RMS – Volume 8

Guthrie Genealogy · Special Collections · Register of the Great Seal

RMS · Volume VIII

Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum

A.D. 1620–1633
Decorative purple thistle with green leaves

This research edition brings together the Guthrie people, family relationships, offices, properties, legal roles, and territorial references identified through a reconciled survey of the printed Index Nominum, Index Locorum, and the relevant charter texts in RMS Volume VIII. Direct Guthrie evidence is distinguished from supplementary territorial or contextual evidence so that each record can be used according to what the document actually proves.

Complete Survey · Index Reconciled
32 Guthrie-relevant records
20 Direct Guthrie records
12 Supplementary context records

Overview

Volume VIII covers the years 1620–1633 and preserves an unusually rich combination of family, professional, ecclesiastical, and territorial evidence for Guthrie research. The records range from notaries, burgh officers, academic administrators, merchants, and episcopal servants to major transactions involving the Barony of Guthrie, Kincaldrum, Eassie, Hiltoun-Craigie, Lunan, and Kinblathmont.

Family & Succession Evidence

Several entries preserve explicit relationships. Bishop John Guthrie appears with his brother Master William and his son Master John; the Kincaldrum records identify David Guthrie, his wife Catherine Blair, their son and apparent heir Alexander, Alexander’s future wife Mariote Grahame, and David’s mother Alise Douglas. Relationship statements are retained only where the documentary wording supports them.

Civic, Clerical & Professional Guthries

Volume VIII repeatedly records Master Alexander Guthrie, Common Clerk of Edinburgh, Master Patrick Guthrie at King’s College, Gabriel Guthrie in episcopal service, James or Jacob Guthrie acting as a notary, Richard Guthrie as a scribe to the signet, and Samuel Guthrie as an Edinburgh dyer and burgess.

Property & Territorial Context

Supplementary records preserve later property history for Eassie, Hiltoun of Craigie, Lunan, and Kinblathmont. These records help reconstruct the legal history of places associated with Guthrie research even where no Guthrie is named as a party to the particular charter.

Index & Source Discipline

The printed Index Nominum groups the surname as Guthrie (Guithrie). Editorial index identifications are distinguished from the literal wording of the charter, and office-based references are not treated as named Guthrie evidence unless the individual can be securely identified.

How to read this page: cream and pale-lavender records identify direct Guthrie evidence; pale-green records identify supplementary territorial or contextual evidence. A supplementary record may be highly useful to Guthrie research without naming a Guthrie person in the charter itself.
Published volume: Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, Vol. VIII, A.D. 1620–1633, ed. John Maitland Thomson, Edinburgh, 1894.
Digital access: HathiTrust  ·  Internet Archive

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Historical Setting · Scotland, 1620–1633

Volume VIII spans the end of the reign of James VI of Scotland and I of England and the opening years of the reign of his son Charles I. James died in March 1625, and Charles succeeded to the Scottish and English crowns. Scotland remained a distinct kingdom with its own law, courts, church structures, landholding practices, and royal records, even though the monarch normally governed from outside Scotland.

The period is particularly important for interpreting Great Seal evidence because royal, ecclesiastical, and landed interests were closely intertwined. Charles I’s policy of revocation prompted examination of earlier grants, church lands, teinds, hereditary offices, regalities, and other rights. Volume VIII preserves commissions connected with that process, alongside ordinary confirmations, marriage settlements, resignations, apprising for debt, feu grants, liferents, and incorporations into baronies.

The volume closes in the year of Charles I’s Scottish coronation at Holyrood Abbey in June 1633. By then, the records already document major changes important to Guthrie research, including the 1629 transaction by which William Guthrie of that Ilk, with consent of his wife Isabella or Isobel Fenton, conveyed extensive portions of the Barony of Guthrie to David Guthrie of Kincaldrum, later confirmed under the Great Seal in 1630.

Two Reigns Appear in One Volume

Records before 1625 fall under James VI; later entries belong to Charles I. The change of monarch is reflected in the regnal headings and provides an important chronological marker when comparing underlying instruments with later royal confirmations.

Confirmations Preserve Earlier Transactions

A Great Seal registration date may be years later than the charter, matrimonial contract, resignation, or other instrument being confirmed. Both dates matter. A 1633 confirmation, for example, may preserve family or property evidence created much earlier.

Land Rights Were Not All the Same

Property, superiority, feu tenure, liferent, tenancy, occupation, annual rent, warrandice, patronage, and baronial jurisdiction must be distinguished. Volume VIII repeatedly shows why a person associated with a place was not necessarily its outright proprietor.

Ecclesiastical Office Can Identify a Person

Some records identify an individual by office rather than surname. John, Bishop of Moray, can be securely identified as John Guthrie during this period, but the detailed records distinguish between a charter that actually names John and one that refers only to the office of Bishop of Moray.

Evidence principle: later property history is useful context, but it does not by itself prove Guthrie ownership or descent. Likewise, a witness, notary, servitor, tenant, or office-holder is recorded according to the role actually stated in the document.

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Master Finding Aid

This finding aid lists the 32 Guthrie-relevant records retained from RMS Volume VIII: 20 direct Guthrie records and 12 supplementary contextual or territorial records. Row color carries the evidence distinction without adding a separate Evidence Type column.

Direct Guthrie Record

A Guthrie person is named in the record, appears under the printed Guthrie index grouping, or can be securely identified from the office used in the charter.

Supplementary Context

Pale-green rows preserve relevant territorial, property, ecclesiastical, or follow-on evidence without treating the record as a directly named Guthrie-person entry.

How to Use the Table

Select a charter number to jump to its expanded record. Source links open the digitized Volume VIII; the printed RMS page is shown for quick navigation.

