| Description | Maule claimed that he had been made town Clerk by the Merchant Maiden Hospital, superior of the town, in 1738, and the defenders William Herdman, John Orem, Alexander and George Straiton, John Morison and Robert Scott had upliefted the shore dues and revenues of the town, and failed to pay him his salary. The defence is based on the Hospital not being the Town's superior, and the Town's real superior, the Earl Marischal, having gifted the customs and shore dues to the Town for the upkeep of the pier, calsies and bridges etc. (by deeds of 1624 and 1697). These deeds state that the bailies are to be chosen by the town's inhabitants, not the superior. |