History of the earldoms of Strathern, Monteith, and Airth

S2S HISTORY OF THE EARLDOMS OF
Pkoceedings of Monteith and his heirs,' ' his heirs' as ex-
IN THE House '
OP Lords. prcssed bv the Patent formerly granted, there
13th Aug. 1839. f , "^ . "^ °
c , f,. is no inconsistency.^
Speech oi the J
LordAdvocate. « gyt^ ^nj Lords, it docs not stop there. The
Crown proceeds to make a grant which it was
not usual ^ for the Crown to make, namely, the
Precedency formerly granted to the Earls of Mon-
teith, — a Precedency over all the Earls who had
been created subsequently. It goes on to say
that the Earl of Airth shall hold the Place and
Precedence of the Earls of Monteith in all time
to come. Now mark the consequences. That
is very intelligible if the heirs of the new
grantee were co-incident with the Earls of Mon-
teith ^ ; if, in creating the new Dignity of the
1 " Inconsistency " would be more easily, as well as more
satisfactorily avoided, by construing this Patent by the usual
rules of construction, viz. by what is contained within its
four corners. It states, that the Charter of the 6th of Sep-
tember, 1 428, was to the heirs of Earl Malise, and that the
grantee was the heir of liiie of that person ; and it then grants
the new Earldom to the heirs of the said grantee. All its
terms are, therefore, strictly accordant with the design of
the Crown, and with each other; and it is not until another
Charier is called in, that any inconsistency arises. It can-
not be necessary to observe, that the right to use the
Charter of the lands of Craynis, entirely depends upon
its being, undoubtedly, the Charter referred to in the Patent ;
but of that fact there is no proof.
2 See the numerous instances adduced in p. 208, 209. ante.
3 It is contended by the Claimant, on the authority of the
whole contents of the Patent of 1633, that the destinations
of the Earldoms were " coincident," and that the conditions
were " consistent." For remarks on the clause of precedency,
vide p. 79, 80. ante.