Hi folks, To add to what Gavin said, indeed his mother, Mary I, Queen of Scots, had a go at controlling the border families (they weren't clans until Walter Scott invented the modern clan system in 1822) as well by appointing her 3rd husband James Hepburn 4th Earl of Bothwell to control the Borders from his stronghold at Hermitage Castle. As Gavin said the Scottish Parliament passed statutes about the subject but ironically many of those noblemen serving in the Scottish Parliament and helping in passing the law were indeed among the worst offenders though of course they had lackeys to actually do the deed for them. Cheers Mark John M Sutherland-Fisher Director: Czech Match Ltd North Cadboll House, North Cadboll, Fearn by Tain, Ross-shire. IV20 1TN Tel and Fax: (0044)1862 871877 Mobile: 07765 272815 e-mail: info@czechmatch.co.uk website: www.czechmatch.co.uk "Bringing Two Worlds Together" -----Original Message----- From: Gavin Bell [mailto:g.bell@which.net] Sent: 15 March 2005 18:17 To: MORAY-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re:[MORAY] and cattle-stealing Chris wrote: > ... and most of the clans were involved in appropriating undefended > cattle. > K James VI & I wanted this rieving stopped at the beginning of his > English reign in 1603. He was active in trying to bring the clans into line some time before he succeeded to the English throne. In 1587 the Scottish Parliament passed an Act "For the quieting and keeping in obedience of the disordourit inhabitantis of the Bordouris, Hielandis and Ilis" and another one in 1594 "For punishment of thift, reiff, oppressioun and sorning", both of which included detailed lists of clans and chieftains considered troublesom. The first of these was passed when James was aged 21, and was succeeding (after initial setbacks) in imposing his authority in Scotland. Gavin Bell ==== MORAY Mailing List ==== MORAY OPR's. The OPR's for the Moray area are now starting to be transcribed and volunteers are needed. Would anyone interested in transcribing the OPR's for our area please contact me via my usual email address or visit the Moray Rootsweb pages and contact me via the mailing list Admin. ============================== Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more. Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx

Several years ago I was interested in researching the Seafield archives in the National Archives. I asked for and received permission from the Seafield Estate but the researcher I engaged reported that, although there are several tons of material in the archives, little of this has been indexed and consequently research would be very difficult. Does anyone know if this situation has changed?. Harry Montgomery,Ontario.