Series 1 > Miscellany of the Scottish History Society (First volume)

94
LETTERS OF
[1627
writt or be the ayth oft' the assignay to the gift. Writt we
haif none, and if it go to ayth I feir it sal lose. But thair
is ane vther point quhilk your lordschip hes forgett, and my
Lord Chester1 both—that thai allegit your brother wes relaxt
within yeir and day from the Lady Newbies2 horning, quhilk
is the horning quhairupon your lordschipis gift is takin. And
if this be trew, your lordschips gift and declaratour fallis for
the lyfrent albeit thair wer no former gift nor declaratour.
And I haif oftentymes writtin to your lordschip that if thai be
abill to schaw ane relaxatioun within yeir and day all the
earth can not mend it. But, my Lord, if thair can be ony
advantage gottin in the following of the process, I sal do it
with that cair and fidelity that becomes me in ane erand that
concerns your lordschip so nearly, and not only my sone, but
myself sail sollice the chancellor and haill lordis thairin.
As to my Lord Stormonth, I haif ansuerit that apart be
this vther, quhilk I writt befoir the ressait of thir your lord¬
schipis last letteris.
* And for your lordschipis advyse and judgement tuiching the
submissioun, I haif considerit it narrowlie, and intendis to
follow it becaus I find it both judicious and sure.
And quhair your lordschip askis if I had letteris of your
lordschip from Hamptoun Court of 4 October. My Lord, thay
com to me, being in Fyif, vpon the 16 of October, and no soner,
and on the 15 of October of befoir, and all the dayis of that
1 Sir Philip Stanhope of Shelford, Northamptonshire, who was elevated to
the peerage as Baron Stanhope in 1616, and advanced to the Earldom of Chester¬
field in 1628. He was a firm supporter of the royal cause during the civil wars.
Died 1656.—Burke’s Peerage.
2 Elizabeth Stewart, sister of the first Earl of Galloway, and widow of John
Johnstone of Newbie, an ancient barony in Dumfriesshire, subsequently absorbed
in the estates of Johnstone of that ilk. John Johnstone of Newbie, who was
Provost of Annan in 1604, died at Carlisle in 1605. His estate being entailed
on heirs-male, was claimed by an uncle, Robert Johnstone of Brigholme, but the
claim was resisted by his widow and family of seven daughters. For an account
of the proceedings which ensued see The Historical Families of Dumfriesshire,
by C. L. Johnstone, Dumfries, 1889, p. 148 seq. The allusion in the text is
probably to an action which was raised by Elizabeth Stewart, Lady Newbie, and
her second husband, Samuel Kirkpatrick of Hoddam, against Sir James Murray
of Cockpool, the Earl’s eldest brother, in 1610, for ‘non-payment of certain
dues.’—Ibid. p. 150.