INDENTURE. A.D. 1417.

THIS Indenture made between Thurstan de Tyldesley and Roger de Haysnap, commissioners of Lord John de Stanley, Lord of Man and the Isles, on the one part, and John Clerk, judge of Mann, William Skerf, Reginald Stevenson, William de Yvennowe, John Rede. Gilbert McWanty, Patrick McIon, Andrew John Mc euyn, Gilbert McHanghan, Patrick McKane, William McAlisandre, Patrick Tomelynson, Gilbert Mc Isak, Gilbert McAndras, Mark McOtter, Donald McCroyne, Donald Mc Brewe, William McCrystyn, William Abelson, Doncan Abelson, John Mc ffergus, Hugh McKnalytt, John McSealy, Patrick McHelly, and Andrew Raynesson, the xxiiii keys of Mann, on the other part, witnesseth that the aforesaid xxiiii keys of the law, with the judge of Mann, say, and for the public law declare, that whatever liege tenant or liege tenants of the Lord of Mann shall do or cause to be done any case of felony, and fly or withdraw the Lordship, or remove from the territory of the Lord of Mann into the liberties of the Barons, and he or they shall be required by the Lord of Mann or his ministers, to return to the land to the administration of the law, and if he or they excuse themselves, not consenting to return thence, and if any of their Barons within the Lordship ofMann shall retain him, or her, or them, or they shall retain under the pretexts of their liberty or his liberty, or any other manifest cause, that then he shall forfeit to the Lord, for such offence of retention, in every case above mentioned, lx.s., and he or they shall answer for the body of the before said transgressor, in every case above mentioned, at the jail or prison of the Lord of Mann, and this under the penalty of forfeiting all their liberties into the hands [of the Lord].

Likewise they are to declare and deliver as the common law, that no liege tenant of the Lord, nor any serving within the lordship of Mann, shall depart, remove, nor withdraw from the land of the lord to the land of any of the Barons, for the purpose of delay, without licence of the lord, under the penalty aforesaid for felonies. In testimony of which things both the said xxiiii keys of the law, and also the judge before said, the commissioners have respectively appended their seals. Attested at the castle of Russhen, Tuesday, the 1 8th day of January, in the year of our Lord 1417, and the fifth of the reign of the lord of Mann.

INDENTURA. CASTRUM DE RUSHEN.

[note the given latin script kept the abbreviated hand and used characters not representable within the HTML latin alphabet - as the resulting scan is not usable I have decided to omit it ]

[for Latin see Manx Soc vol 3]

1 For the correct reading of the text of the above document, the oldest in Castle Rushen, I am indebted to my friend Wm. Hardy, Esq., the Keeper of the Records of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor
HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 1999