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Sciennes
In 1544 the convent at the Sciennes was destroyed
by the English ; and by the year 1567 its
whole possessions had passed into the hands of
laymen, and the helpless sisters were driven forth
from their cloisters in utter penury; nor would the
magistrates, until compelled by Queen Mary, says
Arnot, ” allow them a subsistence out of those very
funds with which their own predecessors had
endowed the convent.” The ” Burgh Records”
corroborate this, as in 1563 the Prioress Christian,
Beatrix Blacater, and other sisters, received payment
of certain feu-duties for their sustenance out
of the proceeds of the suppressed house. At that
time its revenues were only ^219 6s. sterling,
with eighty-six bolls of wheat and barley, and
one barrel of salmon. (Maitland’s Hist.) Its
seal is preserved among Laing’s Collection,
No. 1136.
source-Old and New Edinburgh
