1681 LAND GRANT TO NOTED SCOTTISH JURIST, AUTHOR AND PROMINENT POLITICAL SCOTSMAN JAMES DALRYMPLE, 1st VISCOUNT OF STAIR

On offer is an excellent skin charter being a land grant from Charles II to well-noted jurist James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair, Scotland with mentions the Dukes of Rothes and Lauderdale, who were also prominent Scotsmen. Dalrymple was famed not only for his legal judgments but also he was a prominent character in Scotland's history having been involved in the negotiations between Charles and the Scottish Parliament. This grant was given at Edinburgh on the 10th of December 1680, absent of seals. There is another note on the back of the parchment to say that the charter was written at Edinburgh on the second of March 1681, suggesting the deal was struck in December but that the charter was not actually drawn up until the next March. Historically the Charters falls squarely between the Restoration period and when he was prominent until his sympathy with the Covenanters at the time of the Scottish Test Act caused him to lose (1681) his appointment as judge. The note giving March as the date for the writing of the charter appears to be in the same hand as the charter itself. Dalyrymple was a fascinating Scotsman who found himself on one side or the other of the Scottish-English political scene but was well considered. Sir Walter Scott observe that the Viscount of Stair was fortunate in his descendants. "The family of Dalrymple, produced within two centuries as many men of talent, civil and military, of literary, political and professional eminence, as any house in Scotland." Folded to a small 12mo. Save for some general soiling this ancient document is VG. Latin lauguage.