Lords in the Baronage of Scotland
A Lord in the Baronage of Scotland is an ancient title of nobility, held in baroneum, which Latin term means that its holder, who is a feudal lord, is also always a feudal baron. The holder may or may not be a Lord of Regality, which meant that the holder was appointed by the Crown and had the power of "pit and gallows", meaning the power to authorise the death sentence.
A Scottish Baron is below a Lord of Parliament (the Scottish equivalent of an English baron) which is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, while a Lord in the Baronage of Scotland is a noble dignity of higher degree than Baron, but below an Earl in the Baronage of Scotland, which is a baron of still higher degree than a lordship.[1] In the baronage there is only a small number of lordships compared to baronies, whilst earldoms are very rare.[2]
While feudal barons originally sat in parliament (along with the lords and higher nobility who made up the Peerage), all of the peerage, originally, was within the feudal system. Later, some of what used to be feudal lordships came to be known as peerages (such as that of The Right Honourable The Lord Forrester) while others were assigned, inherited by greater peers, or otherwise disqualified from the modern-day peerage. The feudal rights were gradually emasculated and, with the demise of the Scottish parliament in 1707, the right of feudal barons to sit in parliament ceased altogether, unless, that is, a feudal baron was also a Peer (Peerage rights are dealt with elsewhere).
Feudal lordships were all but abolished by Act of Parliament in 1747, following the Jacobite rising. A feudal barony no longer carries any political power as such, although the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 has preserved the baronies themselves, and the quality, precedence and heraldic rights pertaining to these baronies.
Between 1500 and 2000 feudal baronies may have been created, mostly in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, since only about 400 baronies are identified as existing in 1405.[3] Because they fell into disuse, the substantiating paperwork for only a few hundred survives or has been identified. Burke's Landed Gentry for Scotland lists only about 130.
Lords of regality, barons, lords and earls in the Baronage of Scotland are not to be confused with a manorial lordship.
Usage[edit]
The holder of the title Lord in the Baronage of Scotland, in similar fashion to the holder of a barony (e.g., "Inverglen"), may add the title to his existing name (e.g., "John Smith, Lord of Inverglen") or add the territorial designation to his surname ("John Smith of Inverglen, Lord of Inverglen"); some of the oldest Scottish families prefer to be styled by the territorial designation alone ("Smith of Inverglen").[4][5][6]
Lords are addressed 'Lord of Placename' or His Lordship or My Lord and barons are addressed as 'Baron of Placename' or The Baron.
A female baron is usually referred to as 'Lady Placename' or My Lady or Baroness. The wife of a Lord receives the courtesy title 'Lady Placename', but the husband of a Lady, who holds a barony in her own right, is just plain Mr. 'Surname'.
It can be a tradition of the family or a personal style of the holder for Lordships that are also erected in Barony to be styled Lord or Baron interchangeably, in some cases female holders have been referred to in official documents as Baroness as a preference while male predecessors (and successors) were Lord.
Forms of address for Lords[edit]
- Written: 'The Much Hon The Lord of Placename' or 'The Lord of Placename'
- Salutation: 'Dear Lord of Placename' or 'Dear My Lord'
- In a speech: 'My Lord Placename' or 'My Lords, Ladies and Gentleman'
- In conversation: 'Lord Placename' or 'My Lord' or 'Your Lordship'
- Third person: 'His Lordship'
- For females replace Lord for Lady
The Much Honoured[edit]
Sometimes in the most formal of occasions (for example on the envelope of a letter or place name) the prefix honorific style The Much Hon. (The Much Honoured) is put before the name, the prefix honorific "Much Honoured" is used to distinguish Scot Barons from honourifics attaching to peers.
E.g. The Much Hon. The Lord of Inverglen / Much Hon. Lord of Inverglen / Much Hon. John Smith, Lord of Inverglen / Much Hon. John, Lord of Inverglen
Order of precedence[edit]
Wallace states that in regards to Scot Barons:
"Lordships, Earldoms, Marquessates and Dukedoms differ only in name from Baronies" but continues "one whose property was erected into a Lordship ranked before a simple Baron" and "A person to whom an Earldom belonged, would be superior to a person who had no more than a lordship ... One, whose lands were incorporated into a Marquessate, was superior to both ... A man, who owned a fief elevated into a Dukedom, was exhaulted above all three."[7]
The inference in terms of superiority from greater to lesser is thus: Duke, Marquess, Earl, Lord, Baron. (Note however that Lord Stair states that Lordships or Earldoms are "but more noble titles of a Barony".[1])
Lordships in the Baronage of Scotland (created before 1707)[edit]
Below is an incomplete list of Lordships created in the baronage before 1707.
