99. An Ordinance by the Protector for Elections in Scotland.

[June 27, 1654. Civil War Tracts, Press Mark E 1064, p. 431. See Commonwealth and Protectorate, iii. 172.]

Whereas by the Government of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, publicly declared at Westminster, the 16th day of December, 1653:

It is declared, that the distribution of the persons to be chosen for Scotland, and the several counties, cities and places within the same, shall be according to such proportions and numbers as shall be agreed upon and declared by the Lord Protector, and the major part of the Council, before the sending forth writs of summons for the next Parliament. And whereas his Highness and the major part of the Council, before the sending forth of any writs of summons aforesaid, did agree and declare the distribution of the persons to be chosen for Scotland, according to the proportions and numbers hereafter mentioned; it is therefore ordained, declared and agreed by his Highness the Lord Protector, with the consent of the Council, that the persons to be chosen for Scotland, and the several counties, cities and places within the same, shall be according to the proportions and numbers hereafter expressed; that is to say, for the shires of Orkney, Shetland and Caithness, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Caithness; for the shires of Sutherland, Ross and Cromarty, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Ross; for the shire of Inverness, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; for the shires of Elgin and Nairn, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Elgin; for the shire of Banff, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; for the shire of Aberdeen, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; for the shires of Kincardine and Forfar, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Forfar; for the shires of Fife and Kinross, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Fife; for the shire of Perth, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; for the shires of Linlithgow, Stirling, and Clackmannan, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Stirling; for the shires of Dumbarton, Argyle, and Bute, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Dumbarton; for the shires of Ayr and Renfrew, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in Ayrshire; for the shire of Lanark, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; for the shire of Mid-Lothian, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; for the shire of the Merse, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; for the shire of Roxburgh, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; for the shires of Selkirk and Peebles, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Peebles; for the shire of Dumfries, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; for the shire of Wigton, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; for the shire of East-Lothian, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be in the same shire; and for the boroughs of Dornoch, Tain, Inverness, Dingwall, Nairn, Elgin, and Fortrose, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Inverness; for the boroughs of Banff, Cullen, and Aberdeen, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Aberdeen; for the boroughs of Forfar, Dundee, Arbroath, Montrose, and Brechin, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Dundee; for the boroughs of Linlithgow, Queensferry, Perth, Culross, and Stirling, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Stirling; for the boroughs of St. Andrews, Dysart, Kirkcaldy, Cupar, Anstruther East, Pittenween, Crail, Dunfermline, Kinghorn, Anstruther West, Inverkeithing, Kilrenny, and Burnt Island, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Cupar in Fife; for the boroughs of Edinburgh, two; for the boroughs of Lanark, Glasgow, Rutherglen, Rothesay, Renfrew, Ayr, Irvine and Dumbarton, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Glasgow; for the boroughs of Dumfries, Sinclair, Lochmaben, Annandale, Wigton, Kirkcudbright, Whithorn, and Galloway, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Dumfries; for the boroughs of Peebles, Selkirk, Jedburgh, Lauder, N. Berwick, Dunhar, and Haddington, one, and the place of meeting for the election of such person shall be at Lauder. And it is further ordained by his said Highness the Lord Protector, with the consent of the Council, that for the effectual and orderly election of the persons aforesaid to be chosen to sit and serve in Parliament, as in the said Government is declared, several writs under the Great Seal of England shall issue, and be directed to the several and respective Sheriffs of the several and respective shires, wherein the respective elections are to be made of the respective persons to serve in Parliament for the respective shires, and to the respective Sheriffs of the county where the elections for the boroughs are hereby appointed to be made according to the distribution aforesaid; and that the respective Sheriffs to whom such writs shall be directed, are hereby authorised and impowered to make or cause proclamation to be made of such writ in all the counties, boroughs, and places respectively, for the making such election and elections, and to issue his warrant to the chief officer of the place, where such election for boroughs is to be made, notwithstanding the same be not within the shire whereof such person is Sheriff, and to cause the elections to be made accordingly; which writs the Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal of England, for the time being, shall seal, issue and send forth.

Tuesday, June 27th, 1654.

Ordered by his Highness the Lord Protector and his Council, that this Ordinance be forthwith printed and published.

Henry Scobell,
Clerk of the Council.

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