RMS – Volume 1
Guthrie Genealogy · Special Collections · Register of the Great Seal
RMS · Volume I
Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum
A.D. 1306–1424
Volume I contains only two direct Guthrie-related entries, but both are important: one preserves Guthrie as a territorial name, while the other names John Guthrie as the recipient of lands in Forfarshire. Several additional charters are included because they document the earlier tenure of Kincaldrum and Eassie before those places became associated with later Guthrie families.
Complete Survey · Volume IHistorical Context · 1306–1424
Volume I spans the Bruce dynasty and the beginning of Stewart rule. Its closing years also include the period during which James I was king but remained captive in England and government in Scotland was exercised through regents and governors.
Volume I · Guthrie Finding Aid
The finding aid deliberately separates records that actually name a Guthrie person or place from records included only because they document the earlier history of lands later important to Guthrie research.
| Charter | Date | Person / Place | Evidence | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | Undated · Robert III period | Guthrie; Eassie | Direct Place | Guthrie and Eassie included among lands erected into the barony of Downy. |
| 1956 | Undated · within volume span | John Guthrie | Direct Person | Confirmation involving half of the lands of Errol. |
| 870 | 16 Oct 1392/93 | Kyncaldrum / Kincaldrum | Contextual | Wemyss tenure before documented Guthrie association with Kincaldrum. |
| 1943–1944 | Robert III period | Eassie / Essie | Contextual | Ogilvy control and chaplaincy endowments from the barony before later Guthrie tenure. |
| 941 | 6 Jan 1407 | Kirkton of Eassie | Contextual | Ogilvy annualrent from Eassie supporting a chaplaincy at Brechin Cathedral. |
Direct Guthrie Evidence
These are the two Volume I entries in which Guthrie itself appears as either a territorial name or the surname of a named individual.
Undated · Robert III period Charter 87 · Guthrie within the Barony of Downy RMS I · printed p. 639 · project scan reference image 669
Document Focus
Confirmation concerning the barony of Downy, including Achebetoun, Inverraratie, Clova, Guthrie, Ecclis / Eassie, Ruthven and Glenesk, erected together as one barony to answer to the sheriff of Forfar.
Why This Record Matters
- It is the earliest territorial reference to Guthrie found in this RMS survey.
- It establishes Guthrie as a named territorial unit in Forfarshire before the better-documented Guthrie of that Ilk records of later volumes.
- The simultaneous appearance of Eassie is useful for tracing the earlier territorial history of two places that later become important in Guthrie research.
Evidence Note
This charter names Guthrie the place. It does not identify a person bearing the Guthrie surname and does not by itself establish a genealogical descent from the contemporary holder of the wider barony.
Source: Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, vol. I, charter 87, printed p. 639. The published entry is undated; the volume places it within the Robert III material.
Undated · within A.D. 1306–1424 Charter 1956 · John Guthrie & Half of the Lands of Errol RMS I · printed p. 648 · project scan reference image 678
Document Focus
The published RMS entry records a confirmation to John Guthrie involving a grant by John Stratoun of one half of the lands of Errol in the sheriffdom of Forfar.
Why This Record Matters
- John Guthrie is the earliest named surname-bearing Guthrie identified in this RMS survey.
- The record associates a named Guthrie directly with landed property in Forfarshire.
- It provides an important early personal-name reference to compare with the territorial Guthrie evidence and with the much fuller fifteenth-century record set in Volume II.
Research Caution
The charter supplies the name, property transaction and locality, but it does not on its own establish John’s parentage or his precise relationship to the later Guthries of that Ilk. Those connections require evidence from additional records.
Source: Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, vol. I, charter 1956, printed p. 648.
Pre-Guthrie Context · Lands Later Associated with Guthries
16 October 1392/93 Charter 870 · Kincaldrum before Guthrie Tenure RMS I · pp. 350–352 · project scan references images 380–382
Relevant Passage
The royal confirmation includes the earlier grant made by the late Alexander de Abernethy, knight, to the late John de Wemyss, grandfather of the recipient, of the lands of Kyncaldrum with pertinents, heritably.
