If, therefore, there ever had been such a charter as that of which the document under consideration professed to be an excerpt, that charter ought to have been found _in every one of the four_ records or registers above mentioned.[20] Add to this, that William Earl of Stirling was himself, at the time, the Keeper of the Signet,[21] and also "a man of talent, and attentive to his own interests--not likely to have received grants of such unusual importance as those contained in the charter in question, without seeing them properly carried through the seals."[22] [20] Per Lord Meadowbank, _Id. ib._ [21] _Id._, p. 84. [22] _Id._, p. 94. Now for the excerpt itself, and its aspect. It was written on several single leaves of paper, not numbered, apparently cut recently out of some book, and stitched together, the outside leaf being brought round and stitched down on the remaining leaves. The colour was a uniform deep brown--equally so underneath the margin covered over at the stitching. There were ruled red lines round the pages. The writing appeared "fresh"--at all events, not so old as the paper; and was not in a Scotch chancery-hand, or any hand used in the Register Office, but like that used in engrossing deeds in England and Ireland. The language of the excerpt was Latin--but such Latin! and it extended to about thirty English common-law folios, containing seventy-two words each. At the beginning of the charter, on the right-hand side, were the abbreviations, "REG. MAG. SIG. LIB. LVII."--_i.e._, "_Registrum Magni Sigilli, Liber LVII_." The only portion of the excerpt with which we shall trouble the reader _in extenso_, is the conclusion--the testing part--which (especially the part in italics) is worthy of the utmost attention; and we adopt the translation used at the trial:--"Witnesses: _the most reverend father in Christ and our well-beloved councillor, John, by the mercy of God Archbishop of St Andrew's, Primate and Metropolitan of our kingdom of Scotland, our chancellor_; our well-beloved cousins and councillors, James, Marquis of Hamilton; Earl of Arran and Cambridge; Lord Aven and Innerdaile; Robert, Earl of Roxburghe; Lord Ker, of Cesford and Casertoun, Keeper of our Privy Seal; our beloved familiar councillors, Sir John Hay of Barro, Clerk of our Rolls, Register, and Council; John Hamiltoun of Orbestoun, our Justice-Clerk; and John Scot of Scotstarvet, Director of our Chancery, Knights. At our Court of Quhythall, _the 7th day of the month of December, in the year of God 1639, and of our reign the 15th year_. [GRATIS] _Per Signetum._"