Post by Admin on May 25, 2020 9:31:37 GMT -7
Unusual Scottish Terms and Words
A
Abuilyements [of one's body] - Clothing, or garments
Act - Formal decision
Addettit - Indebted to, owing
Air - Heir
Alienate - Sell
Aliment - A maintenance
Allenarly - Only, solely or exclusively
Anent - Concerning
Annalzie - Alienate, or sell
Annualrent - Interest on a loan, paid annually
Antiburgher - A member of that part of the Secession Church, which broke away from the main body in 1747
Apparent heir - Not the person who "appears" to be heir to landed property, but the heir who has already succeeded to it
Appraisement - Valuation
Articles of roup - The conditions under which the property was to be auctioned
At - Indicates a landless person e.g. Andrew bennett, farm servant at Little Kenny
Auchtand - Owing
Auld-licht - A member of the Secession Church
Availl - Worth, or monetary value
Awand - Owing
B
Bairn's pairt of gear - Children's legal share of their father's moveable property on his death; also called the legitim
Barony - A large freehold estate or manor
Base-born - Illegitimate, born out of wedlock
Behoof - On behalf of
Bigging - A building
Books of council and session - Another title for the Register of Deeds and Probative Writs in which, according to the directions they contain, deeds were registered for preservation and execution, or for preservation only
Bothy - A building which housed bachelor farm labourers and itinerant workers
Bro. - Brother
Burgher - A member of the Secession Church, which broke away from the Established Church on the question of the burgess oath
C
Candlemas - 2 February - one of the quarter, or term, days
Caution, cautioner - Security; bail; one who stands surety for another
Cess - Land tax
Cessioner - A person to whom a cession of property is made
Chalder - A measure, which varied from place to place and depending on what it was a measure of. When applied to grain, it was (about) 16 bolls, the boll being (about) 6 imperial bushels
Chincough - Whooping cough
Clachan - Small settlement
Close - Narrow passageway off a street leading to a tenement or courtyard
Codicil - A writing by which a person bequeathes legacies out of his moveable estate and which does not contain the nomination of an executor; usually executed in reference to a previous testament, or it may be a writing which alters the terms of a settlement to take account of circumstances which have changed since the original deed was drawn up
Cognition and sasine - The process by which an heir is accepted into property in a burgh
Collation - Applied to benefices; it was the approval given by a bishop to appoint someone to a church living
Collegiate church - Basically a church founded by a private person, in free alms
Commendator - This was originally a churchman who levied the income from a benefice while it was vacant, but later he was a layman who had a grant of a vacant benefice for life
Commissariot - The office, jurisdiction or court of a commissar(y); the district included in such jurisdiction
Commissary - Originally, one of a bishops officials; but after the Reformation an official of an organisation called the Commissary Court; in both cases he dealt with matters to do with inheritance, particularly the confirmation of testaments
Compear - Present oneself or appear, usually before a court
Compt - Account
Conjunctlie and severally - An obligation or empowerment to two or more people to do something, either acting singly or in consort
Conventicle - A clandestine religious meeting e.g. Of the covenanters
Cottoun/cotton - Settlement occupied by cottars
Croft - Smallholding
Curator - A person who is appointed to act for someone else who cannot manage his own affairs, usually someone who administers the estate of a minor
D
D., dau., daur. - Daughter
Davach - A measurement of land, amounting to about four ploughgates
Dead's part, deid's part - The part of someone's moveable estate which they are entitled to dispose of by testament after death; see bairn's part and jus relictae, which are the other parts
Dec. - Deceased
Decree or decreet - The final judgement or sentence of a court
Decreet of cognitionis causa - The pronouncement of a court ascertaining the amount of a debt to be paid out of the deceaseds estate by the heirs to a creditor; upon obtaining this, the creditor may be confirmed as executor of the estate
Deed - In the most usual Scottish sense, a formal written document in a set form which gives the terms of an agreement, contract or obligation; for practical purposes, any document which isn't a sasine or concerned with the transfer of heritable property
Defunct - The deceased person
Deponent - Someone who makes a deposition before a court
Deposition - The testimony of a witness put down in writing
Diligence - The application of legal means against a person, especially for the recovery of debt; a warrant issues by a court to enforce the appearance of witnesses or the production of writings
Dissenter - Non-conformist, does not conform to the Established Church
Dom. - Domicile
Domicills - Household goods
Donator - The receiver of a donation, usually where the rightful succession has failed
Dsp - Decessit sine prole, died without issue
E
Edict - A legally authoritative proclamation made in a public place summoning persons to appear (compear) before the courts
Effeirs, as effeirs, effeiring - Relating or corresponding to
Eik - An addition or supplement to a deed
Ell - A measure of length; traditionally the distance between the elbow and the fingertips
Entail or tailzie. - A deed by which the legal course of succession to lands can be altered and another one substituted, or by which the descent of the lands can be secured to a specified succession of heirs and substitutes
Entres - Interest
Enumeration districts - The administrative units into which the country was divided in order to facilitate the recording of census information
Executor - The legal administrator of the moveable property of a dead person, either nominated in the deceased's testament or by the Commissary Court.
