The privilege of being teind free competent to certain orders of friars; also not only to the temporal lords of execution, but to their vassals, for lands in their own possession.
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Thomas Crawford, as assignee by the Earl of Traquair to a decreet of the valuation of the teinds of Lethinhops, obtained decreet against the Laird of Preston Grange, heritor thereof; who suspended, upon this reason, That these lands were a part of the patrimony of the abbacy of Newbottle, which abbacy was of the Cistertian Order, which Order did enjoy that privilege, that they paid no teinds for their lands, while they were in their own labourage or pasturage, of which privilege not only the Abbots, but, after them, the Lord Newbottle and the defender have been in possession; and, accordingly, Sir John Stewart of Traquair having pursued the Lord Newbottle before the Commissaries of Edinburgh, in anno 1587, for the teinds of the lands of Newbottle, upon the same defence he was assoilzied; which decreet standing, must be sufficient to the defender, ay and while it be reduced; likeas, the defender stood infeft in the said lands by the King, which express privileges decimarum more solito. The charger answered, first, That the foresaid privilege, which sometime did belong to all monasteries, was, by Pope Adrian IV. limited to the Cistertian Order, Templars, Hospitallers, and that for such lands only as they had before the Lateran Council; so that the suspender cannot enjoy that privilege, first, Because he cannot instruct the lands to have belonged to the abbacy before that Council; 2dly, That being a privilege granted to churchmen, is personal, and cannot belong to their successors, being lay-men; and albeit the said decreet be in favours of the said Lord Newbottle, yet he was Commendator of the abbacy, and so in the title of the Order.
The Lords found this reason relevant, and instructed by the said decreet, and suspended, for such part of the lands as were in the suspender's own hand.
