JOHANNUS (JOHN) LUF (8705) is the SUPPOSED son of NIGELLUS (NIGEL) LUF

IMPORTANT NOTICE

  There is absolutely no written proof that JOHANNUS' father was NIGELLUS. In this time frame there were NO church registers for baptisms or marriages. There are NO town council minutes that have survived. There were NO Testaments (wills) for the common folk. So the following has to be based on "probabilities " and "possibilities" of circumstantial evidence. Every mention of LUF discussed below is found in Court Records, Charters, Rental Rolls of the Monastery of Paisley, Chartulary of Paisley or in the books by 18th and 19th century historians who must have found their information in these same sources.

     JOHANNI LUF was leasing land in 1460 from the Monastery of Paisley. It was on the outskirts of the town in Snawdon which they called the "outfields". It appears he was the son of NIGELLI LUF who was leasing land at the same time in the same place. The reason for assuming NIGELLI was the father is because they were both still in Paisley in 1488 but by 1500 JOHANNI had gone down to Moniabroch in Lochwinnoch Parish. But there is no further mention of NIGELLI so I am assuming he had died and had been older. Paisley was granted the status of a Burgh in 1488 and both JOHANNI and NIGELLI are shown as Burgess. The granting of a Burgh status was extremely important to a town and it is thoroughly explained in the biographical notes for JHONE LUIFE in connection with Glasgow.

     A strange quirk of fate appeared in the mid 1800s. There is no mention of LOVES living in the Snawdon area in the meantime but JOHN LOVE owned property right in this same area of Snawdon in the mid 1800s. He started a park called LOVE GARDENS and the street was renamed LOVE STREET. The street is still called LOVE STREET in 2000 when Carole and I visited Paisley and there is a photo of it in my files. The park has been renamed FOUNTAIN GARDENS.

      Another supposed son of NIGELLI LUF was THOME LUF who was leasing land in 1460 in Lylesland and also Todholm. Both of these areas are just south of Paisley in those days but have been swallowed up by Paisley long ago. However they still retain these names as districts. The population of Paisley at that time was about 600 people counting men, women and children. I will give more history of Paisley in the biographical notes for NIGELLI LUF.

     THOME LUF was also still there in 1488. In all possibility they were all there before 1460. The earliest Rental Rolls for the Monastery of Paisley were 1460. It is believed nobody was keeping a record before that time. This was possibly on purpose as there were many years of corruption in the church and the Abbots probably didn't want to expose how much they were pocketing themselves. However in 1459 HENRY CRICHTON was appointed as the new Abbot. He was obviously more efficient and probably more honest and he started the Rental Rolls in 1460. He would have picked up the men who were already leasing as a starting point and that is why I say NIGELLI, JOHANNI and THOME were already there. These Rental Rolls are certainly the most valuable records I located to place LUIFES at specific places in a specific year. Unfortunately none of them give any family relationships.

      The Museum in Paisley Renfrewshire, Scotland holds the original Chartulary of Paisley Abbey which was the record book of all transactions by the Monastery such as leases which they called charters, When my daughter CAROLE and I were in Paisley we were fortune enough to see this ancient volume but also to research in it for any connection to our Love ancestors. We found 5 charters to Nigelli Luff, Johanni Luff and Alanno Luff in 1490. These covered leases for land on the Monastery owned property. They were all in Latin and written on sheepskin parchment. Although it is long I think the charter for Johanni Luff would be of historic interest so I will show it in its entirety below.

      This lease covers a lot in the heart of Paisley on what is now called High Street. It was on the south side running south to the St. Mirrins Torrent (Creek). The exact location is shown on a map in my files which was made from the original Monastery records.

