Chapter XV: The Burgh
We subjoin in full the two charters, in virtue of which Paisley became a burgh:—
Charter of the Liberty of the Burgh of Paisley, and Erection of the same.
“JAMES, by the grace of God, King of Scots, to all honest men of his whole country, both clergy and laity, greeting : Be it known that for the singular respect We have for the glorious Confessor, Saint Mirin, and our Monastery of Paisley, founded by our most illustrious progenitors, where very many of the bodies of our ancestors are buried, and are at rest, and for the singular favour and love which We bear to the venerable Father in Christ, George Shaw, present Abbot of the said Monastery, our very dear counsellor, and for the faithful service rendered to us in a variety of ways by the said venerable father in times past, and in a particular manner for the virtuous education and upbringing of our dearest brother James, Duke of Ross, in his tender age, We have made, constituted, erected and created, and by the tenor of our present Charter make, feu, erect, and create the Village of Paisley, lying within the Sheriffdom of Renfrew, a free Burgh of Barony ; We have granted also to the present and future inhabitants of said burgh the full and free liberty of buying and selling in said burgh wine, wax, and woollen and linen cloths, wholesale and retail, and all other goods and wares coming to it, with power and liberty of having and holding in the same place bakers, brewers, butchers, and sellers both of flesh and fish, and workmen in their several crafts, tending in any respect to the liberty of the burgh in barony. We have granted likewise to the burgesses and inhabitants of the said burgh of Paisley, therein to have and possess a cross and market place for ever, every week on Monday, and two public fairs yearly forever,—one, namely, on the day of St. Mirin, and the other on the day of Saint Marnock, with tolls and other liberties pertaining to fairs of this kind; of holding and having for the future the said village of Paslay a real and free burgh in barony with the foresaid privileges, grants, and all other liberties, as freely, quietly, fully, entirely, honourably, and well, in peace, in every time, circumstance, and condition, as the burgh of Dunfermline, Newburgh, and Aberbrothwick, [18] or any other burgh or barony in our Kingdom in any time past is freely endowed or held : and we have granted, besides, to the said venerable father and to his successors, the Abbot's of Paisley, the right and power of choosing annually the provost, bailies, and other officers of the said burgh, and of removing the same as need shall be, and of choosing and installing others anew in their room as shall seem most expedient to the said Abbot and his successors, and without any other election of the burgesses and community of the said burgh, and without any revocation or contradiction to be made by us or by our successors on the above premises : Wherefore we command all and sundry who have, or may have interest, that they presume not in any way to contravene this, our concession, under pain of incurring our royal displeasure. In testimony whereof, we have commanded our great seal to be affixed to this our charter. These reverend fathers in Christ being witnesses—Robert Bishop of Glasgow ; George, Bishop of Dunkeld: and our beloved cousins—Colin, Earl of Argyle ; Lord Campbell, our Chancellor ; Archibald, Earl of Angus ; Lord of Douglasse ; Patrick, Lord Hailes, Master of our Household ; Robert, Lord Lyle, our Justiciary; Andrew, Lord Gray ; Laurence, Lord Oliphant ; John, Lord Drummond ; the venerable Father in Christ, John, Prior of our Monastery of St. Andrews, Keeper of our Secret Seal ; Sir William Knollys, Preceptor of Torfichin, our Treasurer; Master Alexander Inglis, Archdeacon of St. Andrews ; and Archibald Quhitelaw, Sub-Deacon of Glasgow, our Secretary.—At Stirling, the 19th of August, 1488, and in the first year of our reign—
[18] These burghs, like Paisley, were founded by the Abbots of their monasteries.