Richard of Leicester, burgess of Perth, has given and granted, and by this his present charter established to Scone Abbey one booth in the villa of Perth, namely, that one which he formerly bought from Kenneth (?) of Scone, which is situated at the corner of North Street and the street that runs towards the church of St John the Baptist on the west side, having and holding in perpetuity, free and quit, provisioning a wax-light perpetually to light the altar of Blessed Mary in the church of St John of Perth.

Witness: Simon of Crieff

This charter is shown in the on-line database Paradox of Medieval Scotland 1093-1286 referenced as Scone Lib. [the Liber Ecclesie de Scon, or Book of the Church of Scone] no. 88, Calendar no. 3/646/10, of probable date Mid 13th century. The original is in Latin so this is a translation. The word villa therefore should be understood as burgh (or town). The charter is probably the same as the one referenced by Black (see below).

This is a significant early reference, since it demonstrates the existence of an individual using the surname Cree in Perth at least 210 years earlier than our previously earliest known Cree the Guildry member John of Cre. Being a charter witness implies literacy of course, just as Guildry membership in 1459 implies merchant status.

CRIEFF. Of local origin from the town of the name in Perthshire. Symon de Kref, witness in Perth in reign of Alexander II (Scon p. 56)

This is an entry from G F Black's Surnames of Scotland (New York 1946). The reference (Scon) is to the Liber Ecclesie de Scon. Munimenta vetustiora monasterii Sancte Trinitatis de Scon (Edinburgh 1843).

From our knowledge of early spelling rules we can tell that the name Kref would have been pronounced the same as the modern town of Crieff, Perthshire.

The translator of the full charter extract seems to have no doubt about translating the original spelling of the witness, presumed to have been Symon de Kref, to Simon of Crieff. This must be because he or she is aware of the name and its meaning from other contexts, either as a personal name or, more likely, as the place name of the present-day town of Crieff. This gives added weight to our hypothesis that the Scottish surname CREE derives originally from the place-name Crieff.

The existence of Simon of Crieff as a charter witness in Perth also has significance for the family history of the Cree name. Since Alexander II ruled from 1214 to 1249, he pre-dates our previously earliest Perth Cree, John of Cre, by at least 210 years. Can it be that there is a genealogical chain linking these Perth Crees over this period? The real significance of this charter is that it supports the theory that Cree is a locative surname deriving from Crieff.