Why This Record Matters
- It documents Kincaldrum in Wemyss tenure in the late fourteenth century.
- It supplies a pre-Guthrie property layer against which the later Kincaldrum evidence can be compared.
- The record should not be treated as evidence of a Guthrie family at Kincaldrum at this date.
Read the Modern English Translation
Robert, by the grace of God King of Scots, to all good men of his whole land, both clerics and laymen, greeting.
Know ye that we have approved, ratified, and by this our present charter have confirmed the donations and concessions which our dearest brother Robert, Earl of Fife and of Menteith, made and granted to our beloved John de Wemys, knight, of the lands of Reres, and of all other lands whatsoever which the same knight holds of the said Earl of Fife within the barony of Reres; of the lands of Myrcarny, of Neutone and of Markinche, of Nethircameroune, of Westirtarvate and of Tulybrek with pertinents.
We have also confirmed the donations and concessions which the late Alexander de Abirnethy, knight, formerly made and granted to the late John de Wemys, knight, grandfather of the said John, hereditarily of the lands of Kyncaldrum with pertinents.
We have also confirmed the donations and concessions which Alan de Erskyne, Robert de Levyngistone and John de Bosevil, knights, made and granted hereditarily to the said John de Wemys, of the lands of Rate, Glennystone and of Polgulde with pertinents, lying within the sheriffdom of Fife.
To be held and had by the said John de Wemys and his heirs of us and our heirs in fee and heritage forever, freely, quietly, fully, entirely and honourably as in the charters of the aforesaid infeftments is more fully contained. Saving our service.
In witness whereof we have commanded our seal to be appended to this our charter of confirmation. Witnesses: the venerable fathers in Christ Walter and Matthew, Bishops of St Andrews and Glasgow; Robert, Earl of Fife and of Menteith, our dearest brother; Archibald, Earl of Douglas, Lord of Galloway, our kinsman; James of Douglas, Lord of Dalkeith; Thomas de Erskine, our kinsman; and Alexander de Cocburne of Langtone, Keeper of our Great Seal.
At Dunfermline, the sixteenth day of October, in the third year of our reign.
Source: Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, vol. I, charter 870, pp. 350–352.
Reign of Robert III · 1390–1406 Charters 1943–1944 · Eassie before Guthrie Tenure RMS I · p. 647 · fols. 41–42 · project scan reference image 677
Document Focus
The two entries concern endowments for perpetual religious service funded from revenues associated with the barony of Essie / Eassie. Alexander Ogilvy, sheriff of Angus, is the relevant grantor. No Guthrie is named.
Why This Record Matters
- The entries document Ogilvy interests in Eassie before the later Guthrie of Eassie/Hiltoun evidence.
- They help distinguish the history of the land from the genealogy of the family that later held interests there.
- They provide useful background for studying later Guthrie–Ogilvy connections, but do not themselves prove a family relationship.
Source: Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, vol. I, charters 1943–1944, p. 647, fols. 41–42.
6 January 1407 Charter 941 · Kirkton of Eassie & Brechin Cathedral RMS I · p. 411 · project scan reference image 441
Relevant Passage
Walter de Ogilville endowed a chaplain in Brechin Cathedral with ten marks of annualrent drawn from the ferms of Kyrktoune de Essy, together with Kelore and Fingask.
Why This Record Matters
- It provides additional direct evidence for Ogilvy interests in Eassie immediately before the period in which later Guthrie connections emerge.
- It specifically identifies the Kirkton of Eassie as a source of annualrent.
- Its connection with Brechin Cathedral also places the property within the ecclesiastical landscape that appears repeatedly in other Guthrie source collections.
Read the Modern English Translation
Robert, Duke of Albany, Earl of Fife and of Menteith, and Governor of the kingdom of Scotland, to all good men of the whole land aforesaid, both clerics and laymen, greeting.
