The sheriffdom of Clackmannan Author:James Wallace Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: NOTES ON THE SHERIFF'S PROCEEDINGS, EXCERPTS FROM THE RECORDS OF COURT. The records of the Sheriff Courts during the time when the families of Menteith and... more » Bruce held office are not now extant, and the manner in which they performed their duties can only be gathered from some scattered notices respecting them in public documents. The account, before referred to, which was rendered by Sir John Menteith in 1359, and which is preserved in the Exchequer Rolls, is the earliest of these records. It is interesting, as showing not only the manner in which the Sheriff performed his duties as Crown receiver, but also the state of the county at the time. An abstract of it will be found in the Appendix. It appears from that document that the Crown was then possessed of several estates, small crofts, meadows, and orchards in the sheriffdom, as well as of the forest of Clackmannan. The Sheriffs account mentions several farms by the names which they still bear, such as Gartenkier, Grassmainston, and others, and these were then Crown property. It further appears that at the date of the account the town and castle of Clackmannan were in the possession of the Crown, because the Sheriff was constable of Clackmannan,and the revenue derived from the constabulary or lands attached to the castle was considerable. In 1331 there were received from that source 42 chalders and 5 bolls of victual. The king had also gardens at Clackmannan, and occasionally visited at the castle. But the rents received by the Sheriff were very small, as the larger rents were bestowed by the king on Court favourites in gift. Thus it is said that only 18s. had been received from the lands of Gaty- shend, because they had been in the hands of Robert de Bruce by gift from the king. A si...« less