       Charter to JOHANNUS LUFE from the Monastery of Paisley

            Lease dated 10 July 1490 for land in Prior's Croft

    Translated from original Latin in the Chartulary of Paisley Abbey

  Original manuscript held by the Paisley Museum, Paisley, Scotland

"For all that will see or hear this charter, George, Abbot by divine permission of the monastery of Paisley, and the convent in the same place, part of the Cluniac Order and within the diocese of Glasgow, prays for eternal salvation in the Lord. Know you that we, after giving the matter diligent consideration and taking into account what will be most beneficial to our said monastery, with the assent and consent of our whole chapter meeting together in chapter, have given, granted, leased, demised in fee-farm, and by this our present charter have confirmed and also do give, grant, lease, and demise in fee-farm and confirm by this present charter to our beloved John Lufe, a burgess of our borough of Paisley, his heirs and assigns, one acre of burgage land lying in the western part of our burgh aforesaid in our district called the prior's croft, between the land of William Scot on the east and the land of John Laudal on the west, containing in front twenty-seven ells in breadth, with half an ell of land bending lengthwise from the common street of the said burgh on the north side toward the torrent of St Mirrin on the south, from one side to the other, with the power to build and construct houses, gardens, and other buildings whatsoever upon the aforesaid acre of land at his pleasure. We will and grant that he shall have this acre of land with appurtenances as the liberty and privilege of our burgh in the barony of Paisley, possessing (it as) free burgage land of the same for all future time by virtue of our enfeoffment of the said burgh and its burgage made by our supreme lord the king thereupon. The aforesaid John Luff, his heirs, and assigns, are to have and to hold, freely, quietly, fully, wholly, honorably, well, and in peace, without any accusation of wrongdoing or contradiction whatever, the acre of burgage land whole and entire from us and our successors in free burgage and fee-farm by inheritance in perpetuity as it lies in length and breadth according to all its metes, limits, and boundaries with free (right of) entry and exit and with each and every other liberty, benefit, profit, easement and whatever rights belong to it, named or unnamed, whether below ground or above ground, far or near, pertaining to, or that may at some future time in any way pertain to, the aforesaid acre of burgage land with appurtenances. The same John Lufe, his heirs, and assigns shall render for it yearly to us, the abbot and convent and our successors, for the aforewritten acre of land and its appurtenances, four pence for its burgage lease and thirteen shillings of the usual money of the realm of Scotland at the usual two times of the year, that is, at the feasts of Pentecost and St Martin in winter in equal portions, by way of an annual rent of fee-farm, together with the due and customary service of the courts thereof, except for every other burden, exaction, demand or secular service that can be exacted or required in whatever way justly by anyone from the same beforesaid acre of land. Moreover we will and order that the said John Lufe, his heirs, or assigns shall not be permitted to sell, alienate, mortgage, give, or assign the aforesaid acre of land or any part of it to any person in future, except to their wives or their true heirs, without first seeking and getting our special licence and that of our successors. And if the contrary should occur, we wish that this lease shall be of no force or moment and that the aforewritten acre of land with its appurtenances shall fully revert in fee by inheritance to us and our successors without any contradiction whatever. And we, the said abbot and convent and our successors now freely (and) quietly warrant, acquit and in perpetuity defend in all things and in every respect the aforesaid acre of burgage land with its appurtenances to the aforesaid John Lufe, his heirs, and assigns against all men as has been written above. In witness whereof the common seal of the chapter is attached to this our present charter at our aforesaid monastery on 10 July A.D. 1490 before these witnesses: James Schaw of Schawthe, Alan Stewart, Sir Henry Monser, Henry Caris, and James Yong, notary public, together with many others, etc. "

        Because the Monastery of Paisley played such an important roll in the lives of our ancestors I think it is appropriate to relate some of its most amazing history. To do this I need to start back in the 12th century when King David I of Scotland was at the siege of Winchester in England. He was supporting the claims of his niece the Empress Maud in her struggle against Stephen for the English throne. Also on Maud's side was WALTER FITZ ALAN of Shropshire. He was a descendant of one of the French knights who had arrived in England with William the Conqueror in 1066. When Empress Maud's forces retreated overpowered by superior forces King David returned to Scotland. WALTER FITZ ALAN who was a second son and therefore had no claim to the Shropshire estates inherited by his older brother, decided to accompany King David back to Scotland.

     This proved to be a fortunate and most wise decision as King David appointed him Lord High Steward of Scotland. He adopted the Stewart name and this was the beginning of the Stewart dynasty who later became rulers of Scotland through many generations. When King David died he was succeeded by King Malcolm who ratified the title to WALTER FITZ ALAN. However he also granted to him vast lands in Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire which of course included Paisley. In return for this all he had to give the King was the service of 5 knights in case of war.

     This was the golden age of establishing great monasteries and building huge cathedrals and abbeys. The Kings and nobles dedicated them to the saving of their souls and the souls of all their ancestors. It was at this time in 1164 WALTER FITZ ALAN founded the Monastery of Paisley. By a charter which still exists he also granted the monastery most of the lands he had been given by the King. He wanted to establish a Clunaic Benedictine Monastery the same as there was at his home in Shropshire. That was the Wenlock Monastery so he brought 13 monks from Wenlock to start the new Monastery of Paisley. These monks had to live at WALTER FITZ ALAN'S estate in Renfrew until the first buildings were completed at Paisley. The Abbey was built on the banks of the River Cart near the site where St. Mirin the Irish Saint had lived in a small hut by the river in the 6th century. Originally the site was called Passelet. The first portion built was the Priory and it was ready for occupation by the monks before the end of the 12th century.

     In the meantime WALTER FITZ ALAN had died in 1178 and was buried in the new monastery at Paisley. His son ALAN continued the generous donations. In 1200 he ordered three of his knights "with other honest men, to perambulate and designate for the Monastery the valuable lands of Moniabroc near the great boulder stone of Clochroderick" and he gave them also the fishing rights of Lochwinnoch. These places are of great interest to us as you will see later that JOHANNI and THOME LUF leased land in Moniabroch circa 1500. When my daughter,Carole and I were visiting this area in June 2000 we took a photo of this huge boulder and a copy is in my files. Legend says it was the site of Druid ceremonies before the time of Christ.

