Found in conformity with the King against Cairns, No 3. p. 8317.
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The Treasurer and Advocate pursued the Laird of Lundie for the single and double avail of his marriage, because his father, to whom he was heir, at the least apparent, held the lands and barony of Lundie ward of the King, and this Lundie was unmarried at the time of his father's decease, at the least he was married, within ten or twelve hours, immediately before his father's decease, after that he had contracted his deadly sickness, and after his speech was laid, the said marriage being precipitate, but proclamation of bands of a preaching day, against the common law, practice of the realm, and constitutions of the kirk, and done precipitately, unlawfully and clandestinly, manifestly to defraud the King of his right of the marriage, whereby he had taken from the King all occasion to make him a lawful offer of a party agreeable, and from himself all possibility to accept of a lawful offer of any party; and therefore seeing his fraud should neither profit him nor hurt any other, therefore he should be decerned to pay the single avail of his marriage, extending to L. 10,000, and the double avail thereof, extending to L. 20,000. The parties compearing, and their allegations heard and considered, the Lords found the summons relevant, repelled the whole exceptions, and admitted the summons to probation. It was affirmed by some of the Lords, that the like was decided betwixt the Treasurer and the Laird of St Monans, and betwixt the Treasurer and the Laird of Badinhaith; and the said practices were extracted by my Lord Elphinston, and in the hands of James Fogo his servant, to have been produced in the action intented against the Laird of Rossie for the like cause. This litiscontestation was made in Lundie's cause.