Ch.
#		 Date Person /
Place		 Location /
Branch		 Research
Significance		 Source
65 25 Jul 1620 Jeanna Guthrie, wife of Robert Stirling of Letter Glasclune / Perthshire Direct marriage evidence; Jeanna joins her husband in resigning extensive lands later incorporated into the free barony of Glasclune. RMS VIII pp.20–21
117 23 Jan 1621 Hiltoun & Mylntoun of Craigie Craigie / Forfar Preserves earlier 1595 property and warrandice evidence involving Hiltoun and Mylntoun of Craigie; no Guthrie person is named. RMS VIII p.34
367 3 Sep 1622 Half of Lunan alias Courthill-Dumbarnate Lunan / Forfar Half of Lunan with half the mill and mill-lands appears within the Hay of Kinfawns estate complex; useful later-property context. RMS VIII pp.123–124
410 4 Feb 1623 Gabriel Guthrie Bishopric of Ross Witness and servitor of the Bishop of Ross in the underlying 1617 feu charter; professional and ecclesiastical-service evidence. RMS VIII pp.139–140
435 18 Mar 1623 Alison Guthrie, wife of John Collace Balhelwell / Menmuir Marriage evidence connecting Alison Guthrie with John Collace, feodatar of Balnamone; the spouses participate in a Forfarshire land resignation. RMS VIII p.152
458 29 May 1623 Master Patrick Guthrie King’s College / Old Aberdeen Identifies Patrick Guthrie as subprincipal of the royal college of Old Aberdeen in the earlier institutional charter confirmed here. RMS VIII p.159
519 2 Sep 1623 Churches of Eassie & Nevay Eassie / Forfar Records patronage of the rectories and vicarages of Eassie and Nevay; ecclesiastical patronage is distinguished from ownership of the territorial barony. RMS VIII pp.178–179
715 6 Jul 1620 Master Alexander Guthrie; Marjoria Hay; Alexander Guthrie junior; Agnes Wardlaw Wareistoun / Edinburgh Excellent generational evidence: the common clerk, his wife, their son and apparent heir, and their daughter-in-law jointly resign Wareistoun. RMS VIII p.260
840 26 Jul 1625 John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray; Master William Guthrie; Master John Guthrie Moray / regality of Spynie Major family record explicitly identifying Bishop John’s brother Master William and his son Master John while documenting episcopal land administration. RMS VIII pp.305–306
841 26 Jul 1625 Hantestoun in the Barony of Kinblathmont Kinblathmont / Forfar Territorial evidence documenting Kinblathmont as a functioning barony and identifying property within it; no Guthrie is named. RMS VIII p.306
898 25 Nov 1625 Barony of Eassie Eassie / Forfar High-value territorial description of Eassie with manor-place, tower, mills, fishings, tenants, Brewlands, New Mill and other constituent properties. RMS VIII pp.322–323
911 6 Dec 1625 Inglistoun of Eassie Eassie / Forfar Preserves a £20 annual-rent right from Inglistoun of Eassie; a revenue right is not treated as ownership of the lands themselves. RMS VIII pp.327–328
954 24 Mar 1626 James / Jacob Guithrie Reidie / Forfar Professional evidence identifying Guithrie as a notary public and scriptor carte in the underlying 1624 instrument. RMS VIII p.342
969 11 Jul 1626 Office of the Bishop of Moray National commission The Bishop of Moray appears only as a possible substitute commissioner by office. Because John Guthrie is not actually named, this remains supplementary evidence. RMS VIII p.346
984 29 Jul 1626 Alexander Guthrie in Burnesyde Burnesyde / Perthshire Direct occupational or residence evidence naming Alexander Guthrie among occupiers of lands reserved within a major Hay property grant. RMS VIII p.350
1007 25 Oct 1626 John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray National ecclesiastical commission Bishop of Moray included in the royal commission concerning recusants and ecclesiastical discipline; the office-holder during this period is John Guthrie. RMS VIII p.356
1014 17 Jan 1627 John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray National commission Bishop of Moray included among commissioners addressing church erections, temporalities and related royal-revocation issues; office identifies John Guthrie. RMS VIII pp.357–358
1506 16 Jan 1630 James Halyburton of Eassie; Janet Halyburton Eassie / Forfar Later Eassie family and property evidence naming Janet as daughter of James Halyburton of Eassie and identifying Kirktoun, Dirielands and Balkairie. RMS VIII pp.504–505
1616 24 Jul 1630 William Guthrie of that Ilk; Isabella Fenton; David Guthrie of Kincaldrum; multiple Guthries Barony of Guthrie / Kincaldrum Major intra-family sale of core Barony of Guthrie lands and church patronage, with explicit exceptions for Hiltoun and Langlandis and an important tenandry/property distinction. RMS VIII pp.539–540
1655 12 Oct 1630 Master Alexander Guthrie Edinburgh / national administration The Edinburgh burgh clerk is appointed among commissioners for the national Visitation of the Laws, demonstrating high-level civic and legal service. RMS VIII pp.551–552
1670 20 Nov 1630 Gabriel Guthrie Bishopes-Kinkell / Ross A second appearance of Gabriel Guthrie as servitor of the Bishop of Ross, this time preserved through confirmation of an underlying 1616 charter. RMS VIII p.557
1678 11 Dec 1630 Richard Guthrie of Balfeich Balfeich / Reidhall Direct territorial designation; Richard Guthrie resigns the temple lands of Balfeich for incorporation with a larger Reidhall estate. RMS VIII p.562
1681 18 Dec 1630 Jacob / James Guthrie, notary public Edinburgh & Perth / Tarspappie Legal-professional evidence identifying Guthrie as notary and scriptor carte for earlier 1623 land instruments. RMS VIII pp.563–564
1745 4 Mar 1631 Master Alexander Guthrie, Common Clerk of Edinburgh Freircars / Dumfriesshire Direct royal grant of Freircars, associated mill and fishing rights, astricted multures and a heritable bailiary to the Edinburgh common clerk. RMS VIII p.593
1767 4 Apr 1631 Half of Lunan alias Courthill-Dumbarnethe Lunan / Forfar Half of Lunan and its mill pass in a grant to Sir John Carnegie of Ethie, with an explicit Carnegie succession clause; important later-property chronology. RMS VIII p.604
1956 25 Mar 1632 David Guthrie of that Ilk; Alexander Guthrie of Kincaldrum Rossie / Hiltoun context David and his eldest son Alexander participate in the Rossie transaction. Balkelie is described as formerly annexed to Hiltoun; the record does not convey the Barony of Hiltoun itself. RMS VIII pp.666–667
1989 16 Jun 1632 Hiltoun of Craigie, anciently Wester Craigie Craigie / Forfar Later property-history evidence explicitly equating Hiltoun of Craigie with the older designation Wester Craigie; no Guthrie is named. RMS VIII p.676
2050 28 Jul 1632 Richard Guthrie Houstoun / Linlithgow Professional evidence showing Richard Guthrie as servitor, charter writer and scribe to the signet within the Scharpe of Houstoun transaction. RMS VIII p.699
2138 9 Mar 1633 Half of the lands & barony of Lunan Lunan / Forfar Detailed later property context for Lunan, including its mill and associated lands; the Young family’s interest passes to Carnegie through apprising for debt. RMS VIII p.725
2216 31 Jul 1633 David Guthrie; Catherine Blair; Alexander Guthrie; Mariote Grahame; Alise Douglas Kincaldrum Exceptional marriage and succession evidence identifying spouses, parent-child relationships, the apparent heir, his future wife, and David Guthrie’s mother. RMS VIII pp.746–747
2252 30 Nov 1633 Samuel Guthrie; Richard Guthrie Edinburgh Samuel Guthrie, dyer and burgess of Edinburgh, purchases a temple land; Richard Guthrie, scribe to the signet, receives the precept of sasine and appears as witness. RMS VIII p.760
2265 18 Dec 1633 Temple land described in Charter 2252 Edinburgh Follow-on history of the same temple property through apprising to William Dick of Braid. Samuel Guthrie is not named in this charter, so the entry is supplementary. RMS VIII p.763

Editorial method: direct Guthrie-person evidence is distinguished from territorial, ecclesiastical, office-only and follow-on contextual evidence. Dates shown are the RMS entry or confirmation dates. Where a confirmation preserves an earlier charter, marriage contract or other instrument, the earlier date will also be identified in the expanded record. Printed page numbers are not the same as digitized image numbers.

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Detailed Records · 1620–1623

These first eight records are arranged by the date of the Great Seal entry rather than by charter number. Five contain direct Guthrie-person evidence and three preserve supplementary territorial or ecclesiastical context. Earlier instruments embedded within later confirmations are identified separately where they affect interpretation.

Charter 715 · 6 July 1620 · Alexander Guthrie, Marjoria Hay & the Wareistoun Family
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 6 Jul 1620
Guthrie Family Alexander Guthrie · Marjoria Hay · Alexander junior
Property / Role Wareistoun · Common Clerk of Edinburgh
Document Focus: The Prince granted the lands of Wareistoun with its manor-place, in the barony of Renfrew by annexation, to Sir Alexander Hay of Forrester-sarsait, a senator of the College of Justice, and Dame Katharine Skene his spouse. The lands had been resigned by Master Alexander Guthrie, Common Clerk of Edinburgh; Marjoria Hay his spouse; Alexander Guthrie junior, their son and apparent heir; and Agnes Wardlaw, wife of Alexander junior.
Why This Record Matters: This is unusually strong family evidence because four people are linked explicitly in one transaction. It documents two generations of the Edinburgh Guthrie family and gives the spouses of both Alexander senior and Alexander junior.
Relationship Evidence: The document expressly identifies Alexander junior as the son and apparent heir of Master Alexander Guthrie and Marjoria Hay. Agnes Wardlaw is identified as the younger Alexander’s spouse. These relationships do not depend on later pedigree reconstruction.
Property Note: The Guthrie family’s resignation of Wareistoun establishes a documented interest in the property immediately before its grant to Hay and Skene. The record should not be read as evidence that Wareistoun belonged to the Angus territorial line of Guthrie.

Source: Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum, Vol. VIII, no. 715, p. 260. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Charter 65 · 25 July 1620 · Jeanna Guthrie & Robert Stirling of Letter
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 25 Jul 1620
Guthrie Jeanna Guthrie
Marriage / Property Robert Stirling of Letter · Glasclune
Document Focus: The King granted William Tyrie of Drumkilbo an extensive group of Perthshire lands, mills, fishings, woods and ecclesiastical rights which were then incorporated into the free barony of Glasclune. Among the resigners were Robert Stirling of Letter and Jeanna Guthrie his spouse, together with James Drummond of Boghall.
Why This Record Matters: The charter directly documents a Guthrie woman in a landed marriage network outside the principal Angus estates. Jeanna’s participation in the resignation also places her within the legal history of a substantial Perthshire property transaction rather than recording her merely as a name in a pedigree.
Relationship Evidence: Jeanna Guthrie is expressly described as the spouse of Robert Stirling of Letter. The record itself establishes the marriage.
Terms / Practice: Resignation was the formal surrender of land to the superior so that it could be granted anew. The Crown then incorporated the assembled holdings into the free barony of Glasclune.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 65, pp. 20–21. View the digitized RMS pages at HathiTrust .

