A. D. 1424. 



639 



Iiiftovy of that kingdom. la his firfl: parHament the great and fmall 

 cufloms and the burgh mailles (or rents) were annexed to the crown. 

 — The fluughter of fahnon in the improper feafon was ftritflly prohibit- 

 ed * — Cruivcs and yairs (engines for catching fifli) were prohibited in 

 tide rivers ; and thofe, who had right to fet them in rivers above the 

 tide, were enjoined to obferve the laws for preferving the breed of the 

 fiiii. — All mines, yielding three halfpennies of filver out of a pound of 

 lead, were declared the property of the kingf — The exportation of 

 gold and filver was permitted, but loaded with the prohibitory duty of 

 <^ per pound (i6| per cent); and foreign merchants were to prove 

 by the evidence of their hofts, that they had inverted the proceeds of 

 their imports in Scottifli merchandize, or paid the duty for exporting, 

 the money. — The following duties were impofed upon cattle and other 



■} 



goods carried out of the kingdom. 



Horses, oxen, and sheep, one shillings" 

 per pound of the value 



Heirlngs, per thousand I 



Herrings, barreled, taken by natives, per last 4 O 



■■ — by foreigners, 6 



Redherrings,curedinScotland,pertliousand O 4 



Skins of merlriks (martins) each 2 



of fowmarts (weasels) — O 



of cunnings (rabbits) perhundred . . I 



of otters and foxes per daker 



of harts and hinds 1 



of does and roes every ten 



J. 

 O 

 I 



o 

 6 

 

 4 



— The parliament empowered the king to reftore the money to an 

 equality with that of England |. — Able beggars were not to be permit- 

 ted to infeft the country ; and thofe efteemed proper objedls of charitv 

 were to be furniilied with tickets by the fhirrefs in the country, and by 

 the aldermen and bailies in the towns ||. [Acisjac. /, cc, 8, X2, 13, 14, 

 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 27.] 



Thefe regulations were intended to be permanent. But as it was ne- 

 cefTary to make provifion for the payment for which the kingdom was 

 bound to the king of England, a temporary law of this feflion [cc, 10, 

 11] impofed a tax of twelve pennies on every pound of rent and other 

 branches of income, and alio of the annual increafe of corn and cattle, 

 to be paid agreeable to a ftandard valuation fixed by parliament § : and 

 this tax was to be paid by the clergy as well as the laity. We learu 

 from Walter Bowar, one of the commiffoners for this taxation, that it 



* From an aft of the next fLflian the prohibited 

 feafon appears then to have begun on the 15"" of 

 Auguft and ended on the 30'" of November. 



■)- Tliis law is fomevvhat obfcuve. It fays, ' Gif 

 ' ony niyne of gold or filver be fundln in oiiy lordis 

 ' landis of the reahne, and it may be previt that 

 ' thre half pennyis of lilver may be fynit out of the 

 ' pund of leid : the lordis of parliament confentis, 

 • that fic myne be the kingis, as Is ufuai of utlicr 

 ' realmes.' — Wa3 the lead, with the filver, or only 

 the filver, to belong to the king ? Though gold is 

 mentioned, 1:0 provifion is made refpecling it. 

 Tliere was probably no expectation of ever finding 

 any : but fome gold was afterwards found In fome 

 of the rivulets of Scotland. 



X The Impoveriihed {late of the country, not 



yet recovered from the calamity of King David's 

 ranfom, and now further drained by the contribu- 

 tion for the boaid-money, ranfom, or finance, of 

 King James, together with the erroneous ideas of 

 tlic age concernirg money, operated more power- 

 fully than any act; of pailiament, and produced a 

 diminution, inllead of an improvement, of the mo- 

 ney of Scotland. See the appendix. 



II The repetition of this act in lefs tlian a vear 

 fliows that it was inefficient. 



§ Fur the rates fee the ajjpcndix of prices. But 

 it muH be obfervcd, that the articles are all much 

 undervalued, e. g. a boll of wheat only 2/, which 

 is much below the price in Englan.', and, allowing 

 for the diminution of the money, hclow the ufual 

 price in the happy days of Alexander III. 



