Register of St Catherine of Siena Near Edinburgh
^{~A Bannatyne Club Publication~}

Liber Conventus S. Katherine Senensis Prope Edinburgum (1841) is the cartulary and record book of the Dominican convent of St Catherine of Siena (Sciennes) near Edinburgh. Published by the Bannatyne Club as No. 21, the volume preserves the surviving charters, grants, and internal acts of this small but significant house of Dominican nuns founded in the early sixteenth century. The documents illuminate the convent’s landed endowment, its relations with local benefactors, and the practical administration of a late-medieval Scottish nunnery in the decades immediately before the Reformation.

Citation:
Liber Conventus S. Katherine Senensis Prope Edinburgum. Edinburgh: Bannatyne Club, 1841.

Master Index

Liber Conventus S. Katherine Senensis Prope Edinburgum
Preface, page xxvi

Date of the Entry Editorial note (referring to the foundation of St Laurence Hospital, early 16th century context; the note itself is from the 1841 edition)

Guthrie(s) Identified

• Richard Guthrie, Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Thomas the Martyr, of Arbroath

Guthrie Role Founder of the Hospital of Saint Laurence near Haddington. He endowed the hospital with various possessions and rents; the foundation charter required the Master of the Hospital to give yearly to the lepers in the Leper’s House at Haddington one chalder of meal, bear, or wheat.

Other Primary Parties Identified None in the immediate note (the later parliamentary ratification of 1592 is mentioned in the same footnote).

Original Document Language English (editorial)

Purpose Editorial footnote explaining the origin of the lands of Saint Laurence House near Haddington, which later came into the possession of the Sciennes convent. The note attributes the foundation of the hospital to Richard Guthrie, Abbot of Arbroath.

Modern English Translation (Editorial footnote)

The Hospital of Saint Laurence, “bewest” the town of Haddington, was founded by Richard Guthrie, Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Thomas the Martyr, of Arbroath, and endowed with various possessions and rents. By the foundation charter it was provided that the Master of the Hospital should give yearly to the lepers within the Leper’s House at Haddington, one chalder of meal, bear, or wheat, for their sustentation and support, payable half yearly, at Whitsunday and Martinmas. The gift was confirmed by the Crown.

Historical or Genealogical Significance

• Records Richard Guthrie as Abbot of Arbroath and founder of the Hospital of St Laurence near Haddington.
• Provides a concrete example of a Guthrie abbot engaging in charitable foundation and endowment in the pre-Reformation period.

Legal Terms and Scottish Practices

• Foundation charter: The formal instrument establishing a hospital or religious house and defining its endowments and obligations.
• Chalder of meal, bear, or wheat: A standard grain measure used in Scottish teind and charitable payments.

Liber Conventus S. Katherine Senensis Prope Edinburgum
Preface, page lx

Date of the Entry Editorial note (referring to an inventory of 1638)

Guthrie(s) Identified

• Alexander Guthrie, Town Clerk of Edinburgh

Guthrie Role Compiler of an “Inventar” of the writs of the City of Edinburgh made in the year 1638. The editor quotes from this inventory concerning the altarage of St Catherine in the Church of St Giles.

Other Primary Parties Identified None directly in the note.

Original Document Language English (editorial) with Scots excerpts

Purpose Editorial citation of an inventory of Edinburgh’s municipal writs compiled by Alexander Guthrie, Town Clerk, used here to document the history of the altar of St Catherine in St Giles Kirk.

Modern English Translation (Editorial text)

Maitland, in his History of Edinburgh, remarks that there was an altarage in the Church of Saint Giles in honour of the elder Saint Catharine. The following excerpts, relative to this foundation, are taken from an “Inventar” of the writs of the City of Edinburgh, made in the year 1638, by Alexander Guthrie, who held the office of town clerk:—

Historical or Genealogical Significance

• Records Alexander Guthrie serving as Town Clerk of Edinburgh and compiling (or being credited with) a formal inventory of the burgh’s writs in 1638.
• Provides an additional archival reference to a Guthrie holding the important municipal office of Common Clerk / Town Clerk of the capital.

Legal Terms and Scottish Practices

• Inventar of writs: A formal catalogue or inventory of a burgh’s or institution’s title deeds and muniments.
• Town Clerk / Common Clerk: The principal permanent official responsible for the custody of the burgh records.

Liber Conventus S. Katherine Senensis Prope Edinburgum
Appendix, page 65

Date of the Entry 28 January 1588 (document referenced)

Guthrie(s) Identified

• Mr Alexander Guthrie, Town Clerk of Edinburgh

Guthrie Role Recipient of a receipt from John, Lord Lyndsay, acknowledging a tack (lease) that had been granted by Dame Isabel Hepburn, Prioress of Haddington.

Other Primary Parties Identified

• John, Lord Lyndsay (issuer of the receipt)
• Dame Isabel Hepburn, Prioress of Haddington (grantor of the tack)
• Andrew Schetholme, her spouse (consenting)

Original Document Language English (editorial summary)

Purpose Editorial notice of a receipt showing that Mr Alexander Guthrie, Town Clerk of Edinburgh, held or was involved with a tack originally granted by the Prioress of Haddington.

Modern English Translation (Editorial summary)

Receipt by John Lord Lyndsay to Mr Alexander Guthrie, Town Clerk of Edinburgh, for a tack granted by Dame Isabel Hepburn, Prioress of Haddington, with consent of Andrew Schetholme, her spouse, 28th January 1588.

Historical or Genealogical Significance

• Provides a further dated reference (1588) to Mr Alexander Guthrie serving as Town Clerk of Edinburgh.
• Shows him dealing with property interests connected to a religious house (the Prioress of Haddington).

Legal Terms and Scottish Practices

• Tack: A lease of land or teinds.
• Receipt: Formal acknowledgement of the delivery or holding of a document or right.