Series 3 > Charters of the Abbey of Inchcolm

viii CHARTERS OF THE ABBEY OF INCHCOLM
considerable number of Inchcolm charters have disappeared.
Certain early charters, to which reference is made in sur¬
viving records (e.g. Charters, n. and vn.), were evidently
lost by 1420 when the Great Transumpt was made. These
defects are doubtless due to the vicissitudes which attended
the monastery in its sea-girt isle—William More of Aber-
corn’s charter of c. 1370-76 refers to ‘ cartas suas et
monumenta (sc. munimenta) per guerras et alium dire
sortis eventum ablatas et destfuctas ’ (Charters, xxxvm.).
Other records relating to the Abbey have been lost in
more recent times. Thus, the writ of 27th November 1521,
mentioned by Ross (Aherdour and Inchcolme, p. 101), is
no longer accessible, as the Canongate Protocol Book, in
which it was recorded, cannot now be traced ; likewise,
the charters noted in the Inventory of Pitfirrane Writs
(Scottish Record Society, 1932), compiled in 1834 from an
eighteenth-century original, and in the Historical Manu¬
scripts Commission’s Report on the Rothes Charters (1873),
have been sought in vain. An abstract of the two latter
charters is given in an Appendix, along with a list of
printed sources and references to the monastery.
The Rev. William Ross, LL.D., made use of the 1739
transcript in the composition of his book on Aherdour and
Inchcolme, to which reference is made here and there in
the present work. Although Ross’s volume is written
colloquially for the purpose of popular lectures and has
the limitations incidental to the fact that the author had
not access to certain sources, it gives a good account of
the Abbey’s history.
It may be mentioned that the name of the Abbey is
given in the form ‘ Inchcolm ’ rather than ‘ Inchcolme ’
as consonant both with its derivation and common usage.
The editors have pleasure in thanking those who have
helped them in the preparation of this volume. To the
Rt. Hon. the Earl of Moray, M.C., they are greatly in-