     The Monastery continued to grow in wealth with further donations by the Stewarts and other wealthy families. It was "given" other Parish churches throughout the country. In other words the income from all these churches came back to the Monastery. The Monastery then paid a priest as little as possible to look after the local parish church. This system led to the parish priest not being paid enough to attract trained and qualified men. Also there was not enough given to the parish churches to maintain their buildings. In the end it led to dissension and upheaval in the church.

     As far as the Monastery itself was concerned the 13th century was an exceedingly prosperous time. The main building of the Abbey was completed. The Cluniac monks worked under a theology of prayer, meditation and manual labour in the fields. Thus they became excellent farmers using the latest techniques. There was always turmoil in Scotland between the King and the wealthy Barons and Earls. Also the turnover of Kings in Scotland was unbelievable. Many were murdered and some died in battle very young. One of the things which caused the problems when these Kings died was the new King was usually a baby or an infant. This meant a Regent had to be appointed to rule until the King became of age. This in turn always caused a great deal of infighting and a struggle for power among the nobles. This didn't normally effect the Monastery much except when the King was on one of his trips around the country. Then he usually stayed at the Monastery and he expected them to treat him to his normal style of living.

     But troubles for the Monastery were just on the horizon. King Edward I of England was trying to exert his dominance over Scotland by a series of invasions. Most of these were repulsed but with great loss of life on both sides. On the 6th invasion in 1307 the English actually reached Paisley. They completely demolished the Abbey and all the Monastery buildings. Everything had to be rebuilt.

     By 1370 ROBERT the STEWART ascended the throne as the first of a long line of Stewart Kings. As a descendant of WALTER FITZ ALAN, the first High Steward of Scotland, he had a strong connection with the Monastery and Abbey of Paisley. Under this royal patronage it prospered greatly during the last half of the 14th century. However during this time there was much controversy concerning several of the Abbots. They had never been allowed to choose their own Abbots. It was always done by the Pope in Rome. Finally in these disagreements the Monastery and Abbot Tervus were excommunicated for a period of time. It wasn't until 1469 that Abbot Henry Crichton made his peace with Rome and the Monastery was reinstated. As well as the Rental Rolls that Abbot Henry Crichton started he began a vigorous copying of the old Charters to preserve them from destruction.

     The Abbots at this time were very powerful, influential and rich. They had been appointed by the King with the blessing of the Pope. He had full control over his tenants. In fact if they were accused of a crime by government agents he could bring them to his own court and deal with them there. The Abbot could try them and even hang them or put them in prison. The ominous sounding "Gallowhill" was right near the Monastery and they had their own "Blackhol" dungeon.

     The Monastery economics hinged on the handling of their vast lands. Their tenancy consisted of two classes, the Cottars who paid a small annual rent of 10 to 40 shillings and laboured on the Monastery lands. Then there were the "firmarii" or tenant Farmers. They held the land on annual leases and usually paid in produce such as grain, chickens, cheese or stirkas (young heifers). They worked their lease using the Monastery's oxen and implements and had to use the Monastery mill for grinding their flour. The Monastery was considered a very fair and lenient landlord compared to the harsh treatment received from many of the nobles. They appeared to never raise the rent and did not evict tenants for an unjust reason. At times the Farmers paid part of their rent in days of work for the Monastery.

     In 1525 JOHN HAMILTON was appointed Abbot of the Monastery of Paisley amid much controversy. He was the illegitimate son of the Earl of Arran and only 7 years old. The Earl of Arran was from the powerful Hamilton family who had been very close to royalty. As a matter of fact at one time they were second in line in the succession as one of the Hamiltons had married the King's sister. The appointment of JOHN HAMILTON caused a great scandal but evidently it was no worse than many other things which were going on in the Scottish church at the time. The young Abbot was a staunch Catholic as were most of the Hamiltons. He did not take much interest in the running of the Monastery but delegated certain noblemen to carry on the business aspects.

     By the 1540s JOHN HAMILTON was leading the Catholic cause against the rising tide of Protestantism led by JOHN KNOX. He was appointed Bishop and then Archbishop of the top church in Scotland, St. Andrews but retained his position as Abbot of Paisley. When King James V died in 1542 his baby daughter MARY was only 9 months old. She was anointed Queen in the Catholic faith and the Earl of Arran appointed Regent. Like most of the Hamiltons he was a strong Catholic. It wasn't long after that King Henry VIII of England broke with Rome and declared himself head of the Church of England but remained Catholic himself. He started to dissolve the Monasteries and distribute them to his friends and relatives. It was a time of great religious confusion with the Protestants gaining ground. Most of the people in Scotland wanted to abolish the right of Kings to appoint Bishops and Archbishops. They wanted to do away with Episcopsy and choose their own ministers to be responsible to a Church Session. In spite of the Queen being Catholic the pressure from the people forced Parliament to declare Catholicism illegal and banned the saying of Mass in the churches. Archbishop JOHN HAMILTON refused to change his ways and aggravated the situation by having 2 Protestant ministers burned at the stake as heretics. He was a most immoral person even by the standards of the day. He had "withowte shame" 5 or6 illegitimate children by his mistress Lady Stanhouse. In 1553 he resigned the Abbacy of Paisley to his young nephew CLAUD HAMILTON. He was only 10 years old although the Papal Bull issued by Pope Julius III said he was 14. In either case it raised the storm all over again and when Archbishop JOHN HAMILTON continued performing Mass he was arrested. He was finally hung in all his Episcopal robes at Sterling Castle in 1571.

