Proclamation, 9 May 1692, Edinburgh

Act, 29 December 1692, Edinburgh

Att Edinburgh the Nynth day of Maij Jaj vjc and Nyntie tuo years

A1692/5/521

Proclamation

Proclamation for Calling out the heretors and Fencible men

A proclamation for Calling out the heretors and Fencible men read approven and signed and ordered to be recorded whereof the tenor followes William and Mary be the Grace of God King and Queen of Great Brittaine France and Ireland defenders of the faith to our Lyon King at armes his brethren heraulds, macers of our privie Councill pursevants messengers at armes our shirreffs in that pairt Conjuctlie and severally specially Constitute Greeting Forasmuch as wee with advyce of our privie Councill have thought fitt for putting the Countrey in a posture of defence, againest the Invasione of French and Irish papists threattened to this our ancient Kingdome, whereby it may become the seatt of a bloodie warr to appoint all the Fencible persones betuixt sixtie and sixteen in the shyres underwreitten being nearest to the places where the said Invasione is apprehended to be designed to be in readines when advertised with with there best horses armes and provisiones to attend our host for resisting the said horrid Invasione And have Named severall officers to Comand the heretors and Fencible men who are not heretors, And by letters direct from our privie Councill for that effect Have Impowered the saids officers named, with Consent of the Commissioners to name the other Inferior officers Not alreadie Nominate by our privie Councill in the saids severall Letters And to Intimate a place of randevouze for the saids heretors to randevouze at when advertised and particular places within each paroch for fencible men that are not heretors to assemble and randevouze at when requyred And it being Convenient that the saids heretors and other Fencible men should be randevouzed and mustered by there officers at the saids places at some fitt day befor it be necessarie to call them out to actione To the end there Number armes and other provisione requisite may be the better knowen Therefor wee with advyce of our privie Councill peremptorly requyre and Command all heretors wodsetters and Lyfrenters betuixt sixtie and sixteen who are fencible men within the shyres and stewartryes following with there best horses and armes to randevouze under the Comand of the officers who are or shall be appointed and that upon the dayes and at the places respective aftermentioned viz the heretors of the shyre of Edinburgh at the Links of Leith the threttie first day of Maij. The heretors of the shyre of Haddingtoun at Beinstoun Muir the said day The Heretors of the Shyre of Berwick at Fogoe Muir the said day The heretors of the shyre of Roxburgh on the Muir upon the south syde of Ancrum bridge the said day The Heretors of the Shyre of Selkirk att Selkirk the said day The Heretors of the shyre of peebles at peebles the said day The Heretors of the shyres of Stirvling and Clackmannan at Strivling the said day The Heretors of Fyff and Kinross at Edensmuir the said day The Heretors of the Shyre of Linlithgow at Linlithgow bridge the said day The Heretors of the shyre of Lanerk att Hamilton the said thretty first day, The heretors of the shyre of Air at Air the said day The Heretors of the shyre of Arguyll at Innerary the said day The Heretors of the shyre of Dumbartoun att Dumbartoun the said day The Heretors of Renfrew att Renfrewmuir the said day The Heretors of the shyre of Drumfreiss att Dumfreiss the said day The Heretors of the shyre of Wigtoun and Stewartrie of Kirkcudbright att Glenluce the said day all at ten houres in the forenoon And sicklyke Wee with advyce forsaid perremptorly requyre and Comand all the Fencible persones within the said shyre and stewartrie not being heretors To Randevouze under there severall Captains at the cheif touns or paroch kirk within each Captains bounds upon the nynteint day of Maij instant with there best armes And wee hereby ordain the Comanders of the saids heretors and Captains of the said Fencible men who are not heretors To make Lists of the saids severall persones who shall appear at the saids severall randezvouzes And the saids Comanders of the heretors to make report to our Councill of the condition of the horse and armes of such as doe appear with all possible diligence And