Charters and Documents
Relating to the City of Glasgow
1175 – 1649 in 2 Parts

Introduction

The series Charters and Documents Relating To the City of Glasgow 1175-1649, edited by J. D. Marwick (Sir James David Marwick), consists of two complementary parts published in Glasgow (1894 and 1897). Part 2 contains full transcriptions of 123 key charters and other documents, together with abstracts of further related material covering the period 1175–1649. Part 1 supplies an extensive historical preface and commentary that provides a detailed constitutional history of the City, plus abstracts of additional charters supplementary to those printed in Part 2. The volumes form part of the work associated with the Scottish Burgh Records Society and are freely available on British History Online.

Series Citation

Charters and Documents Relating To the City of Glasgow 1175-1649, ed. J. D. Marwick, 2 parts (Glasgow, 1894–1897), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/series/glasgow-charters.

Individual volume citations (BHO style):

• Charters and Documents Relating To the City of Glasgow 1175-1649 Part 1, ed. J. D. Marwick (Glasgow, 1897),British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/glasgow-charters/1175-1649/no1
• Charters and Documents Relating To the City of Glasgow 1175-1649 Part 2, ed. J. D. Marwick (Glasgow, 1894),British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/glasgow-charters/1175-1649/no2

Charters and Documents Relating To the City of Glasgow
1175-1649, Part 1
(Preface and Introductory Pages)

Part 1, p. 331 (Historical preface: 1626–35)

Date Background narrative covering 1588–1638 (with specific appointments in 1588, 1591×1593, and later career to 1638). The section itself is the historical preface for the years 1626–35.

Guthrie(s) Identified

• Collegiate church of Guthrie (place / institution) — previous ecclesiastical appointment of Patrick Lindsay before his later elevation.

Other Parties Identified

• Patrick Lindsay (later Bishop of Ross, then Archbishop of Glasgow) — subject of the biographical note; son of Lieut.-Col. John Lindsay of Downie.
• Archbishop Law — predecessor at Glasgow whom Lindsay succeeded in 1633.
• King James VI — grantor of later ecclesiastical gifts to Lindsay.

Summary In a detailed biographical sketch of Patrick Lindsay (future Archbishop of Glasgow), the editor records that Lindsay was appointed to the collegiate church of Guthrie in 1588. He remained there only a short time before being translated between 1591 and 1593 to St Vigeans (the parish church of the abbey of Arbroath). The remainder of the long paragraph traces Lindsay’s subsequent career, culminating in his translation to Glasgow in 1633 and his deposition by the General Assembly in December 1638.

Extract / Key Passage

“In 1588 he was appointed to the collegiate church of Guthrie, whence he was, between 1591 and 1593, translated to St. Vigeans, the parish church of the abbey of Arbroath.”

Historical and Genealogical Significance This is a pure place-name reference. The collegiate church of Guthrie (in Angus) was a late-medieval foundation (erected 1479) of which the lairds of Guthrie were hereditary patrons. The appointment of a non-Guthrie cleric (Patrick Lindsay) as minister/provost in 1588 is routine for the period after the Reformation, when many collegiate churches continued under new Protestant incumbents. No member of the Guthrie family is named in this particular passage. The reference is useful mainly for confirming the continued existence and functioning of the collegiate church into the late sixteenth century and for establishing a chronological benchmark for any future research into the patronage or staffing of the church.

Further Context

• The collegiate church of Guthrie stood in the parish of Guthrie, Angus. Only the Guthrie Aisle (south transept) survives today.
• After the Reformation the provosts were often the parish ministers; Patrick Lindsay is recorded as one of the later Protestant provosts.
• “Translated” is the standard ecclesiastical term for a move from one benefice to another.
• The long footnote cites standard authorities (Keith’s Catalogue of Scottish Bishops, Scott’s Fasti, etc.).

Source & Notes ‘Historical preface: 1626–35’, in Charters and Documents Relating To the City of Glasgow 1175–1649 Part 1, ed. J. D. Marwick (Glasgow, 1897), pp. cccx–cccli (specifically p. 331 / cccxxxi), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/glasgow-charters/1175-1649/no1/cccx-cccli [accessed 30 July 2026].

Index reference: “Guthrie, collegiate church of, 331”. This entry covers only the collegiate-church mention. The remaining index references (estate of Guthrie at p. 385; Andrew Guthrie and John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray, at pp. 385 & 457) will be processed separately once those pages are supplied.

Part 1, p. 385 (Historical preface: 1636–7) (Roman: ccclxxxv)

Date Events of 1638–1641 (with later retirement and death noted as occurring a few years after 1641). The surrounding section covers the years 1636–7.

Guthrie(s) Identified

• John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray — one of the four bishops named in connection with the sentences of the General Assembly; refused to submit, was excommunicated, expelled from Spynie, imprisoned, later liberated, and retired to his estate of Guthrie.
• Estate of Guthrie — the family property in Angus to which Bishop John Guthrie withdrew after his release in 1641.

Other Parties Identified

• George Graham, Bishop of Orkney — fellow bishop who disclaimed episcopal government.
• James Fairlie, Bishop of Argyle — fellow bishop who submitted to the change in church government.
• Neil Campbell, Bishop of the Isles — fellow bishop who subscribed the Covenant and abjured episcopacy.
• Presbytery of Edinburgh — body that excommunicated Guthrie prior to 11 July 1639.
• Parliament — body that liberated Guthrie on 16 November 1641.