     I had thought originally the Monastery of Paisley lands had been turned over to Abbot CLAUD HAMILTON because he was the Abbot at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries by KING HENRY VIII. However I found it had not been that simple and straight forward. KING HENRY VIII had converted the Paisley lands into a Temporal Lordship and at first the former Abbot Claud Hamilton was appointed Commendator which was an administrative post. However he continued his Catholic ways and was exiled to France. The head of a very powerful local family, ROBERT LORD SEMPLE, actually seized the Monastery by force. Somehow CLAUD HAMILTON regained his favour with the King and was allowed to return from France and the Monastery with all the lands were given back to him. He still hadn't learned his lesson and started once again to openly hold mass at the Monastery. Once again it was all forfeited and taken away from him but amazingly the King forgave him a second time and everything was restored. It shows the power the Hamilton family wielded even though they were openly Catholic after the Reformation. So once again all the lands of the Monastery of Paisley were in the hands of the Hamilton family. CLAUD'S son JAMES became the first Earl of Abercorn and the LORD OF PAISLEY. CLAUD'S grandson JAMES became the second EARL OF ABERCORN and it was this JAMES who was so highly involved in the Plantation of Ulster.

     Just imagine living through these wild and turbulent times. When KING HENRY VIII died in 1547 his young son Edward came to the throne. He was a strong Protestant and ordered all the "Papish trappings" such as altars, crucifixes, candles and vestments to be removed from the churches. He only lived another 7 years when MARY his sister was made Queen. She was the staunchest of Catholics and ordered everything Catholic to be returned to the churches. She became known as "Bloody Mary" because of her ruthless harassment of the Protestants. Any who would not profess to the Catholic religion were either burned at the stake or hung as heretics. This was especially true for Protestant ministers who would not revert. Luckily she died 5 years later and Protestant ELIZABETH came to the throne. Everything went back to being Protestant and she was not as cruel and vicious as MARY had been. However by this time there had arisen some hardcore Protestant zealots at the time of the Reformation. In Scotland they went on the rampage, not only destroying the Catholic items in the churches but started to tear down the church buildings.

     The Abbey of Paisley was relatively fortunate. However the choir and transept were destroyed but the nave was saved. Probably the young KING JAMES VI gets credit for this as he issued orders "that no more churches were to be damaged as too many had already been put into ruins". What was saved is virtually what you see today. There was some renovation done in the 19th century. Several photos are in my files taken when my daughter Carole and I visited Paisley in June 2000. One thing to keep in mind is that JHONE LUIFE, my 8th great grandfather was living in Glasgow at this time and would have been witness to all this craziness. In Glasgow the mobs were going to destroy the ancient huge Cathedral but it was saved by the Trade Guild members who threatened to kill anyone who touched a stone. Living in Paisley at this time were JOHAN LUF and ROB LUf. They were leasing land straight across the river from the Abbey on Causeyside Street and could have seen the actual destruction. They are not in our direct line of ancestors but must have been related to them at some earlier generation.

     Surprises about the Abbey keep occurring. In 1992 some workmen digging between the Abbey and the river suddenly found the ground give away under them. It was the remains of an old sewer. When they investigated they found a drain running from under the Abbey to the river. Archaeologists were called in and what the discovered was a cement and brick drain which was badly clogged with 3 feet of sediment. When they dug this out they found the drain had been 5 1/2 feet high with a curving roof. In the sediment they discovered all sorts of things which have been dated back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Cutlery, plates, pottery, coins, glassware, vegetable and flower seeds. The clay sediment had preserved everything perfectly. Over the last few years they have cleared more of the drain and found it went from the Abbey to other Monastery buildings such as the Priory and stables which are no longer standing. However this gave them the clues needed to divine for the foundations so now they know where each building was located. And this work continues. It caused a great sensation to find something 800 years old previously undiscovered.

     Another amazing circumstance to point out is the leasing of land by LOVES and LUIFES from the HAMILTON family. We find JOHANNI LUF leasing from JOHN HAMILTON the Abbot of the Monastery of Paisley in 1525. Then by 1771, over 250 years later, we find his great grandson JOHN LOVE leasing land from the 7th Earl of Abercorn in Ardstraw Parish, County Tyrone in Ireland.

     Before we started on the history of the Monastery of Paisley we had shown that JOHANNI LUF with his supposed father NIGELLI and his supposed brother THOME had been leasing land in and near the Burgh of Paisley in 1460. The first entries in the Rental Rolls definitely begin in April 1460. So we can safely assume those 3 LUFS were already there when the Rolls were started.