Know ye that we have approved, ratified, and by the authority of our office of governorship of the said kingdom and by this our present charter have confirmed the donation and concession which our beloved and faithful Walter de Ogilville of Carcary made and granted to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Blessed George the Martyr, and to one chaplain who for the time being shall celebrate divine services and perpetually celebrate in the cathedral church of Brechin, for the salvation of his soul and the souls of his parents and brothers and for the salvation of the souls of his predecessors, and especially for the salvation of the souls of those for whom the same Walter left no competent amends or obit, and for the salvation of the souls of all the faithful departed; of ten marks of annual rent to be uplifted and received annually at two terms of the year, namely Pentecost and Saint Martin in winter, proportionally, by the said chaplain, from the ferms of the lands of the said Walter of Kyrktoune de Essy, of Kelore and of Fingask, lying within the sheriffdoms of Forfar and Perth.
To be held and had by the said ten marks of annual rent to the said chaplain and his successors in pure and perpetual alms, as freely, quietly, fully, entirely and honourably as any alms within the kingdom of Scotland is granted or given to any sacred place, and as is more fully contained in the letters made thereupon by the said Walter to the said chaplain and his successors.
Nothing doing therefrom to our lord the king or his successors by the said chaplain and his successors except only the suffrages of devout prayers.
In witness whereof we have commanded the great seal of our office to be appended to this our charter of confirmation.
Witnesses: the reverend father in Christ Gilbert, Bishop of Aberdeen, Chancellor of Scotland; Walter, Earl of Atholl and of Caithness, our dearest brother; John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, our son; Alexander de Lyndesai, Earl of Crawford, our nephew; William, Lord of Graham; John Stewart of Lorn, our kinsman; and Andrew de Hawic, Canon of Dunkeld, our secretary.
At Perth, the sixth day of January in the year of the Lord 1407, and of our governorship the second.
Source: Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, vol. I, charter 941, p. 411.
What Volume I Contributes to Guthrie Research
Guthrie as a Place
Charter 87 establishes Guthrie as a territorial name in the RMS before the later charters that identify the Guthries of that Ilk more fully.
An Early Named Guthrie
Charter 1956 supplies the earliest surname-bearing Guthrie identified in this RMS survey: John Guthrie, associated with half of the lands of Errol.
Kincaldrum before the Guthries
Charter 870 demonstrates earlier Wemyss tenure and prevents us from projecting later Guthrie possession backward into the fourteenth century.
Eassie before the Guthries
Charters 1943–1944 and 941 establish an Ogilvy context for Eassie before the documented Guthrie of Eassie/Hiltoun family.
Evidence Principle
Later association of a Guthrie family with a property does not make an earlier proprietor a Guthrie ancestor. These early land records are valuable precisely because they allow the property chronology to be reconstructed independently of the family genealogy.
Sources & Access
Volume I is the new edition of the early Great Seal material for A.D. 1306–1424. John Maitland Thomson edited the new edition, published at Edinburgh in 1912. The records are part of the eleven-volume published RMS series used throughout this Special Collection.
Published Volume
John Maitland Thomson, ed., Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum: The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, A.D. 1306–1424, vol. I, new edition.
Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House, 1912.
HathiTrust Digital Library
HathiTrust provides full-view digitized copies of the published RMS series. Page and image references used on this page refer to the digitized published volume, not to images of the original medieval charters.
Open RMS CatalogueNational Records of Scotland
The underlying Great Seal Registers survive among the Chancery records of National Records of Scotland. NRS identifies the published RMS as the standard indexed edition for Great Seal charters from 1306 to 1668.
NRS Chancery Records GuideUsing the Published RMS
The published entry is the working source for this collection. Where a conclusion turns on an exact word, variant spelling, seal, endorsement, omitted clause, or other documentary feature, the underlying register or surviving original should be consulted when available.
Citation Reminder
Cite the volume, charter number and printed page whenever possible. Digital image numbers are useful navigation aids, but the printed RMS charter and page references are more portable across different scans and repositories.