Charter 117 · 23 January 1621 · Hiltoun & Mylntoun of Craigie
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 23 Jan 1621
Places Hiltoun · Mylntoun of Craigie
Evidence Type Territorial / Earlier Property Context
Document Focus: The charter preserves earlier property evidence involving Hiltoun and Mylntoun of Craigie, including material dating from 1595. These lands appear within the legal history and warrandice provisions of the transaction recorded in the Great Seal entry.
Why This Record Matters: No Guthrie person is named, but the entry contributes to the later history of the Craigie territorial complex. It is useful for tracing the continuing use of the Hiltoun designation in connection with Craigie.
Place-Name Caution: Hiltoun of Craigie should not be merged automatically with every other place called Hiltoun. Scottish land records contain many repeated place-names, and the territorial context must determine identity.
Term: Warrandice was security supplied to protect a grantee if the principal property or title failed. Land appearing as warrandice can therefore be genealogically useful without being the main subject of the conveyance.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 117, p. 34. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

Charter 367 · 3 September 1622 · Half of Lunan alias Courthill-Dumbarnate
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 3 Sep 1622
Place Lunan alias Courthill-Dumbarnate
Evidence Type Property / Territorial Context
Document Focus: The charter includes one half of Lunan, otherwise called Courthill-Dumbarnate, together with the corresponding half of its mill and mill-lands, within a wider property complex associated with the Hay of Kinfawns estate.
Why This Record Matters: Although no Guthrie is named, the entry helps reconstruct the post-Guthrie property history of Lunan. The fractional wording is especially important: the document concerns one half rather than the whole property.
Property Caution: A later holder of one half of Lunan should not be described as owner of the entire historic Lunan estate. Fractional interests, mills and associated rights must be kept separate when reconstructing the chain of title.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 367, pp. 123–124. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

Charter 410 · 4 February 1623 · Gabriel Guthrie, Servitor of the Bishop of Ross
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 4 Feb 1623
Underlying Charter 11 Apr 1617
Guthrie / Office Gabriel Guthrie · Bishop’s Servitor
Document Focus: The King confirmed a charter of Patrick, Bishop of Ross, relating to a very extensive body of ecclesiastical lands, mills, fishings and administrative rights in the diocese of Ross. The confirmation incorporates an earlier charter dated 11 April 1617.
Why This Record Matters: Gabriel Guthrie appears among the witnesses to the earlier charter and is identified as a servitor of the Bishop of Ross. This provides occupational evidence for a Guthrie operating within an episcopal administrative household in northern Scotland.
Identity Note: The charter supplies Gabriel’s service relationship but no parentage, spouse or territorial designation. It therefore documents the individual securely without assigning him to a particular Guthrie pedigree.
Term: A servitor could be a household or administrative servant rather than a domestic servant in the modern sense. In an episcopal setting the designation may reflect participation in clerical, legal or estate administration.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 410, pp. 139–140; incorporated charter dated 11 Apr 1617. View the digitized RMS pages at HathiTrust .

Charter 435 · 18 March 1623 · Alison Guthrie & John Collace of Balnamone
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 18 Mar 1623
Guthrie Alison Guthrie
Marriage / Place John Collace · Balnamone / Menmuir
Document Focus: The King granted lands associated with Balhelwell, Leichiscroft, Boigtoun, Mylntoun, mills and the patronage of the parish church of Menmuir to Hercules Crawmond, merchant burgess of Edinburgh, and his son. Among the resigners were John Collace, feodatar of Balnamone, and Alison Guthrie his spouse.
Why This Record Matters: The charter supplies direct marriage evidence for Alison Guthrie and John Collace and places Alison within a landed transaction in the Menmuir area of Forfarshire.
Relationship Evidence: Alison is expressly described as John’s spouse. The evidence proves the marriage but does not identify Alison’s parents or establish which Guthrie branch she belonged to.
Term: Feodatar or feodatory identifies the holder of the fee or heritable interest. The term is useful because it distinguishes John’s legal status from a simple occupier or tenant.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 435, p. 152. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Charter 458 · 29 May 1623 · Master Patrick Guthrie, Subprincipal at Old Aberdeen
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 29 May 1623
Underlying Charter 2 Jul 1611
Guthrie / Office Master Patrick Guthrie · Subprincipal
Document Focus: The King confirmed an institutional charter issued by the authorities of the royal college of Old Aberdeen. The earlier charter re-granted in feu-farm a tenement, place and hospice at Snaw to Laurent Gray and Catherine Troup his spouse.
Why This Record Matters: Master Patrick Guthrie is explicitly named as subprincipal of the college among its senior officers. The record documents a Guthrie in a significant academic and administrative office in Aberdeen.
Date Caution: Patrick’s office is preserved within the 2 July 1611 college charter that was confirmed by the Crown in 1623. The record should therefore not be used to assume automatically that he still held the office on the later confirmation date.
Term: Subprincipal was a senior collegiate office, effectively serving beneath the principal in the academic and administrative government of the institution.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 458, p. 159; incorporated college charter dated 2 Jul 1611. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Charter 519 · 2 September 1623 · Patronage of the Churches of Eassie & Nevay
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 2 Sep 1623
Places Eassie · Nevay
Evidence Type Ecclesiastical Patronage / Place
Document Focus: The charter includes the advowson or patronage of the rectories and vicarages of Eassie and Nevay within a wider royal property grant. The ecclesiastical rights are recorded as legal interests associated with the churches.
Why This Record Matters: No Guthrie individual is named, so this is supplementary rather than direct surname evidence. It is retained because the church patronage forms part of the documentary landscape surrounding Eassie, one of the principal properties in the Guthrie of Eassie & Hiltoun research.
Property Caution: Patronage of a church is not the same thing as ownership of the territorial barony. An advowson was the legal right to present a candidate to an ecclesiastical benefice. This record should therefore remain separate from evidence concerning possession of the lands of Eassie.
Historical Context: Eassie and Nevay were already being treated as connected parishes in the early seventeenth century. Their ecclesiastical relationship should nevertheless be distinguished from the separate feudal history of the surrounding estates.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 519, pp. 178–179. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

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Detailed Records · 1625–1627

These nine records span the opening years of the reign of Charles I. Five identify Guthrie individuals or an independently identifiable Guthrie officeholder; four provide supplementary territorial or institutional context. Particular care is taken below to distinguish a person named in the charter from an officeholder whose Guthrie identity is established through the printed index and independent chronology.

Charter 840 · 26 July 1625 · Bishop John Guthrie, His Brother William & His Son
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 26 Jul 1625
Underlying Charter 18 May 1625 · Elgin
Guthries John · William · John G.
Document Focus: The King confirmed a charter issued by John, Bishop of Moray, with consent of the cathedral chapter, confirming Sir John Grant of Freuchy in extensive lands including Rothiemurchus and numerous associated holdings in the regality of Spynie and northern sheriffdoms. The lands were incorporated into the free tenandry of Finlarg.
Why This Record Matters: This is one of the strongest Guthrie family records in Volume VIII. The underlying charter expressly names Master William Guthrie as brother of the bishop and Master John G. as son of the bishop among the witnesses.
Relationship Evidence: The record directly establishes a sibling relationship between Bishop John Guthrie and Master William Guthrie, while also documenting a son of the bishop. The kinship wording belongs to the charter itself and is not inferred from a later pedigree.
Identity Note: Bishop John is the documented John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray, son of Patrick Guthrie, goldsmith of St Andrews, and Margaret Rait. He must not be confused with the contemporary territorial Guthries of the senior Angus line.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 840, pp. 305–306; underlying episcopal charter dated 18 May 1625 at Elgin. View the digitized RMS entry at HathiTrust .

Charter 841 · 26 July 1625 · Kinblathmont & Arbroath Property Context
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 26 Jul 1625
Places Kinblathmont · Letham · Newbigging
Evidence Type Territorial / Property Context
Document Focus: The King confirmed a charter involving Sir Henry Wood of Bonnytoun and Dame Anne Cockburn. The property description includes lands and interests in the barony of Kinblathmont, together with Letham, Newbigging, a mill called Kirktoun-mylne, and associated rights within the lordship of Arbroath.
Why This Record Matters: No Guthrie person is named. The charter is retained because it documents the legal and territorial setting of Kinblathmont during the same period in which that place remains important to Guthrie research.
Property Caution: Appearance of Kinblathmont within a larger Wood/Cockburn transaction does not establish that every property named in the charter belonged to a Guthrie branch. It is evidence for the property’s changing legal landscape, not a Guthrie-person record.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 841, beginning p. 306. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

Charter 898 · 25 November 1625 · Barony of Eassie & Lands of Nevay
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 25 Nov 1625
Places Eassie · Nevay · Auchterhouse
Evidence Type Barony / Territorial Context
Document Focus: The King granted and newly gave to James, Earl of Buchan, Dame Marie Douglas his spouse in liferent, and James their legitimate son in fee, a very extensive group of lands and baronies. Among them were the lands and barony of Eassie, with manor-place, tower, mills, fishings and tenants, together with component lands including Castletoun, Inglistoun, Dearlandis, the Brewlands of Eassie, Baldewgo and the Newmylne of Eassie. The grant also included the barony of Nevay.
Why This Record Matters: This is substantial evidence for the seventeenth-century legal setting of Eassie and Nevay. It helps explain the larger superior and baronial framework surrounding properties long associated with Guthrie research.
Interpretive Caution: No Guthrie is named. The record should therefore not be used by itself to assign ownership or possession of Eassie to a Guthrie individual in 1625. It documents a higher-level baronial grant to the Buchan family.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 898, pp. 322–323. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