at fardest within Eight dayes Together with a list of such heretors as does not appear at the saids randezvouzes from the Clerks to the Comissioners of Supplie out of the books and rolls of assessment for the saids respective shyres and stewartrie which the Clerks are hereby ordained to give them gratis And that they take tryall what armes the saids absents have, or horses above the value of Ane Hundreth merks Scotts And wee ordain the saids Captains of the Fencible men betuixt and the day forsaid to make report to our privie Councill of the Number of persones and there names who shall appear at there severall randevouzes and the nearest Estimat they can make what greater Number might have been expected If all the Fencible men not heretors hade attended the saids randezvouzes, and of the Conditione of there armes And whether they have any other or better armes And wee Considering that by the tuenty eight act of the second session of our Current parliament our privie Councill is authorized to putt the oath of alleadgeance and the assureance subjoyned to the said act to every subject of this Realme as they shall see cause Declareing such as shall refuse to subscrybe the same shall be repute disaffected to our government And be depryved of any offices benefices or Jurisdictiones which they enjoy And shall be obleiged to give such security for there good behaviour and that they shall act no thing againest our government as our Councill shall think fitt provydeing it extend no further then bond, cautione or personall Imprisonement secureing of horses and arms or Garisoneing of houses and sieing there can be no greater occasione to call for such security and assureance to us and our government from our severall subjects And particularly the persones Intrusted by us with the Command of there heretors or fencible men And the saids heretors and Fencible men themselves within the severall shyres and stewartry abovenamed then the present threattened Invasione And the secureing the peace and quyett of the Countrey at such a tyme from all treasonable mischeiffs which may be Intented or designed by persones disaffected to us and our government Therefore wee with advyce of our privie Councill appoint and requyre all the officers alreadie named by our privie Councill To Command the saids heretors and Fencible men betuixt and the seventeint day of Maij current to swear and subscrybe the oath of alleadgeance and signe the assureance In presence of the Commissioners of Supply of the saids respective shyres or any tuo of them or to Instruct befor them that they have alreadie sworne and signed the same which is to be reported by the Comissioners to our privie Councill with a list of the Inferior officers to be named with consent of our saids Commissioners within eight dayes after at furthest And albeit wee have resolved to put no distinguishing Character upon any of our subjects without evident grounds of suspition that they will Complye with this abominable designe of Invasione whereby religion Liberty and property may be betrayed Into the hands of the most biggott biggott2 barbarous and Cruell papists Therefor and for the discoverie of the saids disaffected persones wee with advyce forsaid hereby Requyre and Command3 the wholl heretors wodsetters and Lyfrenters who are Fencible men within the saids severall shyres and stewartrie to attend upon and meet with the Justices of peace within the same or any tuo of them upon one of other of the dayes and at the dyetts underwreitten or to such particular day and dyett as the saids Justices of peace shall requyre any of them who does not attend the dyetts of the first week aftermentioned And sicklyke that the saids Justices of peace doe meet and attend the heid burgh of the respective shyres and stewartrie from ten to twelve in the forenoon and from tuo to four in the efternoon with the Clerk of supplie to serve them for the tyme each wedensday and Thursday of every week untill the randezvouse of the saids heretors at the dayes above sett doun to propose to all the heretors wodsetters and Lyfrenters who are Fencible men within there severall Jurisdictiones the engadgement underwreitten (whereof the tenor is hereto subjoyned) And to make returne of the subscriptiones of such as doe willingly subscrybe the same to our privie Councill with all possible diligence after the