     The lease for JOHANNI LUFY and NIGELLI LUFY in the "outfields" of Paisley at Snawdoun reads as follows.

     "Le Snawdoun - Assedatur Nigelli Lufy, Johanni Lufy soluendo annuatim xx s xiij solidos iiij denarios cum lez bonis et seruicio consueto plegio Alano Sunderlande".

    This would translate as follows "A lease was made with Nigel Lufy and John Lufy for 20 shillings to be paid yearly in the form of 13 shillings 4 pence together with the goods and services. Their guarantor is Alan Sunderland."

      This is very informative as the lease is being paid in cash. This was very unusual as normally the leases were paid in produce. It must mean NIGELLI and JOHANNI LUFY were reasonably well off. Incidently NIGELLI is the Latin for NEIL or NIGEL.

     THOME LUF was leasing in 1460 in the outskirts of Paisley. His lease reads as follows

     "Thodholm - "Assidatur Thome Luf soluendo inde annuatim ij solidos cum seruicio debito et consueto. le bonsil ij s."

     Translated this would read "At Todholm - A lease was made with Thomas Luf to be paid yearly in the form of 2 shillings together with the goods and services and 2 shillings on the debt of the mortgage."

      THOME LUFF was also leasing land in Lyleslande as follows

    "Lyleslande - assedatur Thome LUff soluendo annuatim xx bollas auenarum cum seruicio debito et consueto. xij d le bonis; xij de Liliselande."

       Here again the translation would be "At Lylesland - A lease was made with Thomas Luf to be paid yearly in the form of 20 bolles of grain (a bolle was equal to 5 bushels and 2 pecks) together with the goods and sevices and 12 pence bonus of Lylesland."

     In the Rental Rolls of 1488, the year Paisley was granted the status of a Burgh of Barony, NIGELLI was still leasing in Snawdoun. But JOHANNI was leasing land on Causeyside Street and extending through to Longait in the outfields. He was also leasing a house on High Street in what was then known as Pryor's Croft. Today it would be on the corner of High Street and Storie Street in the heart of downtown Paisley.

     The Paisley Town Council Minutes which have survived start in 1594. In February JOHANNI LUIF was granted permission by the Town COuncil to build an exterior stairway to the second level. "to build a hanging foir stair with pillars under it upon the gavell of the tenament that was THOMAS MYLNES forgainst the Mercat Cross."

    It is here I would like to digress to a mystery we have had in our family for the last 30 years. When my mother Laura Maude Smith Love died we found among her possessions a very old sheepskin document with a wax seal attached. We could make out a date of 1473 and although it was in some form of Latin we could also make out the names of GEORGE LORD HALYBURTON and KING JAMES III. My cousin Lois Scheibe Mason thought she had seen it in the possession of my maternal grandmother Orpha Grobb Smith so we had always assumed it had been handed down through the Smith family. In tracing the Smith family back to Suffolk, England, we bogged down in the late 1500s with too many JOHN SMITHS. This left over 100 years back to the date of the document in 1473.

     Then Carole Gerow Love, my daughter, encouraged us to try and get it translated. The local Catholic priest couldn't read it so we took it to the Royal Ontario Museum who couldn't read it. They suggested the Robart's Library in Toronto who also couldn't read it but suggested an obscure department in the University of Toronto which specializes in medieval manuscripts. They got quite excited and confirmed the seal as authentic for the Halyburton family. In the end they translated the whole document. The gist of it was GEORGE LORD HALYBURTON was transferring some land in Bellegarno near Perth in Scotland back to KING JAMES III for some unknown reason.

    I read up about the Halyburton family and found GEORGE was the 3rd Lord Halyburton. His grandfather had been instrumental in saving KING JAMES I when he was a boy and being in danger of being murdered. So I assume this is how GEORGE received the land in the first place. And that is where it stood until Carole and I were in Scotland in July 2000. While in Inverness we took a train down to Perth and spent the day in the Perth Reference Library. The archivist was most helpful and confirmed GEORGE LORD HALYBURTON had indeed held the land at Bellegarno. He had been a member of Parliament up to 1488 and had died before 1490.

     So what has all this to do with JOHANNI LUIF In Paisley ? While researching that era in Paisley I discovered a Charter for land on High Street in Paisley which had been witnessed by GEORGE LORD HALYBURTON for Abbot Henry Crichton. Then I discovered GEORGE was married to the Abbot's sister. This property was right next to the house on High Street leased by JOHANNI LUIF at that time. It seems far fetched that the LUIFS could keep this document for 500 years but it is intriguing to think JOHANNI was right there when this other Charter was witnessed by GEORGE LORD HALYBURTON. So the mystery of how and why my mother had this is still a mystery. It is put safely away again for some future generation to ponder.