Charter 911 · 6 December 1625 · Annual Rent from Inglistoun of Eassie
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 6 Dec 1625
Place Inglistoun of Eassie
Evidence Type Annual Rent / Revenue Right
Document Focus: The King granted anew to William, Earl of Morton and Lord Dalkeith a large property complex including the baronies of Aberdalgie, Dupplin and Gask. Among the associated revenue rights was an annual rent of £20 from the lands of Inglistoun of Eassie in Forfarshire.
Why This Record Matters: Inglistoun also appears among the component lands of Eassie in Charter 898. Charter 911 adds a different layer of evidence by showing a separate annual-rent interest affecting that property.
Legal Caution: An annual rent is a revenue right charged upon land. It is not equivalent to ownership, possession or superiority of the underlying property. The Earl of Morton’s £20 right from Inglistoun should therefore not be described as ownership of Inglistoun or of Eassie.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 911, pp. 327–328. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

Charter 954 · 24 March 1626 · James Guithrie, Notary Public
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 24 Mar 1626
Underlying Charter 28 Aug 1624
Guthrie / Office James Guithrie · Notary Public
Document Focus: The King confirmed a charter by James Crichton of Ruthven concerning the sale of the lands and barony of Reidie to Sir John Blair of Balgillo. The incorporated instrument had been executed at Coupar Abbey on 28 August 1624.
Why This Record Matters: James Guithrie appears as a notary public and scriptor carte—the writer of the charter. The record adds another secure professional appearance for a Guthrie working in legal and documentary practice in the Angus/Perthshire region.
Spelling Note: The charter uses Guithrie. The Volume VIII Index Nominum treats this spelling within the Guthrie surname group, so it is preserved here rather than silently normalized in the documentary description.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 954, p. 342; underlying charter dated 28 Aug 1624. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Charter 969 · 11 July 1626 · Bishop of Moray in the General Revocation Commission
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 11 Jul 1626
Office Bishop of Moray
Evidence Type Office-Based / Royal Commission
Document Focus: Charles I established commissioners to administer aspects of the General Revocation, including resignations of certain erections, teinds, patronages, benefices and hereditary offices, provision for parish churches and ministers, and related revenue questions. The bishops of Moray, Whithorn, Brechin and Caithness are named as possible substitutes for clerical commissioners.
Why This Record Matters: The office of Bishop of Moray is relevant because John Guthrie held that see at this date. The charter therefore helps place his episcopate within the wider machinery of Charles I’s early ecclesiastical and fiscal policy.
Evidence Caution: The charter does not give the bishop’s personal name or surname. Its wording is evidence for the office only. Identification of the 1626 Bishop of Moray as John Guthrie comes from independent evidence and should not be rewritten as though “John Guthrie” appeared in Charter 969 itself.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 969, beginning p. 346. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

Charter 984 · 29 July 1626 · Alexander Guthrie as Occupier
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 29 Jul 1626
Guthrie Alexander Guthrie
Role Occupier of Reserved Lands
Document Focus: The King granted Sir George Hay of Kinfawns, Chancellor of Scotland, a major complex of Perthshire properties forming the free barony of Dupplin. Certain lands were reserved in liferent to Lord Oliphant and Dame Lilias Drummond.
Why This Record Matters: Alexander Guthrie is named among the current occupiers of portions of the lands associated with Dalquhoroquhy, Kaynelandis, Chappelland and Burnesyde. This is direct evidence placing a named Alexander Guthrie on the property landscape in 1626.
Property Caution: The charter identifies Alexander as an occupier. Occupation must not be converted into ownership, superiority or heritable possession without additional evidence. The larger grant was to Sir George Hay, while the reserved liferent belonged to other parties.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 984, p. 350. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Charter 1007 · 25 October 1626 · John, Bishop of Moray
Evidence Identifiable Guthrie Record
RMS Date 25 Oct 1626
Person in RMS John · Bishop of Moray
Office / Context Ecclesiastical Commission
Document Focus: Acting as supreme judge in civil and ecclesiastical causes within his dominions, the King appointed a large commission dealing with enforcement of ecclesiastical discipline and investigation of Catholic recusancy, including matters involving Jesuits, seminary priests, hearers of mass, excommunicated persons and related offences.
Why This Record Matters: Among the named commissioners is John, Bishop of Moray. Unlike Charter 969, this entry supplies the bishop’s forename as well as the episcopal office, allowing the officeholder to be identified securely as John Guthrie.
Identification Note: The Great Seal text reads essentially “John, Bishop of Moray”; it does not print the surname Guthrie at this point. The Volume VIII Index Nominum and independent episcopal chronology identify that named officeholder as John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray. The distinction between the charter’s wording and the identification is retained.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1007, pp. 356–357. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

Charter 1014 · 17 January 1627 · John, Bishop of Moray & the Commission on Erections
Evidence Identifiable Guthrie Record
RMS Date 17 Jan 1627
Person in RMS John · Bishop of Moray
Evidence Type Royal Commission / Ecclesiastical Property
Document Focus: Charles I created a commission concerning erections and the temporalities of benefices, hereditary offices, regalities, altered tenures, taxed wards and related interests affected by the recent general revocation. The commissioners were empowered to negotiate appropriate settlements and address the legal consequences of those earlier erections.
Why This Record Matters: John, Bishop of Moray appears among the bishops and other leading officers appointed to the commission. The record therefore documents Bishop John Guthrie participating in another important royal administrative body only months after Charter 1007.
Identification Note: As in Charter 1007, the Great Seal entry identifies the individual by forename and episcopal office rather than printing the surname. Contemporary chronology independently establishes that John Guthrie was Bishop of Moray in January 1627.
Research Significance: Charters 969, 1007 and 1014 should be read together but not treated identically. Charter 969 provides an office-only reference; Charters 1007 and 1014 actually name John as Bishop of Moray, allowing the individual officeholder to be identified with much greater precision.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1014, pp. 357–358. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

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Detailed Records · 1630–1631

These eight records include six direct Guthrie entries and two supplementary property records. The period contains one of the most important Volume VIII documents for the principal Guthrie estate—the 1630 confirmation of William Guthrie of that Ilk’s 1629 sale to David Guthrie of Kincaldrum—as well as recurring civic, notarial and episcopal-service Guthries.

Charter 1506 · 16 January 1630 · Halyburton Family of Eassie
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 16 Jan 1630
Underlying Charter 22 Jun 1629
Place / Family Eassie · Halyburton
Document Focus: The King confirmed a charter by Master Francis Hay of Balhoussie, Writer to the Signet, providing property to his wife Janet Halyburton in liferent. Janet is identified as the eldest legitimate daughter of James Halyburton of Eassie, merchant burgess of Edinburgh, and Katherine Cuillane.
Why This Record Matters: The entry gives explicit parent-child and marital relationships within a later family associated with Eassie and identifies property connected with Janet including Kirktoun of Eassie, Dirielands of Eassie and Balkairie.
Research Caution: No Guthrie is named. The charter belongs here because it contributes to the later property and family history of Eassie; it should not be used to infer a genealogical connection between the Halyburtons and an earlier Guthrie family without separate evidence.
Relationship Evidence: Janet is expressly identified as daughter of James Halyburton of Eassie and Katherine Cuillane and as wife of Francis Hay. Those relationships are direct documentary statements.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1506, pp. 504–505; underlying charter dated 22 Jun 1629. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

Charter 1616 · 24 July 1630 · William Guthrie of that Ilk to David Guthrie of Kincaldrum
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Confirmation 24 Jul 1630
Underlying Charter 10 Sep 1629 · Guthrie
Principal Parties William of that Ilk · David of Kincaldrum
Document Focus: The King confirmed a charter by William Guthrie of that Ilk, made with consent of Isabella / Isobel Fenton his spouse, selling irredeemably to David Guthrie of Kincaldrum the dominical lands of Guthrie, formerly called the Kirktoun, with tower, manor-place, grain mill and mill-lands, Teiltoun, Eistertoun or Haltoun, Mylntoun of Guthrie and other portions of the Barony of Guthrie, together with patronage of the collegiate church.
Why This Record Matters: This is a central document in the seventeenth-century history of the Guthries of Guthrie. It records the transfer of substantial portions of the historic estate from William of that Ilk to David of Kincaldrum and names several additional Guthries participating in the deed.
Additional Guthries: The precept of sasine is directed to Henry Guthrie of Colliston. Witnesses include Alexander Guthrie, feodatar of Kincaldrum; William and Master Archibald Guthrie, sons of David; and James Guthrie, scribe in Edinburgh.
Critical Property Distinction: The sale expressly excepts Hiltoun, both property and superiority, together with the property and superiority of Langlandis. The document also distinguishes a quarter of Eistertoun, Heucheid and Mylntoun associated with the late George Fenton as a tenandry rather than property. Those distinctions must not be flattened into a statement that the entire Barony of Guthrie passed without exception.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1616, pp. 539–540; underlying charter executed at Guthrie on 10 Sep 1629. View the digitized RMS entry at HathiTrust .