said day that it may be knowen of whom the said oath of alleadgeance and bond of assureance should be requyred Conforme to and under the Certificationes in the forsaid act of parliament And wee with advyce forsaid requyre and Command the saids Justices of peace to tender and administrat the oath of alleadgeance and assureance to all such of the saids heretors wodsetters and Lyfrenters within there respective bounds as shall not voluntarly subscrybe the said engadgement And in Lyke maner wee with advyce forsaid perremptorly Command and charge under the pain of rebellion and being put to the horne and to be further persued and pubished as persones dissaffected to our government all the Fencible heretors Lyfrenters and wodsetters betuixt sixtie and sixteen who shall not appear befor the Justices of peace at the dyetts forsaids, or appearing shall not subscrybe the said Engadgement and each one of them to delyver upon oath there horses above the pryce of Ane Hundreth merks with there furniture and armes into the hands of the Justices of peace of the saids severall shyres and stewartry to be secured by them for the publict service And the saids Justices of peace are hereby authorized and requyred to give and put the saids horses with there furniture in the Custodie and keeping of stablers hostlers or Inkeepers or in the Custodie of other persones who shall undertake to keep and be ansuerable for them at the ordinary rates to be payed by there ouners And shall restore the same again with the furniture and armes to the proper ouners thereof when the present danger is declared by proclamatione to be over And that in the mean tyme the saids horses shall be Imployed for no other use but for publict service In case of ane Invasion or Insurrection And wee with advyce forsaid declare that what dammadge or detriment shall befall the saids horses furniture and armes throw the fault of the saids keepers or there ryders to whom they shall be Comitted shall be satisfyed and payed to the respective owners With power nevertheles to the saids stablers hostlers or other keepers of the saids horses to persue and call for the pryce of what entertainment they shall have advanced for the saids horses from there respective owners at the ordinarie rates when and in what maner so ever they think fitt and convenient And Because It may contribute much to our service in the premisses that there be Justices of peace appointed in the saids shyres where they are wanting There for wee with advyce forsaid Conforme to the act of parliament made there anent Declare appoint and authorize the Commissioners of supplie of the respective shyres forsaid who have or shall qualifie them selves according to Law to be Justices of peace in the saids shyres with power to them to doe and performe everie thing which to the said office and trust is Competent and known to belong and pertain by the severall Lawes and acts of parliament made thereanent and Instructiones therein set doun Our Will is Herefore And wee Charge yow straittly and Command That Incontinent these our Letters seen ye pass to the mercat croce of Edinburgh and to the remanent mercat crosses of the wholl heid burghes of the severall shyres and stewartrie above named And there in our name and authority be open proclamatione make publication of the premisses that none pretend Ignorance And ordaines these presents to be printed Given under our Signet at Edinburgh the Nynth day of Maij and of our reigne the Fourth year Jaj vjc and Nyntie tuo years subscribitur ut sederunt Followes the tenor of the Engadgement above mentioned Wee […] Bind and obleidge us upon our honour and the faith of a Christian that wee shall Live peaceablie under the government of there majestyes King William and Queen Mary King and Queen of this Realme And shall act consult or contryve nothing in prejudice thereof Nor Concurr with Nor assist any Invasione or Insurrection in Brittaine by Councill Contribution of money horses armes amunition or any other warlyke force And shall not Converse Entertain, harbor, resett, or Conceall any of the saids Invaders or there partakers associatts or accomplices what ever they shall profess or pretend to be there cause or designe by the presence or Comand of the Late King James or any wayes. Nota the subscriptiones in the principall are after the forsaid tenor of the engadgement.

