extant' of thefe territories, are to be drawn from the Chartularies and other 
aftical records. The firft mention of the above caftle is, when the tythes o 
jacent lands are devoted, by Alexander Cumming, earl of Buchan, to P 
bendary of Turife : a charter of his, dated anno 1 2 7 2 *, consigning ample temto 
in thefe parts to pious and charitable ufes, expreffes at the fame time the wild 
fublime tenour of that devotional fpirit, which in that age breathed fervent as 
« Be it known in the general communion of the faithful, and to all the me^ 
« of the holy church ; to whom be endlefs joy in the Lord ! —that, in concert wi 
« right reverend Hugh de Bentrym, by the grace of God, bilhop of Aberdeen » h 
« the counfel and concurrence of the other venerable fathers, and bilhops of the n ^ 
« i n Scotland— That, full of the fpirit of divine love and chanty, zealous for ttr 
“ terefts of the faith, and the comfort of the indigent . iVfarfj 
« To the glory of the Moft High God, and in honour of the Bleffed irgin 
« and for the good of the fouls of our illuftrious king Alexander and his roya • 
« ceffors ; and that prayers may be made for my own foul, and for the fouls o 
“ fucceffors,” — &c. &c. . 1 f0 the 
He fpecifies, as is ufual, at great length, the boundaries of the lands appoin * 
maintenance of a reftor, fix chaplains, and to fupport continually thirteen of th ^ 
deferving hufbandmen, whom age or infirmities had rendered incapable of ea 
livelihood. . _ , aA\6o^ 
King Robert Bruce, anno 1328, the twenty-third ofhis reign, configned a ■ h , 
lands to the above religious inftitution and hofpital, in order that certain mat es 
be faid for the foul ofhis brother Nigelle, who fell in that neighbourhood. 
‘ The buildings requifite for thefe religious appointments, nfing near to t e J ^ ^ 
tower and fortrefs that was at Turiff, and proving inducements to a number ^ 
ditional fettlers to have their dwellings there, the fpreading village was con ^ 
a burgh of barony by king James IV. In a deed, of which the earl of Erro, QU t 
archbifhop of St. Andrew's, are witneffes, the king afligns, for the reafon of feW ° j 0 i» 
thefe lands, and building a town there, “ That it may be for the better accomm^. 
« and entertainment of his fubjefts, who fhall have occafion to fojourn in that q 
and the bilhop and chapter of Aberdeen, in a charter confirmative of the above, t cS 
the additional confiderations that made the royal edift meet with their con {i [ C nl 
and approbation : “ That the building of the borough might increafe the ecc ^ ^ 
« revenue, would be more efpecially for the benefit of the prebend and clergy ^ 
« place, and fo adminifter to the good of the Church, and the praife 0 1 
“ Author.” 1 , { 
ilk*' 
* signed at his caftle, and with his feal, in prefence of his brother the earl of M a n, a nd ® ^ ; s 
trious perfonages. The extrafts are tranflated from a copy in Mr. Urquhart’s poffe ’ ’ w 0 f 
of K. Robert Bruce's charter, of which his chancellor, Lord Marifchal, and other lords an 
houfehold, are the witneftes. 