Charter 1655 · 12 October 1630 · Master Alexander Guthrie & the Visitation of the Laws
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 12 Oct 1630
Guthrie Master Alexander Guthrie
Office Clerk of the Burgh of Edinburgh
Document Focus: Charles I renewed and enlarged the Commission for the Visitation of the Laws, adding representatives from the estates and burghs after an earlier commission of 1628 had not achieved the desired result.
Why This Record Matters: Master Alexander Guthrie, clerk of the burgh of Edinburgh, is named among those appointed to the national commission. The record places him beyond routine municipal recordkeeping and within a high-level legal and administrative initiative of the Crown.
Recurring Identity: The office identifies this Alexander with the Common Clerk of Edinburgh who appears elsewhere in the RMS series and in Volume VIII Charters 715 and 1745.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1655, pp. 551–552. View the digitized RMS entry at HathiTrust .

Charter 1670 · 20 November 1630 · Gabriel Guthrie, Servitor of the Bishop of Ross
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 20 Nov 1630
Underlying Charter 3 Aug 1616
Guthrie / Office Gabriel Guthrie · Bishop’s Servitor
Document Focus: The King confirmed a charter of Patrick, Bishop of Ross, granting the lands of Bishopes-Kinkell to Hector Mackenzie of Kinkell and Agnes Chisholm his spouse in conjunct infeftment under the provisions of their matrimonial arrangement.
Why This Record Matters: Gabriel Guthrie appears among the witnesses and is identified as a servitor of the Bishop of Ross. This is a second Volume VIII appearance of Gabriel in the bishop’s administrative circle.
Date Caution: Gabriel’s witnessing role belongs to the 1616 underlying charter, although the instrument was not confirmed under the Great Seal until 1630. The two dates should not be collapsed into one.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1670, p. 557; underlying charter dated 3 Aug 1616. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Charter 1678 · 11 December 1630 · Richard Guthrie of Balfeich
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 11 Dec 1630
Guthrie Richard Guthrie of Balfeich
Property Temple lands of Balfeich
Document Focus: The King granted Captain Robert Irving of Monboddo, Elizabeth Douglas his spouse and their son Robert a substantial estate complex later incorporated into the free barony of Reidhall.
Why This Record Matters: Richard Guthrie of Balfeich is named as the person who resigned the temple lands of Balfeich in favour of Robert Irving. The territorial designation “of Balfeich” gives Richard a much more specific identity than a witness-only appearance.
Property Note: Richard’s resignation documents his legal interest in the Balfeich temple lands immediately before their incorporation into the larger Irving estate. It does not make him proprietor of the other lands listed in the Reidhall grant.
Term: Temple lands were lands historically associated with the military religious orders and retained a distinctive legal description long after the medieval orders themselves had disappeared.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1678, p. 562. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Charter 1681 · 18 December 1630 · James Guthrie, Notary Public & Charter Writer
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 18 Dec 1630
Underlying Instruments 26 & 29 Jun 1623
Guthrie / Office James Guthrie · Notary Public
Document Focus: The King confirmed a series of earlier transactions involving the Drummond, Hay and Blair families and lands including Leitchihill and Tarspappie, with associated Perthshire and Craigie-barony property.
Why This Record Matters: James / Jacob Guthrie appears as notary public and scriptor carte for the underlying 1623 instruments. Together with Charter 954, the entry documents a recurring Guthrie legal professional working as a charter writer.
Recurring Identity: The Volume VIII Index Nominum groups the notarial references under the same James/Jacob Guthrie entry. That editorial grouping supports treating the appearances as one recurring professional identity while preserving the Latin form Jacobus in the source.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1681, pp. 563–564; underlying instruments dated 26 and 29 Jun 1623. View the digitized RMS entry at HathiTrust .

Charter 1745 · 4 March 1631 · Alexander Guthrie, Common Clerk of Edinburgh
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 4 Mar 1631
Guthrie Master Alexander Guthrie
Property / Office Freircars · Heritable Bailure
Document Focus: The King granted anew to Master Alexander Guthrie, Common Clerk of Edinburgh, four pounds old extent of the lands of Freircars in the parish of Dunscoir, with fishing, the mill called Grangemylne, astricted multures from numerous associated lands, tenant services and the heritable office of bailiary over the designated property.
Why This Record Matters: Unlike Alexander’s commission appearance in Charter 1655, here he is the principal grantee. The charter combines his established civic identity with substantial land, mill, fishing and jurisdictional rights.
Career Sequence: Volume VIII therefore documents Alexander as a family man and landholder at Wareistoun in Charter 715, a national law commissioner in Charter 1655, and a direct royal grantee at Freircars in Charter 1745.
Term: Astriction of multures required specified tenants or lands to bring grain to a particular mill and pay the customary milling dues. A heritable bailiary was a hereditary jurisdictional office attached to the estate.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1745, p. 593. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Charter 1767 · 4 April 1631 · Half of Lunan to Sir John Carnegie of Ethie
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 4 Apr 1631
Place Lunan alias Courthill-Dumbarnethe
Principal Grantee Sir John Carnegie of Ethie
Document Focus: The King granted to Sir John Carnegie of Ethie an extensive property complex including one half of the lands of Lunan, otherwise Courthill-Dumbarnethe, together with one half of the mill and mill-lands. The Lunan interest had been resigned by George, Viscount of Duplin.
Why This Record Matters: The charter advances the later ownership sequence for Lunan after the earlier Guthrie period and follows the half-share recorded in Charter 367. It also preserves an explicit succession provision within the Carnegie family.
Succession Provision: Sir John Carnegie is followed by his male heirs; failing them, the charter provides for David, Lord Carnegie of Kinnaird, his brother, and David’s heirs.
Property Caution: The instrument concerns one half of Lunan, not necessarily the whole historic barony. A single sasine taken at Lunan was authorized to stand for the larger grant, but that procedural convenience does not merge the various properties into one undifferentiated estate.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1767, p. 604. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

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Detailed Records · 1632–1633

The final seven records include four direct Guthrie entries and three supplementary property records. They document David Guthrie of that Ilk and his Kincaldrum heir, professional scribes in royal and burgh legal practice, a detailed Kincaldrum marriage settlement, an Edinburgh burgess acquiring urban property, and later territorial evidence for Craigie and Lunan.

Charter 1956 · 25 March 1632 · David Guthrie of that Ilk & Alexander of Kincaldrum
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 25 Mar 1632
Guthries David of that Ilk · Alexander of Kincaldrum
Principal Property Barony of Rossie
Document Focus: The King granted anew to Sir James Carnegie of Craig, legitimate second son of David, Lord Carnegie of Kinnaird, the lands and barony of Rossie, together with Ullisheavin, Balkelie, the Montrose ferry-boat and associated rights. The various components had been resigned by their respective holders before being incorporated into the free barony of Rossie.
Why This Record Matters: David Guthrie of that Ilk is directly involved in the Rossie transaction. The record also expressly identifies Alexander Guthrie of Kincaldrum as David’s eldest legitimate son and apparent heir.
Relationship Evidence: Alexander’s relationship to David is documentary rather than inferred: he is described as David’s eldest legitimate son and apparent heir. This helps connect the Kincaldrum succession with David’s later designation “of that Ilk.”
Critical Property Correction: The principal barony conveyed here is Rossie, not Hiltoun. Balkelie is described as having been of old annexed to the barony of Hiltoun. That historical annexation clause must not be turned into a statement that David Guthrie resigned the Barony of Hiltoun itself.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1956, pp. 666–667. View the digitized RMS entry at HathiTrust .

Charter 1989 · 16 June 1632 · Hiltoun of Craigie, Anciently Wester Craigie
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 16 Jun 1632
Underlying Charter 4 Sep 1620 · Dundee
Place Hiltoun of Craigie / Wester Craigie
Document Focus: The King confirmed a charter by Patrick Kyd of Grange of Barrie made in connection with a marriage contract for his legitimate son James Kyd and James’s future spouse Agnes Clayhills, legitimate daughter of Robert Clayhills senior, merchant burgess of Dundee.
Why This Record Matters: The property is described as a third part of the lands and town of Hiltoun of Craigie, anciently called Wester Craigie. This explicit equivalence is particularly useful for tracking the changing place-name terminology of the Craigie estate complex.
Property History: The third share had formerly been occupied by members of the Rollok family associated with Hiltoun of Craigie and had been alienated to Patrick Kyd through Andrew, Lord Gray.
Research Caution: No Guthrie is named in this charter. Its value is territorial. The wording Hiltoun of Craigie = anciently Wester Craigie helps identify the place but does not prove Guthrie ownership of this particular third share.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 1989, p. 676; underlying charter dated 4 Sep 1620 at Dundee. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

