Mercers of Innerpeffray and Inchbreakie, from 1400 to 1513

21
19th March, 1513-14, a Letter of Tack was made to
Andrew Mersar, his heirs, assignees, and sub-tenants,
of the Queen's lands of Bachilton, in the lordship of
Methven, for nine years, from Whitsunday next to
come, at an annual-rent of £5.*
We have thus endeavoured to identify two of Inner -
peffray's sons as attached to the Royal household ; but
we cannot lay much stress on the reference to "James
Mercer " in the Accounts: and regarding the other two
sons — Vincent eludes all search, and in fact, George
is in much the same position. To be sure, we find that
among the witnesses of a Charter by James III.,
dated 19th July, 1485, confirming a Charter by David,
Earl of Craufurd and Lindsay, dated at Edinburgh, the
12th May pi-evious, granting the lands of Drumearn,
in his lordship of Glenesk, to found a Chapel at the
altar of St Catherine in the Cathedral of Brechin, the
name occurs of George Mercer, Esquire of the said
Earl.t But if David Mercer was a minor at his father's
death, his fourth son, George, must have been too
young in 1485, to act either as an Esquire or a witness
to a legal deed. It may be added that there was a
George Mercer, Bailie of Perth in 1518.
Something still remains. We shall now endeavour
to trace William Mercer in a new character, namely
that of a Scottish poet, and as the poet who is included
among other sons of our national lyre, by William
Dunbar, in his "Lament for the Makars," which
he composed "when he was sick," in 1507, and which
was printed at Edinburgh by Chepman and Myllar in
1508. In the course of his solemn enumeration of the
various famous bards of whom Death had reft the
north countrie, the land of song, Dunbar says —
He has left Mersar his indyte,
That did in luve so lyfly write,
So schort, so quick, of sentens hie,
Timor mortis conturbat me.
In the Bannatyne MS. (Advocates' Library) are three
* Privy Seal Register, vol. 5, p. 7.
t Register of the Episcopate of Brechin, vol. 1, p. 212
(Bannatyne Club).