey wee have sent the draught of a Commissione to the secretarie to be Laid befor your Majestie Wee have also hade under our Consideratione how to execute the other Certificationes in the act of parliament againest the refusers of the oathes besydes that of Imprisonement And wee have been slow in pressing the oathes till wee should come to a resolutione about this But now the vaccatione comeing on which in some measure putts a stopt to our proceedings in that matter wee have come to no determinatione in it, But have Continowed in prisone such of the heretors of this shyre as wee hade alreadie Comitted And have appointed the members of this boord in the severall shyres In which they shall reside dureing the vaccatione to prepare the heretors of there shyres alse much as is possible for the takeing of the oathes particularly to dispose the Comissioners of Supplie, who by not accepting or not acting have given ground of suspicion that they are dissaffected to the government to give good example and others in takeing the oath of alleadgeance and assureance This is the summe of our proceedings this summer which wee hope your majestie will accept of, as the best testimonie wee could give for the tyme of the duety and zeall of – May it please your majestie – Your Majesties most Loyall most faith[ful] and most obedient subjects and servants Sic subscribitur Tweeddale cancel: Queensberrie Drumlangrig Linlithgow Strathmore Forfar Kintore Breadalbaine Tarbat Stair Carmichaell William Master of Forbes James Johnston William Enstruther Archibald Murray Robert Sinclair William Lockhart Patrick Murray