Lordship | County | Createda | Incumbent | Succeeded |
---|---|---|---|---|
Abernethy | Perthshire | Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz | 2008 | |
Ardrossan | Ayrshire | 1357 | ||
Balvaird | Perthshire | 1673 | Brady Brim-DeForest of Balvaird Castle | 2017 |
Bothwell | South Lanarkshire | 12th century[8] | ||
Braemar | Aberdeen | John Sullivan[9][10] | 2004 | |
Buncle and Preston | Berwickshire | Olivier Fuchs of Cockburn | 2009 | |
Cockburn | Berwickshire | 14th century | Olivier Fuchs | 2008 |
Coldingham | Berwickshire | 1141 | ||
Cowal | Argyll | James Devlin | ||
Coupar | Perthshire | 1607 | Forfeited by attainder in 1746 | |
Crawford and Douglas | South Lanarkshire | |||
Cromar[11] | Aberdeenshire | 1362 | ||
Cumbernauld | Lanarkshire | 1314 | ||
Dirleton | East Lothian | 1220 | Baron Camilo Agasim-Pereira of Fulwood | 2000 |
Dudhope | Angus | 1542 | ||
Forbes | Aberdeenshire | 1445 | Malcolm, Lord Forbes | 2013 |
Garioch | Aberdeenshire | 12th century | George David Menking | 2001 |
Giffen | Ayrshire | 14th century | Ryan Montgomery | 2001 |
Glencoe | Argyll | Forde | ||
Hailes | East Lothian | 20 Dec 1451b | S.A. Malin of Hailes[12] | 2008 |
Halydean | Roxburghshire | 1128 | Taylor Moffitt of Halydean | 2006 |
Jedburgh Forest | Roxburghshire | 3 Feb 1602 | Richard Bruce Bernadotte Miller | 2010 |
Kildrummie | Aberdeen | John Sullivan[9][13] | 2004 | |
Kilmarnock | Ayrshire | 1316 | ||
Leslie | Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje[14] | 2004 | ||
Pittenweem | Fife | 1592[15] | Claes Zangenberg[16] | 2011 |
Slains | Aberdeenshire | 1452 | Paul Bell | 2015 |
Stobo | Peeblesshire | 1140 | The Much Hon. William Jolly | |
Strathdee | Aberdeenshire | 1563 | ||
Urquhart | Inverness-shire | 1230 | ||
Zetland | Shetland | 1600[17] |
a: The creation date is the earliest known date for the Lordship and subject to revision
b: The Barony of Hailes was granted to Adam de Hepburn by Patrick de Dunbar, Earl of March in 1343
See also[edit]
- Peerage of Scotland
- Barons in Scotland
- Feudal Earldom
- Order of precedence in Scotland
- English feudal barony
- Marcher Lord (Welsh Marches)
- Marcher Lord
- Register of the Great Seal of Scotland;
- Abolition of Feudal Tenure Act, Scotland;
- Statutes of 1592;
- Baronetcy Warrants of Charles I.
References[edit]
- ^ a b Institutes, II.3.45
- ^ "Feudal baronies and manorial lordships" (PDF). baronage.co.uk. 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ Atlas of Scottish History to 1707, Univ. of Edinburgh, 1996
- ^ "Usages". Archived from the original on 13 August 2002.
- ^ "Scottish Feudal Baronies". Archived from the original on 25 July 2013.
- ^ "Scottish feudal baronies (feudal barons, feudal baron) including the oath of a knight". 26 July 2020. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
- ^ Ancient Peerages, 2nd Edition, Edinburgh, 1785, pp 127-130
- ^ "About Bothwell". Bothwell Historical Society. Bothwell Historical Society.
- ^ a b "The Arms of J. Sullivan of Braemar, Earl of Breadalbane, Lord of Braemar and Kildrummie". The Armorial Register, UK. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ "Decision of Lord Lyon King of Arms "Skye, 8 October 2009"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ Mackintosh, John. "Historic earls and earldoms of Scotland". Internet Archive. Aberdeen : W. Jolly. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
- ^ Scottish Barony Register and Burke's Peerage
- ^ "Decision of Lord Lyon King of Arms "Skye, 8 October 2009"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ "Decision of Lord Lyon King of Arms "Skye, 8 October 2009"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ "Records of the Parliaments of Scotland".
- ^ Scottish Barony Register and Letter Patent by the Lord Lyon, see http://baronyofpittenweem.com/reference/stories/full-grant.jpg
- ^ General Register Office, ed., Registrum magni sigilli regum Scotorum : The register of the Great seal of Scotland, A.D. 1306-1668, Edinburgh, 1882, p. 339