Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

42
INVERNESS-SHIRE.
that time, the whole of the kingdom to the north of
the Grampians. An act which allows any man ac-
cused of theft a certain period to produce the person
from whom he might allege that the goods had been
bought, runs in this style : — ' Aif ane dwellis bezond
Drum-Albin, in Moray, Ross, Caithness, Argyle, or
in Kintyre, he sail have fyfteen daies and eke ane
month, to produce his warrand before the schiref ;
and gif he goes for his warrand dwelland in Moray,
Ross, or in any of the steids or places pertaining to
Moray, and can nocht find nor apprehend his war-
rand, he shall pass to the schiref of Innerness, wha
sall,'&c ['Reg. Majes. 1. 16.'] The names Moray,
Ross, &c, are indeed sufficiently ancient, as applied
to certain districts of the country, but their signifi-
cation is vague and indefinite. We may suppose,
however, that the ' steids ' appertaining to Moray,
refer to the limits of the bishopric, Moray being the
only existing see north of Spey, previous to the reign
of David I. The shire of Moray appears to have
been disjoined from Inverness as early as the year
1263, when Gilbert de Rule, knight, is mentioned in
a deed in the chartulary of Moray, as sheriff of Elgin.
It may, indeed, be reasonably doubted whether his
jurisdiction extended over the whole county of Moray
in the modern acceptation of the term : in fact, the
title of sheriff of Moray does not occur till near a
century after this ; the office being first created in
the person of Alexander Dunbar, son to the last
James Dunbar, Earl of Moray. Even about this
time, however, we find the sheriff of Inverness con-
tinued to exercise some jurisdiction within the county
of Moray or Elgin : for, in a question respecting the
multures of the lands of Quarrywood, near Elgin,
Robert Hay, sheriff of Inverness, gave judgment
along with ' the honourable and potent Lord Archi-
bald Douglas, knight,' who must have been the Earl
Archibald, and not merely the sheriff, as the author
of the History of Moray supposes. The shires of
Forres, and Nairn, and of Crombath or Cromarty,
appear to have been erected as early as that of Elgin :
we find them mentioned in the regulations adopted
for the government of Scotland by Edward I., in
1304. The regulations being little known, an ex-
tract — from Rymer's ' Foedera' — is here made of a
part of them, which throws much light on the divi-
sion of Scotland at that period : —
Likewise it is agreed, that the viscounts [heriffsj' who
shall dwell in the land, tie people born <if the cnuutry oi Scot.
land, or English, and be appointed and removed by the king's
lieutenant and by the chamberlain, according to their discre-
tion. These sheriffs perform every thing relating to escheats,
as the sheriffs were wont to do; and that they who shall be
appointed sheriffs be the most sufficient, the fittest, and most
profitable that can be found, for the king, for the people, and
for keeping and maintaining the peace ; and for the present,
the roll of sheriffs to be as follows: —
1. That the chamberlain, who shall have the keeping of the
castle of Berwick, appoint under him such a one as lie
can answer for, to be sheriff of Berwick.
2. Of Edinburgh, Haddington,
and Linlithgow, . . Ive de Adeburgb, sheriff.
3. OI Peebles, . . Robert Hastings 'valett,'
sheriff.
4. Of Selkirk, . . . • He who has it in Fief,' viz.
The heritable sheriff.
5. Of Dumfries, . . Richard Siward.
fi. Of Wigton, . . . Thomas MacCulloch.
7. Of Ayr, . . . Godefroi de Ros.
H. Of Lanark, . . . Heuri de St. Clair,
y. Of Ounbartou, . . Jolinde Montieth, sheriff and
constable, i. c. of the castle.
10. Of Stirling, . . . William Hissett, sheriff and
constable.
11. Of Clackmannan, . Malcolm de InnerpehVr.
12. Of Auchterarderand Kinross, ' He who has it in Fief,' viz.
The heritable sheriff.
13 Of Fife, , . Constant.ine de Lochore.
14. Of Perth, . . John de lnchmartyu.
15. Of Forfar, . . . William de Airth.
111. Of Kincardine, . . Richard de Dunmore.
17. Of Aberdeen, . Norman de Leslie.
18. Of Banff', . . Walter de Barclay.
\% Of Elgin, . . , William Wiseman. .
20. Of Forres and lunernairn, Alexander Wiseman.
SI. Of Inverness, . . John de Stirling.
22. Of Cromarty, . . William de Urquhart, of Ur-
quhart, who is heritable
sheriff. 1
In this list, we may observe Elgin is distinct from
Forres and Nairn ; no notice is taken of Renfrew,
which was probably included in Lanark, nor of Kirk-
cudbright ; Argyle, Caithness, and Sutherland, could
hardly be subdued, or with Ross may have been in-
cluded in Inverness. It does not appear that Edward
removed any of those persons who held their offices
by charter, since we find the heritable sheriffs ot
Kinross, Selkirk, and Cromarty, are mentioned : the
name of the last is much disfigured by successive
transcribers, but we are still able to discover that the
Urquharts of Cromarty had a separate jurisdiction in
this small tract, while most of the north of Scotland
was comprehended in the shire of Inverness. This
system of hereditary jurisdiction, — which we see had
already begun, — extended by degrees over the greater
part, if not the whole, of Scotland. It was in many
instances of the most pernicious effect, in obstruct-
ing or defeating the purposes of justice and national
polity, while, to accommodate the prejudices of feu-
dal times, some singular annexations and subdivisions
were made in the different counties. The abolition
of this system, in 1748, is therefore considered, with
justice, as one of the greatest national benefits that
Scotland ever received, — of greater importance to
her prosperity and welfare than even the Union of
the kingdom. But the act of 1748, though well-
intended, did not do enough ; for, although these
annexed lands were by that act made subject to the
sheriff-courts of that shire in which they are locally
situate, or to which they are more immediately adja-
cent, yet in all other cases, whether of police, taxa-
tion, military service, or elective franchise, they re-
main in the same circumstances as before. Whether
the ancient sheriff is to be considered as a civil or a
military officer, is not determined. Besides his office
as a judge, he had the power of calling out the mili-
tia and presiding at ' Weapon-sha wings,' though this
probably only extended to the freeholders or tenants
in capite. It would appear, however, that there was
no sheriff but in the stations where royal fortresses
existed. This was, at least, the case at Elgin, For-
res, Nairn, and Inverness, to the north of which last
mentioned place there does not appear that any royal
fortress ever existed. The sheriff also appears to
have been ex officio keeper or constable of the castle.
We see that this is particularly mentioned with
respect to the important fortresses of Stirling and
Dumbarton under Edward ; and we shall find it the
case likewise in Nairn. Justice was at that time
more frequently administered in the halls of the
baron, or by the decision of the church, than in the
court of the sheriff, and hence we may account for
the influence which the clergy had in regulating the
bounds of counties. The erection of the sheriffdom
of Moray, properly so called, took place in the reign
of James II., and was, perhaps, the first material
dismemberment of the shire of Inverness. In tracing
its history, it appears that Thomas Randolph had
been created Earl of Moray with very extensive
powers by Robert Bruce. His jurisdiction compre-
hended the whole country from Spey to the Western
ocean ; and was bounded on the north by the river
Forna or Beauly. This earldom, after two genera-
tions, reverted, by the failure of male heirs, to the
Crown. John Dunbar, descended from the Randolphs
by the female line, having married a daughter of
Robert II., was created Earl of Moray, with the ex-
ception of Badenoch, Lochaber, and some other dis-
tricts. His descendant Alexander being accounted
illegitimate, was deprived of the earldom in the mi-