Lords in the Baronage of Scotland

Chapeau of a Scots Baron
the chapeau (or cap of maintenance) represents Scot barons in historical heraldry instead of a coronet
The Ancient Nobility of the
Baronage of Scotland
Baronial Rank of Nobility
  • Barons (1st degree) 90% are barons
  • Lords (2nd degree) very rare
  • Earls (3rd degree) very rare
  • Marquis (4th degree) only 1
  • Duke (5th degree) only 1
Titled nobles in the Baronage
Topics

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 lord, is also always a 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 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 disponed, 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).

The rights of the baronage were all but abolished by Act of Parliament in 1747, following the Jacobite rising. Baronage titles no longer provide any political power as such, although the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 has preserved the noble titles themselves, and the quality, precedence and heraldic rights pertaining.

Only about 400 baronies are identified as existing in 1405.[3] Burke's Landed Gentry for Scotland lists only about 130. Few are lordships.

Lords of regality, barons, lords and earls in the Baronage of Scotland are not to be confused with a manorial lordship.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Feudal baronies and manorial lordships" (PDF). baronage.co.uk. 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  3. ^ Atlas of Scottish History to 1707, Univ. of Edinburgh, 1996