At Edinburgh 9 May 1692

A1692/5/521

Proclamation

Proclamation for calling out the heritors and fencible men

A proclamation for calling out the heritors and fencible men was read, approved and signed and ordered to be recorded, whereof the tenor follows: William and Mary by the grace of God king and queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defenders of the faith, to our Lyon King of Arms, his brethren heralds, macers of our privy council, pursuivants, messengers at arms, our sheriffs in that part, jointly and severally, specially constituted, greeting. Forasmuch as we with advice of our privy council have thought fit for putting the country in a posture of defence against the invasion of French and Irish Catholics threatened to this our ancient kingdom, whereby it may become the seat of a bloody war, to appoint all the fencible persons between sixty and sixteen in the shires underwritten, being nearest to the places where the said invasion is understood to be intended to be in readiness when advertised with their best horses, arms and provisions, to attend our host for resisting the said horrid invasion, and have named several officers to command the heritors and fencible men who are not heritors, and by letters directed from our privy council for that effect, have empowered the said officers named, with consent of the commissioners to name the other inferior officers not already nominated by our privy council in the said several letters, and to intimate a place of rendezvous for the said heritors to rendezvous at when advertised and particular places within each parish for fencible men that are not heritors to assemble and rendezvous at when required. And it being convenient that the said heritors and other fencible men should be rendezvoused and mustered by their officers at the said places at some fit day before it is necessary to call them out to action, to the end that their number, arms and other necessary provision may be better known, therefore we with advice of our privy council peremptorily require and command all heritors, wadsetters and liferenters between sixty and sixteen who are fencible men within the shires and stewartries following with their best horses and arms to rendezvous under the command of the officers who are or shall be appointed and that upon the days and at the places respectively aftermentioned, viz: the heritors of the shire of Edinburgh at Leith Links on 31 May; the heritors of the shire of Haddington at Beanston Muir the same day; the heritors of the shire of Berwick at Fogo Muir the same day; the heritors of the shire of Roxburgh on the muir upon the south side of Ancrum Bridge the same day; the heritors of the shire of Selkirk at Selkirk the same day; the heritors of the shire of Peebles at Peebles the same day; the heritors of the shires of Stirling and Clackmannan at Stirling the same day; the Heretors of Fife and Kinross at Edensmuir the same day; the heritors of the shire of Linlithgow at Linlithgow Bridge the same day; the heritors of the shire of Lanark at Hamilton the same day; the heritors of the shire of Ayr at Ayr the same day; the heritors of the shire of Argyll at Inveraray the same day; the heritors of the shire of Dumbarton at Dumbarton the same day; the heritors of Renfrew at Renfrewmuir the same day; the heretors of the shire of Dumfries at Dumfries the same day; the heritors of the shire of Wigtown and stewartry of Kirkcudbright at Glenluce the same day, all at ten houres in the forenoon; and similarly, we with advice foresaid peremptorily require and command all the fencible persons within the said shires and stewartry not being heritors to rendezvous under their various captains at the chief towns or parish kirk within each captain’s bounds upon 19 May instant with their best arms, and we hereby ordain the commanders of the said heritors and captains of the said fencible men who are not heritors to make lists of the said persons who shall appear at the said several rendezvous and the said commanders of the heritors to report to our council of the condition of the horses and arms of such as do appear with all possible diligence, and at the latest within eight days, together with a list of such heritors as do not appear at the said rendezvous from the clerks to the commissioners of supply out of the books and rolls of assessment for the said shires and stewartry, which the clerks are hereby ordained to give them gratis, and that they take trial what arms the said absentees have, or horses above the value of 100 merks Scots. And we ordain the said captains of the fencible men between now and the foresaid day to report to our privy council the number of persons and their names who shall appear at their various rendezvous and the nearest estimate they can make of what greater number might have been expected if all the fencible men not heritors had attended the said rendezvous, and of the condition of their arms and whether they have any other or better arms. And we considering that by the 28th act of the second session of our current parliament, our privy council is authorised to put the oath of allegiance and the assurance subjoined to the said act to every subject of this realm as they shall see cause, declaring that such as shall refuse to subscribe the same shall be reputed as disaffected to our government and be deprived of any offices, benefices or jurisdictions which they enjoy and shall be obliged to give such security for their good behaviour and that they shall do nothing against our government as our council shall think fit providing it extends no further than bond, caution or personal imprisonment, securing of horses and arms or garrisoning of houses, and seeing there can be no greater occasion to call for such security and assurance to us and our government from our subjects, and particularly the persons entrusted by us with the command of their heritors or fencible men and the said heritors and fencible men themselves within the various shires and stewartry abovenamed than the present threatened invasion and securing the peace and quiet of the country at such a time from all treasonable mischief which may be intended or designed by persons disaffected to us and our government. Therefore we with advice of our privy council appoint and require all the officers already named by our privy council