      The dates in the Monastery Rental Rolls from here on are not so clear. They did not date each page or each entry and sometimes it is quite a few pages before a new date appears. We come to a page which states "ANNO 1" which I take to mean the first year in 1500 which could be 1500 or 1501. That is where we find that JOHANNI LUF, THOME LUF and ALANO ORR are leasing land at Moniabroch, Lochwinnoch Parish. This is about 20 miles southwest of Paisley but still on Monastery lands. We saw earlier that Moniabroch was specifically mentioned in the gift to the Monastery by ALAN son of WALTER FITZ ALAN.

     The lease in the Rental Rolls reads as follows and of course is in Latin.

   "Moniabro - Assedatur Johanni Luf pro dimedietate et Thome Luf et Alano Or pro alia dimedietate soluendo Indo annuatim 1c petras casei vj stirkis plegius alter alterius"

       Translated this would be "At Moniabroch - A lease was made with John Luf for half and with Thomas Luf and Alan Orr for the other half, to be paid thereon yearly: one hundred stone of cheese and six stirks. (a stirk was a young heifer). Each acts as guarantor for the other."

     The interesting part about Moniabroch was when Carole and I were in that area in June 2000, we tried to locate this property. Amazingly we discovered the 1800 and early 1900 Ordnance large scale maps still retained these farm names which had been used in the 1460 Rental Rolls even though the spelling was changed in some cases. Even more amazing, they kept the individual field boundaries even though the farms had long since been consolidated. When we talked to people in the Town of Lochwinnoch everyone told us it was too bad we couldn't talk to JIM LOVE who had been the local veterinarian, but he had died the previous year. We decided to contact his widow KATHERINE LOVE and the local museum helped us locate her. Guess where she was living MONIABROCH !! We went to see her and found Moniabroch was a beautiful 17th century 2 storey stone house in the middle of the farm. She was most gracious and invited us in for tea and cakes. Katherine said she and her husband had purchased the property about 25 years ago and was astounded to hear JOHANNI and THOME LUF had leased land there circa 1500. There were no LOVES there when they purchased so it all turned out to be a big coincidence.

     At this same date circa 1500 when JOHANNI and Thome were leasing land at Moniabroch, we find less than two miles away SIMONI LUF and WILELMO LUF leasing land at Auchinames which is actually in Kilbarchan Parish. It is about 15 miles southwest of Paisley. The mystery is whether these men are also sons of NIGELLI LUF in Paisley in 1460. If so they would be brothers of JOHANNI and THOME. Auchinames in Kilbarchan Parish was still owned by the Monastery of Paisley in 1500 but shortly thereafter somehow came under the control of JOHN LORD SEMPLE. I never found how he acquired this land but his father WILLIAM LORD Semple had previously held a castle at Lochwinnoch and that is how the loch started to be called Loch Semple. JOHN had received permission from the Monastery to found a "Collegiate Church on the castle grounds. He obviously wanted this chapel on his own property to save he and his family going into Paisley to attend the Abbey. A Collegiate Church was one where the founder had agreed to train a number of choir boys and to educate and board them. The ruins of the church are still on the grounds even though there is no part of the castle left. Photos of the ruins are in my files.

     Although it doesn't appear these LUFS at Auchinames are in our direst line of ancestors, we would meet them as a common ancestor if NIGELLI LUF was really their father. There was also a PATRICIUM LUF nearby at Overtoun, Kilbarchan Parish. Was he another son of NIGELLI ?? Their descendants multiplied in that area which was on the north and east side of Loch Semple. For murdering a JOHN CUNNINGHAM of Craigends in 1526 King James V put WILLIAM LORD SEMPLE "to the horn" along with 586 of his followers and tenants. The Semples and Cunninghams had been feuding for many years drawing others into the fighting such as the Montgomery and Knox families. Being "put to the horn" was a Court Order which declared the person an outlaw. The 586 men all signed a petition to King James V asking for forgiveness . The King granted this and his charter dated 17 July 1526 is shown in the Archeological History of Renfrewshire printed in 1885 in two volumes. The copy I have in my library is quite rare. There were only 290 copies published and mine is the 134th in the set. I will explain more about this later as I believe "our" JOHANNI LUF was also involved when he was living in Lochwinnoch. Some of the men on the north and east of Loch Semple who were included were

   RANALD LUF and his son WILLIAM LUF of Auchinames.

   ALLANE LUF of Muirdykes.

   JOHNE LUIF OF Wardend.

   WILLIAM LUFE and ALANE LUFE of Clochrodrick.

   WILLIAM LUIFE of Elyotstoun.

     In later years in the 17th century we find their descendants scattered through Auchinames, Wardend, Kibblestoun, Marshal Moor, Risk, Muirdykes, Gavan and all the way down to Beltrees and even Threipwood and Beith across the county border into Ayrshire. All of these LOVES and LUIFES are shown in my Analysis of LOVES 1460 to 1775 in my files.