Charter 2050 · 28 July 1632 · Richard Guthrie, Scribe to the Signet
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Date 28 Jul 1632
Underlying Charter 8 Jul 1632 · Houstoun
Guthrie / Role Richard Guthrie · Legal Scribe
Document Focus: The King confirmed Scharpe-family charters concerning Houstoun in Linlithgowshire, including provisions for Master John Scharpe junior, his wife Christine Hamilton and the family’s succession to the estate.
Why This Record Matters: Richard Guthrie appears repeatedly within the underlying documentation—as servitor of John Scharpe senior, scriptor carte, and scribe to the signet. The combination provides unusually specific evidence for his professional role.
Professional Context: A scribe to the signet worked within the legal-documentary world surrounding writs authenticated under the royal signet. Richard’s appearance as both servitor and charter writer suggests professional service rather than a genealogical relationship with the Scharpe family.
Identity Caution: Richard Guthrie the legal scribe should not automatically be identified with Richard Guthrie of Balfeich from Charter 1678 merely because they share the same name. Their documentary designations differ.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 2050, p. 699; underlying charter dated 8 Jul 1632 at Houstoun. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Charter 2138 · 9 March 1633 · Half of the Lands & Barony of Lunan
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 9 Mar 1633
Place Lunan / Forfarshire
Principal Grantee Sir John Carnegie of Ethie
Document Focus: The King granted Sir John Carnegie of Ethie a property package including one half of the lands and barony of Lunan, half of its mill and mill-lands, and associated properties including Halkhill, Newtoun and portions of Dumbarnit and Arbekie.
Why This Record Matters: The charter supplies detailed later evidence for the composition and financial history of Lunan. The property had belonged to Charles Young, heir of his father Sir James Young and grandfather Sir Peter Young, and had been apprised in January 1633 for debt.
Property Sequence: This entry should be read alongside Charters 367 and 1767, which also document fractional interests in Lunan during Volume VIII.
Property Caution: The recurring phrase “half of Lunan” does not by itself prove that Charters 367, 1767 and 2138 concern precisely the same half-interest. The chain of title must be established from the parties and underlying deeds, not simply from the fraction stated.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 2138, p. 725. View RMS Volume VIII at Internet Archive .

Charter 2216 · 31 July 1633 · Kincaldrum Marriage Settlement & Family
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Confirmation 31 Jul 1633
Underlying Charter 17 Nov 1615 · Dundee
Family Guthrie of Kincaldrum
Document Focus: The King confirmed a charter by David Guthrie of Kincaldrum, with consent of Catherine Blair his spouse, implementing a matrimonial contract for their son and apparent heir Alexander Guthrie and his future spouse Mariote Grahame, legitimate daughter of Sir William Grahame of Claverhouse.
Why This Record Matters: This is one of the richest genealogical documents in Volume VIII. It identifies husband and wife, parent and child, an apparent heir, the heir’s future spouse and her father, while tying those relationships to detailed property provisions within the Barony of Kincaldrum.
Family Structure: The record establishes: David Guthrie of Kincaldrum + Catherine Blair as spouses; Alexander Guthrie as their son and apparent heir; Mariote Grahame as Alexander’s future wife; and Alise Douglas as the mother of David Guthrie.
Property & Liferent Structure: The settlement includes the mains and manor-place of Kincaldrum, Buchtihillok, the mill, Muirtoun, portions of Mathie and Carrett, tenandries including Nevay and Kincreich, and Loure. Separate liferents are reserved to David, Catherine Blair and Alise Douglas. These reserved rights should not be collapsed into simple ownership statements.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 2216, pp. 746–747; underlying charter dated 17 Nov 1615 at Dundee, following the 1615 matrimonial contract. View the digitized RMS entry at HathiTrust .

Charter 2252 · 30 November 1633 · Samuel Guthrie, Dyer & Burgess of Edinburgh
Evidence Direct Guthrie Record
RMS Confirmation 30 Nov 1633
Underlying Charter 23 Dec 1631 · Edinburgh
Guthries Samuel Guthrie · Richard Guthrie
Document Focus: The King confirmed a charter by John Gairdyne, merchant burgess of Edinburgh, selling for 1,000 merks to Samuel Guthrie, dyer and burgess of Edinburgh, a temple land below Edinburgh Castle containing a hall, chamber, upper solars and other urban property.
Why This Record Matters: Samuel is the direct purchaser and principal grantee. The document gives him both an occupation and civic status and places him as an urban property holder in Edinburgh.
Richard Guthrie: The precept of sasine is directed to Richard Guthrie, scribe to the signet, who also appears among the witnesses. This corresponds with the professional Richard Guthrie documented in Charter 2050.
Relationship Caution: Samuel and Richard appear in the same transaction, but the charter does not describe them as relatives. Their shared surname and professional proximity should not be converted into kinship evidence.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 2252, p. 760; underlying charter dated 23 Dec 1631 at Edinburgh. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Charter 2265 · 18 December 1633 · Follow-on History of the Edinburgh Temple Land
Evidence Supplementary Context
RMS Date 18 Dec 1633
Property Edinburgh Temple Land
Cross-Reference Charter 2252
Document Focus: The King granted William Dick of Braid, merchant burgess of Edinburgh, a temple land in Edinburgh described by explicit reference to Charter 2252. The property had been apprised on 14 December 1633 for debt.
Why This Record Matters: Charter 2265 preserves the immediate later legal history of the same property involved in Samuel Guthrie’s Charter 2252 transaction. It therefore provides useful follow-on context for tracing that urban holding.
Evidence Caution: Samuel Guthrie is not named in Charter 2265. The Guthrie connection exists only because the property is described by reference to Charter 2252. For that reason this entry is classified as Supplementary Context, not as a direct Guthrie record.
Term: Apprising was a legal process by which a creditor could obtain a debtor’s lands or property in satisfaction of debt. It is therefore evidence of a debt-enforcement transfer rather than an ordinary voluntary sale.

Source: RMS VIII, no. 2265, p. 763; the property is described by reference to Charter 2252. View the digitized RMS page at HathiTrust .

Detailed Record Set Complete: Blocks 3A–3D contain all 32 reconciled Volume VIII records: 20 Direct Guthrie records and 12 Supplementary Context records.
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People & Families

Volume VIII does more than supply isolated surname occurrences. Several records can be assembled into documented family or career clusters. The groupings below use only relationships, offices and recurring identities supported by the records or by the volume’s own index; people with similar names are kept separate unless the evidence justifies bringing them together.

Master Alexander Guthrie · Common Clerk of Edinburgh

Charters 715 · 1655 · 1745

Three records create an unusually coherent picture of Master Alexander Guthrie, the Edinburgh civic officer. In 1620 he appears with his immediate family in the resignation of Wareistoun; in 1630 he serves on the national Commission for the Visitation of the Laws; and in 1631 he receives Freircars, associated mill and fishing rights, astricted multures and a heritable bailiary.

Master Alexander Guthrie · Common Clerk / clerk of the burgh of Edinburgh
wife · Marjoria Hay
son and apparent heir · Alexander Guthrie junior
son’s wife · Agnes Wardlaw

Bishop John Guthrie & His Immediate Family

Charters 840 · 969 · 1007 · 1014

Charter 840 provides the strongest family evidence: the charter of John, Bishop of Moray, expressly names Master William Guthrie as his brother and Master John as his son.

John Guthrie · Bishop of Moray
brother · Master William Guthrie
son · Master John Guthrie

Charters 1007 and 1014 then place John, Bishop of Moray, on important national ecclesiastical commissions. Charter 969 is weaker evidence because it refers only to the office of Bishop of Moray, not to John by name.

Guthrie of Kincaldrum & the Main-Line Transition

Charters 1616 · 1956 · 2216

These records form the strongest territorial-family sequence in the volume. They document the sale of substantial portions of the Barony of Guthrie to David Guthrie of Kincaldrum, David’s later designation as of that Ilk, and the marriage and succession arrangements of his eldest son Alexander.

Alise Douglas · mother of David Guthrie
David Guthrie of Kincaldrum, later of that Ilk
wife · Catherine Blair
eldest legitimate son and apparent heir · Alexander Guthrie of Kincaldrum
Alexander’s future wife · Mariote Grahame, daughter of Sir William Grahame of Claverhouse

Charter 1616 also names William and Master Archibald Guthrie as sons of David. The records therefore document several members of the Kincaldrum family without requiring reconstruction from later pedigrees.

William Guthrie of that Ilk & Isabella Fenton

Charter 1616

William Guthrie of that Ilk, with consent of his wife Isabella / Isobel Fenton, sold substantial portions of the historic Barony of Guthrie to David Guthrie of Kincaldrum under the September 1629 instrument confirmed in 1630.

The record is especially important because it demonstrates that the transfer was a legal conveyance within the wider Guthrie family, not a simple automatic succession from one laird to the next.

Hiltoun and Langlandis were expressly excepted, and a separate quarter-interest in Eistertoun, Heucheid and Mylntoun was described as a tenandry rather than property.

Recurring Professional & Civic Guthries

James / Jacob Guthrie · Notary & Scribe
Charters 954 · 1616 · 1681

Appears as Jac. Guithrie or Jacobo Guthrie, serving as notary public, scriptor carte, and Edinburgh scribe. The Volume VIII Index Nominum groups these references under the same entry, supporting a recurring professional identity.

Gabriel Guthrie · Episcopal Servitor
Charters 410 · 1670

Appears twice as a servitor of the Bishop of Ross in underlying episcopal charters. The records document service in an ecclesiastical administrative household but provide no parentage or marriage evidence.