to command the said heritors and fencible men between now and 17 May current to swear and subscribe the oath of allegiance and sign the assurance in presence of the commissioners of supply of the said shires or any two of them, or to instruct before them that they have already sworn and signed the same which is to be reported by the commissioners to our privy council with a list of the inferior officers to be named with consent of our said commissioners within eight days after at the latest, and albeit we have resolved to put no distinguishing character upon any of our subjects without evident grounds of suspicion that they will comply with this abominable design of invasion whereby religion, liberty and property may be betrayed into the hands of the most bigoted, barbarous and cruel Catholics. Therefore and for the discovery of the said disaffected persons, we with advice foresaid hereby require and command all the heritors, wadsetters and liferenters who are fencible men within the said various shires and stewartry to attend upon and meet with the justices of peace within the same or any two of them upon one of other of the days and at the diets underwritten or to such particular day and diet as the said justices of peace shall require any of them who do not attend the diets of the first week aftermentioned, and similarly that the said justices of peace meet and attend the head burgh of the respective shires and stewartry from ten to twelve in the forenoon and from two to four in the afternoon with the clerk of supply to serve them for the time, each Wednesday and Thursday of every week until the rendezvous of the said heritors at the days above set down, to propose to all the heritors, wadsetters and liferenters who are fencible men within their various jurisdictions the engagement underwritten (whereof the tenor is hereto subjoined), and to make return of the subscriptions of such as willingly subscribe the same to our privy council with all possible diligence after the said day that it may be known of whom the said oath of allegiance and bond of assurance should be required, according to and under the certifications in the foresaid act of parliament. And we with advice foresaid require and command the said justices of peace to tender and administer the oath of allegiance and assurance to all of the said heritors, wadsetters and lifrenters within their respective bounds as shall not voluntarily subscribe the said engagement, and similarly we with advice foresaid peremptorily command and charge under the pain of rebellion and being put to the horn and to be further pursued and punished as persons disaffected to our government all the fencible heritors, liferenters and wadsetters between sixty and sixteen who shall not appear before the justices of peace at the foresaid diets, or appearing shall not subscribe the said engagement and each one of them to deliver upon oath their horses above the value of 100 merks with their trappings and arms into the hands of the justices of peace of the said various shires and stewartry to be secured by them for the public service, and the said justices of peace are hereby authorised and required to give and put the said horses with their trappings in the custody and keeping of stablers, hostlers or innkeepers or in the custodie of other persons who shall undertake to keep and be answerable for them at the ordinary rates to be paid by their owners, and shall restore the same again with the trappings and arms to the proper owners thereof when the present danger is declared by proclamation to be over, and that in the meantime the said horses shall be employed for no other use but for public service in case of an invasion or insurrection. And we with advice foresaid declare that whatever damage or detriment shall befall the said horses, trappings and arms through the fault of the said keepers or their riders to whom they shall be committed shall be satisfied and paid to the respective owners with power nevertheless to the said stablers, hostlers or other keepers of the said horses to pursue and call for the price of whatever entertainment they shall have advanced for the said horses from their respective owners at the ordinary rates when and in whatever manner they think fit and convenient. And because it may contribute much to our service in the premises that there be justices of peace appointed in the said shires where they are wanting there, for we with advice foresaid according to the act of parliament made thereon, declare, appoint and authorise the commissioners of supply of the foresaid respective shires who have or shall qualify themselves according to law to be justices of peace in the said shires with power to them to do and perform everything which to the said office and trust is competent and known to belong and pertain by the several laws and acts of parliament made thereon and instructions therein set down. Our will is herefore and we charge you strictly and command that immediately on seeing these our letters you pass to the mercat cross of Edinburgh and to the other mercat crosses of all the head burghs of the various shires and stewartry above named, and there in our name and authority by open proclamation make publication of the premises that none pretend ignorance, and we ordain these presents to be printed. Given under our signet at Edinburgh 9 May and of our reign the Fourth year 1602. Subscribed as in the sederunt. Now follows the tenor of the engagement above mentioned: We […] bind and oblige us upon our honour and the faith of a Christian that we shall live peacefully under the government of their majesties King William and Queen Mary, king and queen of this realm and shall act, consult or contrive nothing in prejudice thereof, nor concur with nor assist any invasion or insurrection in Britain by counsel, contribution of money, horses, arms, ammunition or any other warlike force, and shall not converse, entertain, harbour, reset, or conceal any of the said invaders or their partakers, associates or accomplices whatever they shall profess or pretend to be their cause or design by the presence or command of the former King James or in any way. Note: the subscriptions in the principal are after the foresaid tenor of the engadgement.

1. PC1/48, 177-82.

2. Sic.

3. The word ‘all’ scored out here.

1. PC1/48, 177-82.