     By circa 1508 we find JOHANNI LUF has moved down to Langyarde, a couple of miles south of Moniabroch. It doesn't show on any modern maps but was between Fairhills and Glenoro. It was still on Monastery lands but the area had mainly been taken over by the Glen and Orr families. The fact that JOHANNI LUF kept moving proved he was in the "Firmanii" class of Farmer Tenant obtaining a lease on a yearly basis. If he had been a "Free" tenant he would have obtained leases for "3 lives" (or generations). If the family of a "free farmer" stayed on the same property for 3 generations they would then actually own it and could not be removed. I imagine the Glen and Orr families held this type of "free' lease as it appears these families held the land right up to the present day in some cases.

     His lease at Langyarde reads as follows

    " Langyarde - Assedatur una pars assedatUr JACOBO GLEN, JOHANNI LUFE soluendo annuatim viij s cum seruicio debito et cosueto plegio JOHANNE ORR."

    Translation would be "At Langyarde - A lease was made: one part is leased to Jacob Glen and the other is leased to John Lufe, to pay 8 shillings together with the services customary and owed. Guarantor is John Orr."

   It is interesting to note the lease is being paid again in cash instead of produce. It can mean JOHANNI had some cash or it could mean his partner was carrying the load.

     I found an interesting document in the Chartulary of Paisley which is a record of Charters issued in connection with Monastery property. It concerns the LUFS in 1509 and shows they were men who were well thought of in the area. It is a report on a Judiciary Court held in Paisley to settle the boundaries between Calderhaugh and Barr in Lochwinnoch Parish. It was held on 26 April 1509. ROBERTUM the Abbot of Paisley Monastery was the one party and he appointed WILELMUS JAMESON and DAVID BLACKBURN to act on his behalf. The other party was ROBRTUM SYMPLE Of Fowlwood and RICARDUM BROWN of Cultermaynes. (They were the Proprietors of Calderhaugh in Lochwinnoch). They appointed on their behalf WILELMUS LUF and JOHANNES LUF. The jury was made up of 6 men as follows. WILELMO GLEN, WILELMO BRYDYNE, THOMA ARCHIBALD, THOMA LUIF, WILELMO HENDERSON and JOHANNE SYMPLE. The person recording the document was JACOBI GLEN. As the document was in Latin the above is a very loose translation. You will notice the other names were men connected to the LUFS while leasing in that area. A copy of the original in Latin is in my files taken from the original book held by the Paisley Reference Library. Also a printed version is shown in The Registrum Monasterii de Passelet. This book is held by the Mitchell Library in Glasgow.

     You can see that JOHANNI LUF was associated with the Glen and Orr families. In the meantime THOME LUF appears to have gone to Glasgow as he doesn't appear on any leases in Lochwinnoch Parish again. Another move must have happened circa 1512 when JOHANNI LUF turns up on the Rental Rolls in Langstanle. Today it is spelled Langslie and it is about a mile down the road from Langyarde. In June 2000 Carole and I visited the present owners JAMES and HAZEL HARPER. He is an architect and they live in another of those 2 storey lovely and interesting 17th century houses. They didn't know the history of the land before the mid 1600s but were kind enough to give us a copy of a book we had been looking for. It was Lochwinnoch Parish by Mrs. Elizabeth Anderson. We had visited her as everyone referred to her as the "expert local historian". However she couldn't tell us where we might find a copy of her book as it had been out of print for many years. So it was a lucky break that the Harpers gave us a copy. They were also intrigued that we knew JOHANNI LUF had leased land there circa 1512.

   The Langstanle lease reads as follows.

   "Langstanle - Assedatur JOHANNI LUFE soluendo annuatum xv s cum seruicio debito et consueto plegio JOHANNE CANSHIL."

      This would translate as "At Langstanle - A lease was made to John Lufe, to pay 15 shillings yearly together with the services customary. Guarantor is John Canshil."

     As well as these two places JOHANNI LUFE must have lived for a time at Kame in Lochwinnoch Parish. On two leases for other people he appears as pledging the surety and living at Caimes. There is certainly no way of knowing how long JOHANNI LUFE stayed at Langstanlie. The date of the next mention as far as can be determined from the Rental Rolls is extremely uncertain but it appears to be circa 1520. He is then shown to be living in the Town of Lochwinnoch.

   "The Kyrkhouse at Lochquynzok at John Luff duellis in vj s (6 shillings)."

     The Town of Lochwinnoch was controlled by WILLIAM LORD SEMPLE and the Semple Castle and grounds were actually in the town on the west side of Loch Semple. The charter in connection with WILLIAM LORD SEMPLE being "put to the horn" with all his followers and tenants showed 3 John Luifs. One of them was identified as coming from Wardend. The other 2 did not show a place of residence. But if JOHANNI LUF was living at the Kyrkhouse in Lochwinnoch in 1526 he would certainly have been included with WILLIAM LORD SEMPLE'S tenants. The only reason ALL the tenants were named was because the King did not know which of WILLIAM LORD SEMPLE'S followers had been involved in the murder so he included them all.

