Scottish feudal lordship

A feudal lordship is a feudal title that is held in baroneum, which Latin term means that its holder, who is called a feudal lord, is also always a feudal baron. A feudal lordship is an ancient title of nobility. 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 feudal lord ranks above a Scottish feudal baron (being a feudal baron of a higher degree), but below a Lord of Parliament which is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, and below a feudal earldom, which is a feudal barony of still higher degree than a feudal lordship. There are far fewer feudal lordships than feudal baronies, whilst feudal earldoms are very rare.[1]

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 sold, 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.[2] 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.

A peer is invariably addressed as 'Lord Placename' or 'Lord Such-and-so', whilst those holding a feudal lordship are addressed 'Lord of Placename' or 'Placename' and feudal barons are addressed as 'Baron of Placename' or 'Placename'.

A female feudal baron is usually referred to as 'Lady Placename'. The wife of a Lord receives the courtesy title 'Lady Placename', but the husband of a Lady, who holds a feudal barony in her own right, is just plain Mr. 'Surname'.

Lords of regality, feudal lords, and feudal barons are not to be confused with a manorial lordship.

Order of precedence of Scottish feudal titles

Wallace states that:

"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."[3]

The inference in terms of superiority from greater to lesser is thus: Feudal Duke, Feudal Marquess, Feudal Earl, Feudal Lord, Feudal Baron. (Note however that Lord Stair states that Lordships or Earldoms are "but more noble titles of a Barony".[4])

Usage

The holder of a Scottish feudal lordship, 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").[5][6][7]

According to the UK government, the current policy of using titles on passports requires that the applicant provides evidence that the Lord Lyon has recognised a feudal barony (or in this case feudal lordship), or the title is included in Burke's Peerage. If accepted (and if the applicant wishes to include the title), the correct form is for the applicant to include the territorial designation as part of their surname (Surname of territorial designation e.g. Smith of Inverglen). The Observation would then show the holder's full name, followed by their feudal title e.g. The holder is John Smith, Lord of Inverglen.[8]

List of feudal lordships (created before 1707)

Below is an incomplete list of Scottish feudal lordships created in Scotland before 1707.

LordshipCountyCreatedaIncumbentSucceeded
AbernethyPerthshireMahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz2008
ArdrossanAyrshire1357
BalvairdPerthshire1673Alexander David Mungo Murray, Earl of Mansfield2015
BothwellSouth Lanarkshire12th century[9]
Braemar Aberdeen John Sullivan[10][11] 2004
Buncle and PrestonBerwickshireOlivier Fuchs of Cockburn2009
CockburnBerwickshire14th centuryOlivier Fuchs2008
ColdinghamBerwickshire1141
CowalArgyllJames Devlin
Crawford and Douglas South Lanarkshire
Cromar[12] Aberdeenshire 1362
CumbernauldLanarkshire1314
DirletonEast Lothian1220Baron Camilo Agasim-Pereira of Fulwood2000
DudhopeAngus1542
ForbesAberdeenshire1445Malcolm, Lord Forbes2013
GariochAberdeenshire12th centuryGeorge David Menking2001
GiffenAyrshire14th centuryRyan Montgomery2001
Glencoe Argyll Forde
HailesEast Lothian20 Dec 1451bS.A. Malin of Hailes[13]2008
HalydeanRoxburghshire1128Taylor Moffitt of Halydean2006
Jedburgh ForestRoxburghshire3 Feb 1602Richard Bruce Bernadotte Miller2010
Kildrummie Aberdeen John Sullivan[10][14] 2004
KilmarnockAyrshire1316
Leslie Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje[15] 2004
Pittenweem Fife 1592[16] Claes Zangenberg[17] 2011
Slains Aberdeenshire 1452 Paul Bell 2015
StoboPeeblesshire1140The Much Hon. William Jolly
StrathdeeAberdeenshire1563
UrquhartInverness-shire1230
ZetlandShetland1600[18]

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

References
  1. "Feudal baronies and manorial lordships" (PDF). baronage.co.uk.
  2. Atlas of Scottish History to 1707, Univ. of Edinburgh, 1996
  3. Ancient Peerages, 2nd Edition, Edinburgh, 1785, pp 127-130
  4. Institutes, II.3.45
  5. "Usages". Archived from the original on 13 August 2002.
  6. "Scottish Feudal Baronies". Archived from the original on 25 July 2013.
  7. "Scottish feudal baronies (feudal barons, feudal baron) including the oath of a knight".
  8. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118548/titles-included-in-passports.pdf page 3, UK government website
  9. "About Bothwell". Bothwell Historical Society. Bothwell Historical Society.
  10. "The Arms of J. Sullivan of Braemar, Earl of Breadalbane, Lord of Braemar and Kildrummie". The Armorial Register, UK. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  11. "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.
  12. Mackintosh, John. "Historic earls and earldoms of Scotland". Internet Archive. Aberdeen : W. Jolly. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  13. Scottish Barony Register and Burke's Peerage
  14. "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.
  15. "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.
  16. "Records of the Parliaments of Scotland".
  17. Scottish Barony Register and Letter Patent by the Lord Lyon, see http://baronyofpittenweem.com/reference/stories/full-grant.jpg
  18. 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
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