Richard Guthrie · Scribe to the Signet
Charters 2050 · 2252

Active in legal-documentary work as servitor, charter writer and scribe to the signet. In Charter 2252 he receives the precept of sasine for Samuel Guthrie’s Edinburgh property transaction.

Master Patrick Guthrie · Subprincipal
Charter 458

Named as subprincipal of the royal college at Old Aberdeen in the incorporated 1611 institutional charter. The confirmation establishes the historical office but does not prove that Patrick still held it in 1623.

Samuel Guthrie · Dyer & Burgess
Charter 2252

A dyer and burgess of Edinburgh who purchased a substantial temple-land property below the castle. His occupation, civic status and property interest are all expressly documented.

Alexander Guthrie in Burnesyde
Charter 984

Named as an occupier within a Perthshire property complex. The record establishes presence or occupation but does not establish ownership, superiority or a relationship to another Alexander Guthrie.

Same Name Does Not Equal Same Person

Richard Guthrie of Balfeich

Charter 1678

Richard Guthrie of Balfeich carries a territorial designation and resigns the temple lands of Balfeich before their incorporation into the Irving estate of Reidhall.

Nothing in Charter 1678 identifies him as the legal scribe who later appears in Charters 2050 and 2252.

Richard Guthrie · Legal Scribe

Charters 2050 · 2252

This Richard is identified professionally as a servitor, scriptor carte and scribe to the signet.

Until another record explicitly connects him with Balfeich, the territorial Richard and the professional Richard should remain separate identities.

Women & Family Networks

Woman Documented Relationship Charter Research Value
Jeanna Guthrie Wife of Robert Stirling of Letter 65 Direct marriage evidence placing a Guthrie woman in a Perthshire landed transaction.
Alison Guthrie Wife of John Collace, feodatar of Balnamone 435 Direct marriage evidence within the Menmuir / Balnamone property network.
Marjoria Hay Wife of Master Alexander Guthrie 715 Helps establish the immediate family of Edinburgh’s Common Clerk.
Agnes Wardlaw Wife of Alexander Guthrie junior 715 Documents the marriage of the Common Clerk’s son and apparent heir.
Isabella / Isobel Fenton Wife of William Guthrie of that Ilk 1616 Participates by consent in the major 1629 conveyance of Guthrie lands.
Catherine Blair Wife of David Guthrie of Kincaldrum 2216 Explicit spouse and mother within the Kincaldrum marriage settlement.
Mariote Grahame Future wife of Alexander Guthrie of Kincaldrum 2216 Central bride in the 1615 matrimonial contract and conjunct infeftment.
Alise Douglas Mother of David Guthrie of Kincaldrum 2216 Directly adds an earlier generation to the Kincaldrum family structure.
Genealogical discipline: repeated appearances can establish a career or recurring identity when office, role and the printed index support the connection, but they do not automatically create family relationships. Likewise, two Guthries appearing in the same charter are not presumed to be relatives unless the record says so. This is especially important for Samuel and Richard Guthrie in Charter 2252 and for the two documentary contexts in which men named Richard Guthrie appear.
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Research Pathways

Volume VIII opens several useful pathways beyond the individual charter entries. Some involve direct Guthrie family evidence; others trace the later legal history of estates already important to Guthrie research. The distinction matters: territorial continuity can suggest where to search next, but it does not by itself prove genealogical continuity.

Guthrie of Guthrie & Kincaldrum

Key Charters · 1616 · 1956 · 2216

These records document the transition from William Guthrie of that Ilk to the Kincaldrum family, followed by David Guthrie of Kincaldrum appearing as “of that Ilk” and his eldest son Alexander as apparent heir.

Charter 2216 reaches back to the 1615 matrimonial settlement and supplies another generation through Alise Douglas, mother of David.

Research question: How do the 1629 sale, the Kincaldrum marriage settlement, subsequent sasines, and later transfers fit together in the exact legal sequence by which the senior estate changed hands?

Eassie & Hiltoun

Key Charters · 519 · 898 · 911 · 1506 · 1616

Volume VIII provides unusually rich later context for Eassie: church patronage, the barony and tower, constituent properties, annual-rent rights and the later Halyburton family of Eassie.

Charter 1616 separately shows that Hiltoun remained an explicit exception from the lands sold by William Guthrie of that Ilk to David Guthrie of Kincaldrum.

Research question: Can later sasines and superior-title records clarify the transition from the documented Eassie/Hiltoun Guthrie possession to the seventeenth-century baronial and family structure shown here?

Craigie & Hiltoun of Craigie

Key Charters · 117 · 1989

Charter 117 preserves earlier property and warrandice evidence involving Hiltoun and Mylntoun of Craigie. Charter 1989 later provides the especially useful statement that Hiltoun of Craigie was anciently called Wester Craigie.

That place-name equivalence strengthens the territorial framework for the Craigie research without assigning the particular third-share in Charter 1989 to a Guthrie.

Research question: Can the surviving Hiltoun/Wester Craigie title sequence bridge the documentary gap between the earlier Guthrie family and later holders of fractional shares?

Lunan

Key Charters · 367 · 1767 · 2138

Three supplementary records trace later interests in Lunan alias Courthill-Dumbarnate. Each concerns a fractional interest, associated mill rights, or a later property package rather than a directly named Guthrie.

By 1633 the record also supplies Young-family succession and an apprising for debt before the Carnegie acquisition.

Research question: Do the “half of Lunan” references in 1622, 1631 and 1633 represent the same half-interest throughout, or different legal portions of the historic estate?

Kinblathmont

Key Charter · 841

Charter 841 documents property within the Barony of Kinblathmont in a Wood/Cockburn transaction. No Guthrie is named, making this a territorial rather than genealogical record.

Research question: Which earlier or later sasines connect the documented Guthrie associations with Kinblathmont to the wider baronial title history?

Bishop John Guthrie & His Family

Key Charters · 840 · 969 · 1007 · 1014

Charter 840 directly identifies Master William Guthrie as Bishop John’s brother and Master John as his son. The later commission records place the bishop within the national ecclesiastical administration of Charles I.

The office-based entries are especially useful when combined with ecclesiastical sources such as Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae.

Research question: What additional Moray, Ross, Edinburgh, sasine and university records can further separate Bishop John’s immediate family from unrelated Guthries of the same period?

Colliston

Key Charter · 1616

Henry Guthrie of Colliston appears in the major Guthrie transaction as the person to whom the precept of sasine was directed. This is a direct territorial identification of the Colliston laird within a wider Guthrie-family legal transaction.

Research question: Can the sasine generated from Charter 1616 provide additional detail about Henry’s role, witnesses, possession ceremony, or relationships among the Guthrie branches?

Edinburgh Civic & Legal Guthries

Key Charters · 715 · 954 · 1655 · 1681 · 1745 · 2050 · 2252

Volume VIII contains a striking concentration of Guthries serving as burgh clerk, notary, charter writer, scribe to the signet, burgess and urban tradesman.

Master Alexander Guthrie can be followed across family, civic and landed records, while James/Jacob and Richard Guthrie appear repeatedly in professional legal roles.

Research question: Can Edinburgh burgh registers, protocol books, apprentice records, testaments and sasines identify the family relationships—if any—among these urban and professional Guthries?

Guthrie Women & Marriage Networks

Key Charters · 65 · 435 · 715 · 1616 · 2216

Volume VIII preserves several women in legally meaningful roles: Jeanna Guthrie, Alison Guthrie, Marjoria Hay, Agnes Wardlaw, Isabella Fenton, Catherine Blair, Mariote Grahame and Alise Douglas.

Their appearances are especially valuable because marriage contracts, resignations and liferent provisions often preserve relationships that surname-only indexes obscure.

Research question: Can marriage contracts, testaments and sasines identify the parentage of Jeanna and Alison Guthrie or provide additional property brought through female lines?

Alexander Guthrie in Burnesyde

Key Charter · 984

Charter 984 gives a direct but limited record of Alexander Guthrie in Burnesyde as an occupier within a Perthshire property complex.

There is presently no basis for identifying him with Alexander Guthrie of Kincaldrum, Alexander Guthrie junior of Edinburgh, or another known Alexander.

Research question: Can local rentals, tax lists, sasines or parish records identify the Burnesyde occupier more precisely?

Cross-Cutting Research Themes

Confirmation Date vs. Original Date

Several Volume VIII confirmations preserve instruments created many years earlier. Research timelines should record both dates rather than assigning every event to the Great Seal confirmation year.

Property vs. Tenandry

Charter 1616 explicitly distinguishes property from a quarter-interest held only as a tenandry. This is a useful warning against treating every land association as outright ownership.

Liferent vs. Fee

Marriage settlements frequently divide lifetime rights from heritable fee. The Kincaldrum settlement shows why those interests should be recorded separately.

Office-Based Identification

A title such as Bishop of Moray can identify a known officeholder, but the public record should still distinguish between what the charter literally names and what the index or external chronology establishes.

Witnesses & Servitors

Witnessing a document or serving a bishop, advocate or landholder supplies valuable professional context but does not prove kinship with the principal parties.