     Of course all this time discussing the leases of JOHANNI LUF there has been no mention of a wife or children. It is vaguely "possible" his wife was named ISOBEL. An ISOBEL LUIF was shown as a tenant in Calderhaugh in 1564. Calderhaugh was the part of Lochwinnoch near the River Calder. In fact "haugh" means the lowlying land near a river. She must have been a widow or else the tenancy wouldn't be shown in her name. I think this connection is highly unlikely because of the date. I figure JOHANNI LUF must have been over 80 by the time he was in Lochwinnoch and if that date was 1525. She would have been much younger to have survived to 1564. Its possible but unlikely. She could even have been his daughter. It appears JOHANNI LUFE had at least 3 sons and probably more. I think it fairly certain the eldest son was JOHANNIS LUIFE who appears in Govan (outskirts of Glasgow) in 1521 where he is shown as a tenant. The next son is also fairly certain. This is WALTER LUIFE who with 11 other men founded the Skinner's Guild in Glasgow in 1516. The third son would probably be ALEXANDER LUIFE who shows as a witness in Glasgow in 1530. The name ALEXANDER is carried down 2 more generations. I think another possible son might be GEORGE LUIFE who is mentioned as a possible father of HEW LUIF in the town of Lochwinnoch. This line is carried down with much certainty as HEW LUIF was prominent as a store keeper, school master, Kirk elder, coal merchant and general entrepreneur. There is vast information about him in Mrs. Anderson's book Lochwinnoch Parish which is in my library. I even have 6 years of his Count Book from the store in Johnshill (part of Lochwinnoch).

     If JOHANNI LUF died in Lochwinnoch he would have been buried in the churchyard of the Old St.John's Church half way up the hill on Johnshill Road. This is straight across the street from the Kyrkhouse where it said he had been living circa 1525. If HEW LUIF was a grandson it gets really interesting as he helped renovate this Kyrkhouse in 1630 and also lived there for a time. The church itself which is just a ruin today was built in 1729 and there is a photo in my files. That may seem to us as very old but it was the 3rd church built on this same site. There is evidence to show there was a chapel in existence in the 7th century in the time of Rhydderich Hael, King of the Britons and Strathclyde. Later a charter in 1202 shows the Chapel of Lochwinnoch was given to the Monks of Paisley and they held it until the Reformation in 1560. The stones in the cemetery surrounding the ruins are mostly illegible earlier than the 18th century but there are LOVES buried there where you can read the inscriptions.

      SOURCE of INFORMATION

     RENTAL ROLLS of the MONASTERY of PAISLEY. These can be seen on LDS film # 1885485. They are also shown in PRONI Mic 552/reel 702, SM28/REEL 702 and D623/C/16/1-39. A printed version is shown in the appendix of a book by Rev. J. Cameron Lees DD called the ABBEY OF PAISLEY. This book is in my library.

     THE PARISH of LOCHWINNOCH by Mrs. Elizabeth Anderson printed in 1987 and privately published. This book is in my library.

     ARCHAEOLOGICAL and HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS RELATING to the COUNTY of RENFREW. volumes 1 and 2. Published in 1885 by Alexander Gardner in Paisley, Scotland. This is a rare set of books. There were only 290 copies printed and my set is hand numbered # 134.

     THE ABBEY of PAISLEY published by Alexander Gardner in Paisley in 1878. This is another rare book that is in my library.

     KILBARCHAN, A PARISH HISTORY by Rev. Robert D. MacKemzie, B D. published in 1902 by Alexander Gardner in Paisley. This book is in my library also very rare..

     REGISTRUM MONASTERII DE PASSELET. Published in 1882 it is a printed translation of the original Latin. It is hekld by the Mitchell Libray in Glasgow, Scotland.

    PAISLEY MONASTERY CHARTULARY. This is an original book in Latin giving the various Charters issued by the Monastery in connection with their lands. It is held by the Paisley Reference Library in Paisley, Scotland.

     MANUSCRIPT by WILLIAM DeLOSS LOVE in the Library of Congress. Call Number Microfilm 85/9462 (C) (MicRR). Also shown on LDS film # 1465994 Item 4. Mr Jacob Love in Washington was kind enough to tell me about this manuscript.

NOTE - The rare out-of-print books I show above as being in my library, were obtained for me by Christopher Morrison who operates an Antiquarian Book Store in Paisley, Scotland.

     Children of JOHANNUS (JOHN)² LUF (8705) all born Lochwinnoch Parish, Renfrewshire, Scotland include:

                 + 8.        i.    JOHANNUS (JOHN)³ LUIFE (8704) JOHANNUS (8704) was born circa 1492. JOHANNUS (8704) died circa 1564 at an unknown age.

                       9.        ii.    WALTER LUIFE (8708). WALTER (8708) was born circa 1494. WALTER (8708) died at an unknown date in Govan, Lanarkshire, Scotland, at an unknown age.

                     10.       iii.    ALEXANDER LUIFE (8707). ALEXANDER (8707) was born circa 1496. ALEXANDER (8707) died at an unknown date in Govan, Lanarkshire, Scotland, at an unknown age.

DIRECT E-MAIL LINK to Linton E. Love