But Sir George must have still possessed considerable influence at court, and the importance of his new industry must have produced a strong impression, for on the 24th of December 1610, at Whitehall, the king gave him what appears to have been a monopoly of the manufacture of iron and glass throughout the whole of Scotland, for thirty-one years from that date, and this gift was ratified by Act of Parliament, dated 23d October 1612. The delay of two years in its ratification seems a little strange, and perhaps indicates that whilst Sir George continued such a favourite with his king as to receive from him so valuable a "Christmas box," he still had enemies in the Privy Council or the Parliament of Scotland. The ratification will be found in Appendix G; it recites the license. It would appear from a Scots Act passed 16th November 1641, that several noblemen and gentlemen had obtained monopolies of other manufactures,--probably about the same time. That act brought these monopolies to an end in the same year (1641) that Sir George Hay's monopoly of the manufacture of iron expired. Whether Sir George carried on ironworks elsewhere than on Loch Maree we know not, but it is most likely that they were his principal, if not his only, undertakings of the kind. In 1613 a proclamation was made by the Privy Council restraining the export of iron ore out of the country, so that the enterprise of the new industry should not be hindered or disappointed (Appendix G). If the act of 1609 prohibiting the making of iron with wood had been obtained by an enemy of Sir George Hay's, the adverse influence of the foe was now at an end. Possibly Sir George had by this time returned from the Highlands, for we find that in 1616 he was appointed Clerk-Register. If so, his personal influence may have over-ridden that of his former political enemies. Under this proclamation Sir George became able to procure the clayband ironstone almost at his own price. He used it extensively both at Furnace (Letterewe) and at the Red Smiddy, as well as at Talladale.