Summary In the course of describing the fate of the Scottish bishops after the Glasgow General Assembly of 1638, the editor records that John Guthrie (Bishop of Moray), together with the bishops of Orkney, Argyle, and the Isles, was among those sentenced. Guthrie alone declined to obey the assembly’s sentence. He was consequently excommunicated by the Presbytery of Edinburgh before 11 July 1639, expelled from Spynie Castle on 16 July 1640, imprisoned in Edinburgh in September 1640, and finally liberated by Parliament on 16 November 1641. He then retired to his estate of Guthrie, where he died a few years later.

Extract / Key Passage

“These were John Guthrie of Moray, George Graham of Orkney, James Fairlie of Argyle, and Neil Campbell of the Isles. Guthrie declined to obey the sentence of the assembly, and was excommunicated by the presbytery of Edinburgh prior to 11th July, 1639. He was expelled from the episcopal residence at Spynie castle on 16th July, 1640, and was imprisoned at Edinburgh in September of the same year, but was liberated by parliament on 16th November, 1641. He afterwards retired to his estate of Guthrie, and died a few years afterwards [Fasti Ecclesiæ, V., p. 451].”

Historical and Genealogical Significance This is a key biographical notice for John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray (c. 1577–1649), who had become the eleventh chief of the Guthrie family through purchase of the barony in 1636. The passage confirms the sequence of his resistance to the Covenanting regime, his loss of the episcopal residence at Spynie, his brief imprisonment, and his final retirement to the ancestral estate of Guthrie in Angus. It supplies precise dates for the major stages of his fall from office and supports the traditional account that he spent his last years on the family lands. The reference to “his estate of Guthrie” is direct evidence of continued Guthrie possession of the core property at this date.

Further Context

• Spynie Castle (near Elgin) was the traditional episcopal residence of the Bishops of Moray.
• The Glasgow General Assembly of 1638 abolished episcopacy in the Church of Scotland; the four bishops named here were among those formally deposed.
• “John Guthrie of Moray” is the standard contemporary designation for the bishop when referring to him by his see.
• The citation to Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanae, Vol. V, p. 451, is the principal modern biographical authority for the later years of his life.

Source & Notes ‘Historical preface: 1636–7’, in Charters and Documents Relating To the City of Glasgow 1175–1649 Part 1, ed. J. D. Marwick (Glasgow, 1897), pp. cccli–ccclxxxvii (specifically p. 385 / ccclxxxv), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/glasgow-charters/1175-1649/no1/cccli-ccclxxxvii [accessed 30 July 2026].

Part 1, p. 457 (Historical preface: 1645–46)(Roman: cdlvii)

Date 16–20 January 1646 (orders for execution, sentence of forfeiture, and actual beheadings). The surrounding narrative covers the military and political events of 1645–46.

Guthrie(s) Identified

• Andrew Guthrie, son of the Bishop of Moray — one of five royalist prisoners ordered to be executed at St Andrews; sentence of forfeiture pronounced on 17 January; beheaded on 20 January 1646.
• John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray — identified as the father of Andrew Guthrie.

Correspondents / Other Parties Identified

• Sir Robert Spottiswood, son of the Archbishop — fellow prisoner ordered for execution.
• Lord Ogilvie (eldest son of the Earl of Airlie) — fellow prisoner; escaped before the executions.
• William Murray, brother of the Earl of Tullibardine — fellow prisoner.
• Nathaniel Gordon, son of John Gordon of Ardlogy — fellow prisoner.
• Committee of Estates / Parliament — authorities ordering the executions and forfeitures at St Andrews.

Summary In the aftermath of the royalist defeat at Philiphaugh and the subsequent executions of captured officers, the narrative records that on 16 January 1646 five prisoners—including Andrew Guthrie, son of the Bishop of Moray—were ordered to be executed at St Andrews. Sentence of forfeiture was pronounced upon them the following day. On 20 January all except Lord Ogilvie (who had escaped) were beheaded.

Extract / Key Passage

“On 16th January, 1646, Sir Robert Spottiswood, son of the archbishop, lord Ogilvie, eldest son of the earl of Airlie, William Murray, brother of the earl of Tullibardine, Nathanial Gordon, son of John Gordon of Ardlgy, and Andrew Guthrie, son of the bishop of Moray, were ordered to be executed at St. Andrews; on the following day sentence of forfeiture was pronounced upon them in their presence; (fn. 34) and on the 20th all of them, except lord Airlie, who escaped from prison, were beheaded.”

Historical and Genealogical Significance This is the only known contemporary printed reference in this source to Andrew Guthrie, the son of Bishop John Guthrie of Moray. It places him among a group of high-status royalist prisoners captured after Philiphaugh and confirms both his execution at St Andrews on 20 January 1646 and the formal sentence of forfeiture. The explicit identification as “son of the bishop of Moray” provides a firm genealogical link between the executed man and the former bishop who had retired to the estate of Guthrie after 1641. The forfeiture would have had direct implications for any property or rights held by Andrew and potentially for the wider family estate.

Further Context

• The executions followed the Covenanting victory at Philiphaugh (13 September 1645) and formed part of a wider series of reprisals against royalist officers and Irish troops.
• St Andrews was a frequent venue for high-profile political executions in this period.
• “Lord Airlie” in the final clause is a contemporary shorthand for Lord Ogilvie, eldest son of the Earl of Airlie.
• The footnote (fn. 34) almost certainly cites the official parliamentary or committee records for the sentences.

Source & Notes ‘Historical preface: 1645–46’, in Charters and Documents Relating To the City of Glasgow 1175–1649 Part 1, ed. J. D. Marwick (Glasgow, 1897), pp. cdl–cdlxxv (specifically p. 457 / cdlvii), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/glasgow-charters/1175-1649/no1/cdl-cdlxxv [accessed 30 July 2026].

Charters and Documents Relating To the City of Glasgow
1175-1649, Part 2

No Guthrie Entries in Part 2.