Holograph draft of MINT00780 (Mint 19/3/231-2)

<253r>

To the R^t Hon^ble the Lords Comm^ers of his Mat^{t{illeg}|i|es} Treasury.

May it please yo^r Lord^ps

The two persons who are ordered down to Scotland being sent \as I presume with/ \an intent/ only to survey the Mine \with the ground about it/ w^ch belongs or lately did belong to S^r Iohn Ereskin & is said to be a|\contein/| silver|,| mine, & to exai{illeg}|m|in the Ore & {illeg} under M^r Haldane \send/ t{illeg}|h|e brother in law of the said S^r Iohn Ereskin & M^r Haldane \living neare the mine &/ having expressed himself willing to encourage & supervise the said two men & forward their deisgne: I humbly propose (pursuant to your Lord^ps directions,) t{illeg}|h|e{s} following instructions as proper for the designe of the said two persons.\this purpose./

|1| That in the presence of substantial witnesses, they \the said two men/ break off from each of the two veins of Ore which are \in/ the said mine, about six or eight pounds of Ore & seale up the same in two papers with inscriptions upon them denoting what veins they are \each of them is parcel is/ taken from; the inscriptions to be signed by the witnesses, & the two parcells to be packed up together & sent to London to the Lords Comm^ers of his Ma^ts Treasury to be assayed in London by their Order. The Witnesses may be M^r Had|l|dane & one or two of his Sons who are Parliam^t Men, & M^r Drummond the Warden of the Mint at Edinburgh or any other Gentleman of credit whom my Lord Lauderdale General of the |said| Mint shall please to send thither for his own satisfaction & the satisfaction of the Government, & any other person or persons whom your Lordships (or the perhaps the Commissioners for the forfeited estates) shall {illeg}|o|rder to be present.

|2| That th in the presence of the same witnesses \other/ pieces of Ore be broken off from \each of/ the said \two/ veins & assayed{.} \{illeg}|tw|ice or oftener/ & the assays reported by the said two men, & signed by the said Witnesses in testimony of their being made before them, & sealed up & sent also to the Lords Comm^ers of his Ma^ts Treasury. |And that a description of the breadth & depth \& distance/ of the said two veins be also sent & which way they run, & how deep is the Mine|

|3| That the Casks (or {illeg} old Hogsheads & Barrells) which were filled with about 40 Tunns of Ore dugg of out of the said Mine by order of the Lady Ereskin in the time of the late rebelli{illeg}|o|n & buried on the north \west/ side of her house just by the Gate thereof be enquired {illeg}|a|fter, & a report made thereof & of what that Ore holds by the Assay. |[|And if the same appear to be silver Ore that an Order be (such as the Kings Coun{c}|s|el shall advise) be sent down to secure the same.]

|4.| That the Burn or Channel made in the \south/ side of the mountain by the floods running down about the|r|ee or four furlongs westward from <253v> the said mine within S^r Iohn Ereskins part of the mountain, be well viewed to see what sparrs & other signes of minerals are found therein, & if any Ores {illeg}|of| Minerals \or Metalls/ be found there to {illeg}|a|ssay them & report the produce.

|5| About two miles westward from thi|e||s| silver mine there is a Copper mine said to be very rich in Copper & Silver, so as to \in a pound of Ore to/ hold about half a pound of Copper & twelve penny weight of Silver in a pound of Ore.\& to belong to one who went into y^e rebellion./ If a|\two or three pieces {sic}/| pie{illeg}|c|e|s| or two of that Ore can be procured, let it be assayed to See how much Copper & how much silver it holds. And if there be any other mines within two or three \or four/ miles of the place silver mine, to \let them/ examin what silver the Ore may contein.

|6.| To \Let them/ view all S^r Iohn Ereskines part of the mountain & observe what signes of Mineralls may appeare any where above ground, & report them what they find.|,| |& give the best account they can of the any other \metallic/ Mines which they can heare of in that mountain.|

|7| I humbly propose also that M^r Haldane senior be desired by a Letter from yo^r Lord^ps to see that the two Gentlemen sent down |do| put these things in execution, & to give them Directions from time \to/ time to do what he may think further proper for giving his Maj^ty & {illeg}|his| R{illeg}|oyal| \Highness/ & yo^r Lordships Satisfaction in this Matter. And that the two Gentlemen sent down be ordered to observe the directions of M^r Haldane \in making these enquiries & observations/ And that the Earl of Lauderdale General of his Ma^ts Mint at Edinb{illeg}|ur|gh be also desired by a Letter to give the two Gentlemen sent down his protection & encouragement & to send either M^r Drummond the Warden of that Mint or some other fit \intelligent & credible/ person to the Mine, who may there see the silver Ore dug out of the Rock & assayed, & may give his Lord^p & the Government an account thereof.

If this Mine shall prove a true silver {illeg}|M|ine, the Kings Council may \learned in {illeg}|the|{m} Law may/ be consulted about the ri{illeg}|g|ht w^ch either the king may have to it as a Royall mine or the Comm^rs for the forfeited estates may have to it as a forfeited estate, |[|& about the right which either of them may have to the 40 Tunns of the Silver Ore, \the right which either of them may have to the 40 Tunns of Silver Ore already dug \up/ & about the {sic}/ {illeg} the authority requisite to seize them &\them in order {illeg}|to|/ work the Mine & smelt the Ore;] and \also/ about the Kings right in the Copper Mine two miles westward, as a Royal Mine rich in Silver, tho not belonging to S^r Iohn Erskine. And when the Fact & the Law is known, the Mine Silver Mine & the Ore may be sized {sic} as the Law shall direct\in order to be wrought/, & the Kings right in the other mine may be demanded or {demo}\also/ asserted.