Precept Of Remission
By Richard Balsillie, March 2009

It has been known for many years by family researchers that the name Balsillye was mentioned in a “Precept of Remission” or Royal Pardon, dating from 1536.

In 2002 my cousin, Dianne McIntyre, visited Scotland and obtained a transcript of the document. Unfortunately, it was written in an ecclesiastical form of Latin of the middle ages, and was indecipherable by the Latin readers she subsequently consulted. A few years later I asked Fr Martin Wallace, a Catholic Priest, who is a scholar in medieval Latin to take a look at it.

Click here to view the translation

The references to Wark and Tantallon suggests that those mentioned in the document failed to participate in a raid on the English border fortess of Wark and an assault on Tantallon Castle in East Lothian, then home to the Douglas clan, who had betrayed James to the English.

Lindores is an Abbey lying on the River Tay. Neaby Reidnich is a reedy island in the river (now known as Mudgrum Island). We believe the crime involved the stealing of reeds from the island, the property of the Abbott. Reeds were then a valuable commodity used in the thatching of rooves.

The fact that James chose later to forgive these “crimes”, suggests that was looking for some support or favour from those “forgiven”.

There is also a possible family connection with the 1846 murder of Cardinal David Beaton at St. Andrews . The murder took place in revenge for the “burning at the stake” of a popular reformist priest, George Wishart. The party of twenty which raided the Cardinal’s Palace and murdered Beaton was led by John and Norman Leslie, two of the sons of Lord Rothes. Apart from the Leslie brothers, only a few of the party were named in the available records, but most of those who were, were also named in the Precept of Remission. Could it be that one or “ours” was also involved in this bloody act of vengeance?.

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