Repeated Names

Master Alexander the Edinburgh clerk can be linked by recurring office, but men such as Richard Guthrie require more caution when territorial and professional designations differ.

Useful negative findings: the completed Index Locorum sweep did not produce additional Volume VIII entries for several standard Guthrie research targets, including Balnabreich, Guthrieshill, Kingennie, Memus/Memmas, Pitforthie, Auchmithie, and Pitmowies.

Similar-looking index entries were also rejected where the geography was wrong: Gagie near Culross is not Angus Gagie; Colliestoun in Perthshire is not Angus Colliston; Ruiff/Ruiffis references belong elsewhere; and Pitforkie and Pitfour are not Pitforthie.

Absence from this volume does not prove that a family or estate was inactive. It means only that the reconciled surname and place indexes did not identify an additional relevant Great Seal entry for this published span.

Related Guthrie Genealogy research profiles:
Guthrie of Guthrie Guthrie of Eassie & Hiltoun Guthrie of Craigie Guthrie of Colliston Guthrie of Kingennie & Pitforthie Rev. James Guthrie Biography
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Terms, Sources & Access

The published Great Seal register is a calendar of royal charters and related instruments rather than a verbatim transcription of every surviving original deed. Many Volume VIII entries confirm or summarize earlier charters, marriage contracts, resignations and other legal acts. The RMS date and the date of the underlying instrument must therefore be kept separate.

Property & Tenure Terms

Annual Rent
A recurring monetary or produce payment charged upon land. Holding an annual-rent right did not necessarily mean owning or possessing the land itself. Charter 911 provides a good example at Inglistoun of Eassie.
Blench Farm
Tenure held for a nominal render—often one silver penny—acknowledging the superior’s legal right rather than representing the economic value of the land.
Feu-Farm
Heritable tenure held in return for specified annual feu duties or payments to the superior.
Superiority
The feudal superior’s legal interest in land. Superiority must be distinguished from physical possession, occupation and the underlying property right.
Tenandry
A legal or feudal holding in which lands were held by a tenant beneath a superior. Charter 1616 expressly distinguishes one quarter-interest as a tenandry and not property.
Liferent
A lifetime right to possess property or receive its rents and profits without necessarily holding the heritable fee.
Conjunct Infeftment
A joint heritable settlement, commonly made to spouses together and followed by provisions describing which heirs should succeed.

Legal & Documentary Terms

Confirmation
Royal ratification of an earlier charter or other instrument. The date of confirmation is not automatically the date on which the underlying property or family transaction occurred.
Sasine
The formal giving of legal possession of heritable property and, by extension, the record documenting that act.
Precept of Sasine
The legal instruction authorizing designated persons to give possession of lands to the grantee.
Feodatar / Feodatory
The person vested with the fee or heritable estate, sometimes while another individual retained a liferent.
Special Warrandice
Specific land or security provided to protect a grantee if the principal title failed. Property named as warrandice was not necessarily the primary subject of the transaction.
Apprising
A legal debt-enforcement process by which property could be adjudged or transferred to a creditor. Charters 2138 and 2265 preserve examples.
Advowson / Patronage
The legal right to present a candidate to an ecclesiastical benefice. Patronage of a church should not be treated as ownership of the surrounding territorial estate.

Roles That Need Careful Interpretation

Servitor
A person in the service or administrative household of another. In Volume VIII, Gabriel Guthrie serves the Bishop of Ross and Richard Guthrie serves John Scharpe. The term does not imply kinship.
Scriptor Carte
Literally the writer of the charter. James/Jacob Guthrie and Richard Guthrie appear in this professional documentary role.
Scribe to the Signet
A legal-documentary professional associated with writs authenticated through the royal signet. Richard Guthrie is identified in this capacity.
Witness
A person attesting an instrument. Witnessing can establish presence, office or social association, but it does not by itself establish family relationship.
Occupier
Someone recorded as occupying land. Charter 984 identifies Alexander Guthrie in this manner; occupation is not automatically ownership.

How to Read a Volume VIII Entry

The date beside the RMS charter number is the date of the royal grant or confirmation represented in the register. An entry may then reproduce or summarize a much earlier deed.

Example — Charter 2216: the RMS confirmation is dated 31 July 1633, but the Kincaldrum charter incorporated within it was executed at Dundee on 17 November 1615 and arose from a 1615 matrimonial contract.
Example — Charter 1670: the Great Seal confirmation dates from 1630, while Gabriel Guthrie’s witnessing role belongs to the underlying 1616 episcopal charter.
Separate the legal roles: grantor, grantee, superior, proprietor, feodatory, liferenter, tenant, occupier, witness, servitor and scribe are different categories.

Genealogical Reading Rules

“Of” a place: a territorial designation such as Richard Guthrie of Balfeich can identify a much more specific landed association than a surname alone. It should still be interpreted in the context of the legal instrument.
“In” a place: a description such as Alexander Guthrie in Burnesyde may indicate residence, occupation or tenancy. It should not silently be converted to “of Burnesyde.”
Heir does not automatically mean son: where the charter states “son and apparent heir,” both relationships may be reported. Where it says only “heir,” parentage requires separate evidence.
Junior does not automatically mean son: the relationship is used only when the document explicitly provides it, as Charter 715 does for Alexander Guthrie junior.
Same name does not equal same person: recurring office or index evidence may justify consolidation, but identical personal names alone do not.

Index Nominum & Index Locorum

Volume VIII was surveyed through both the printed Index Nominum and Index Locorum, followed by examination of the relevant charter texts.

Index Nominum: the surname heading is printed as Guthrie (Guithrie). This permits the Guithrie spelling to be treated within the volume’s own Guthrie grouping rather than normalized merely by editorial preference.
Editorial identification: the personal-name index can identify a person whom the charter itself names only by forename and office. That distinction is preserved on this page. For example, Charters 1007 and 1014 name John, Bishop of Moray; the Guthrie identification comes from the index and established chronology.
Index Locorum: the place index is a finding aid, not proof that every occurrence of a Guthrie-associated estate involves a Guthrie person. Each candidate place was checked against geography and charter wording before inclusion.

Place-Name & Geographic Cautions

Similar spellings can represent entirely different Scottish places. Volume VIII produced several apparent matches that were rejected after checking the county or territorial context.

Examples: Gagie near Culross is not the Angus Gagie associated with Guthrie research; Colliestoun in Perthshire is not Angus Colliston; Pitforkie and Pitfour are not Pitforthie; and Ruiff / Ruiffis entries do not represent Angus Ruives.
Historic association is not enough: a place once connected with a Guthrie family does not make every later charter concerning that place a direct Guthrie record. Such entries are retained as supplementary context only when they materially advance the property’s history.

Source Hierarchy Used on This Page

1 · Charter text in RMS
The charter abstract is the primary basis for the person’s role, property, relationship wording and legal action reported here.
2 · Earlier instrument incorporated into the charter
Where an RMS confirmation preserves an earlier deed, its date and wording are retained separately from the confirmation date.
3 · Index Nominum / Index Locorum
The printed indexes identify candidate people and places and sometimes provide editorial identification, but they are not rewritten as though their wording appeared in the charter.
4 · Related primary and specialist sources
Sasines, testaments, ecclesiastical records, burgh records and other collections can be used to extend or test the relationships suggested by RMS.
5 · Later histories and pedigrees
Secondary works provide context and research leads but do not override contradictory contemporary evidence.

Published Source

Thomson, John Maitland, ed.
Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum: The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland.
Volume VIII, A.D. 1620–1633.
Edinburgh, 1894.

The Volume VIII research page uses the charter abstracts together with the complete surname and place-index reconciliation conducted for this project.

Citation form used on this page: RMS VIII, charter number, printed page or page range where the page location has been verified.

Digital Access

Volume VIII is available through both HathiTrust and Internet Archive. Page-specific HathiTrust links are used in detailed records where a verified destination was established during the audit.

HathiTrust · Volume VIII Internet Archive · Volume VIII
Printed page vs. digital image: the image number in a digitized copy is not necessarily the same as the printed RMS page number. Research citations should use the charter number and printed page whenever possible.

What “Complete Survey · Index Reconciled” Means

The final Volume VIII inventory was not created by searching only for the modern spelling Guthrie. The research process included the full relevant surname-index grouping, the place index for established Guthrie research properties, and examination of questionable charters.

Direct records: retained where a Guthrie person is named, where the volume expressly groups the surname variant with Guthrie, or where a named officeholder can be securely identified through the volume’s index and chronology.
Supplementary records: retained where no Guthrie person is named but the charter materially advances the history of a Guthrie-associated place, property right, institution or follow-on transaction.
Excluded records: rejected when a similar surname or place proved unrelated, the geography did not match, or the record supplied no meaningful Guthrie research value.

Terminology is explained here only as needed to interpret the Scottish charter, property and legal evidence appearing in RMS Volume VIII. Broader genealogy terminology belongs in the site’s Genealogy A to Z reference rather than being duplicated on every Special Collections page.

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