| Description | On March 24, 1603, Queen Elizabeth I of England died at the age of 69 and was succeeded on the throne by James VI of Scotland. This news was greeted
in Aberdeen with tremendous celebration, as recorded in an entry in the Council Register dated 30 March, 1603: "... the haill toun to be warnit be
sound of Trumpet and Drum To assemble Instantlie in thair paroche kirk and thair giff thankis and prasis to god ... And efter the ending of thankisgeving and of the exhortatioun, Ordanis bone fyris to be sett on throcht all the streittis of the towne, The haill Bellis To Ring, The croce to be deckt and hung, The wyne and spicerie to be spent abundantlie thairat, A numer of glassis to be cassin, And the haill youthis of the toun to tak thair hagbuttis and accumpanie thair magistrattis throcht the haill rewis of the towne, pas the tyme in schuting thair muskattis and hagbutis til lait at nicht ...". (CR41, pages 59-60)
Although James removed himself to London soon afterwards, the Scottish Parliament continued to meet in the King's absence north of the border. A
body of commissioners was appointed by the Crown to represent the royal interests and to report on proposals made and decisions taken. However,
some matters proved too weighty to be negotiated by representatives alone, and so special meetings were occasionally convened between the King and a parliamentary delegation.
Thus in Aberdeen Tolbooth, on 16 July 1604, Alexander Rutherford of Rubislaw, Provost and Burgh Commissioner to the Scottish Parliament,
reported on a meeting of the Parliament held a fortnight previously in Perth. At this assembly, Rutherford had been selected by the Lords of the
Parliament to be one of the four commissioners to meet with the King in England that coming September; on the agenda was the proposed union of the
crowns of Scotland and England. The necessary expenses incurred in transporting the four commissioners and three lawyers were to be borne
collectively by the Scottish burghs. Aberdeen's share of the 16,000 merks allocated, amounted to some 1,300 merks. In order to raise this sum, the
magistrates agreed to place a tax, or stent, on the town and appointed stenters to set about the task: " ... the said soume ... salbe Stentit and
Imposit on the Inhabitantis of this burght, Oblesand thame, ilk ane for thair awin pairtis, to pay the samen ... And to this effect instantlie
electit, nominat, and chusit Dauid Cargill, Deane of gild, Henrie Forbes, Alexander Burnett, elder, George Nicolsoun, Johne Layng, James Fergussoun,
merchandis, John Mershr, saidler, and Dauid Watsoun, tailzeour, Stentaris and Taxtaris, to stent the said soume ... ". (CR41, pages 804-805)
The document listing the names of those stented survives in the City Archives and a transcription of it has added to this catalogue. It gives the
names and occupations of individuals, however, the whereabouts of properties are not indicated beyond their location in one of the four Quarters of the Burgh: the Footdee, Green, Crooked and Even Quarters, along with the fishers of Footdee.
While forenames and occupations have been modernised and their spellings standardised, all surnames and place-names have been rendered as they
appear in the original document. |