Executrix - Female executor
F.
Father
Factor - A person appointed by another to conduct affairs on his behalf; a business agent
Failzie - Failure to comply with something, or non-fulfillment of an obligation
Farder - Further
Ferd - Fourth
Ferme, ferm - Rent or annual payment
Feu - Feudal holding, land granted to the Vassal by his Superior in return for feu-duty (cash or kind)
Feu-duty - Annual payment by the Vassal to the Superior for use of land
Firlot - A Scottish measure which, like the rest, differed from place to place and depended on what it was being used to measure; as far as grain was concerned, it was the fourth part of a bol (and therefore anything from about nine-tenths to one and a half Imperial bushels)
Forsamekle - Forasmuch
Foundling - An abandoned infant
Freith - Free
G
German - Full, of a brother or sister, or cousin
Gif, gyf - If, whether
Glassite - A follower of John Glas (1695-1773), former Church of Scotland minister, who believed that a congregation should be subject only to the authority of Jesus Christ. See also Sandemanian
Glebe - The parcel of land given to a Minister for his use, in addition to his stipend (salary in cash and/or kind)
Grassum - A lump sum paid by a person taking on a lease of landed property
Ground-mail - Payment for right of burial
Guids and geir - Possessions (moveable as opposed to heritable)
H
H - Head of household
Haill - Whole
Handfast - To be betrothed
Hearth tax - A tax on the number of hearths in a dwelling, levied several times in Scotland between 1691 and 1695
Heirs - Can come in various forms. The heir general is one who succeeds to both the heritable and moveable property of a deceased person, who also happens to be that person's heir at law and heir by normal course of succession (his heir of line); the heir of provision on the other hand, is one who succeeds by virtue of the terms of a settlement or some express provision; "heir special" refers to the right of an heir to receive infeftment in particular lands, and heirs portioners are women who succeed jointly to heritable property; see also apparent heir
Heirship moveables - Certain moveable goods (generally the best) belonging to the deceased, to which the heir in heritage (normally the eldest son) was entitled by law
Heritable - Capable of being inherited; pertaining to land and houses, i.e. The property which went by inheritance to the heir-at-law as opposed to moveable property; `heritable right meant right by inheritance
Heritage - Inheritance; property in the form of land and houses which descended to the `heir-at-law on the death of the proprietor; heritable estate
Heritors - The landowners in a parish who held responsibility for the parish church, parish school, the poor and payment of the schoolteacher's salary and the Minister's stipend
Hillfolk - Members of the Cameronians religious sect, or Covenanters in general
Howff - A meeting place
I
Ilk - Same, used after surname to indicate person is of the estate of the same name as the family
Ilke, ilkane - Each, every one
Illeg. - Illegitimate
Ill-gotten - Illegitimate
Imprimis - Latin for first or firstly
In. - Indicates a tenant e.g. Charles malloch in haughs of cossins
Ind. - A person of independent means
Inde - Latin for therefore
Indweller - Resident, inhabitant
Inf. - Infant, informant
Infeftment - The investing of a new owner with legal possession of land or heritage; 'infeftment in security' was the temporary infeftment of a creditor in heritable property as security against a loan or debt.
Infield - The better land closest to the farm buildings, which received all the manure
Insicht - Furniture, or household goods
Inst. - Instant, this week or month
Intromission - Taking up the possession and management of property belonging to someone else; it can be legal, when someone is designated as an "intromettor with the goods and gear" of another, or illegal, when it is called "vicious intromission" in which case an heir intromits with the moveable property of his ancestors without right
Inventar - Inventory of moveable property
J
Jointure - A provision for a widow, usually made in her marriage contract and consisting of an annual payment to be made to her in her lifetime; if such a jointure was appointed for a wife, it would unless otherwise provided for deprive her of her widow's terce, but she was better off with the jointure, since if her husband died in debt or bankrupt, she would be reckoned as one of his creditors and be able to make her claim first rather than waiting till the debts were settled and having to make do with a share of what was left
Jus mariti - A husbands right to his wifes moveables
Jus relictae - "The right of the relict" (the widow). It is the share of the moveable goods of a marriage to which a widow was entitled on the death of her husband; if there were children, one-third would go to them as the bairns' pairt or legitim, and a further one-third would be the dead's part the deceased could bequeath, so that the jus relictae would be the other. (terce has to do with heritables).
K
Ken, kend - Know, known
Kin - Relatives
Kirk - The Church, in particular, the Church of Scotland
Kirk session - Church court made up of the Minister and elders of the Parish
L
L. - Lawful
Lair - Burial plot in a graveyard
Lammas - 1 August - one of the quarter, or term, days
Landward - Part of a parish, which is in the country
Late - Formerly, dead
Legator - The person to whom a legacy is left
Legitim - That part of the deceaseds moveable property which went by law to his children one third if there was a surviving spouse, otherwise half; it only applied after satisfaction of any prior rights; sometimes referred to as `bairns part (of gear)
Leillie & treullie - Legally and honestly (in later testaments the word used was "faithfully")
Lie - This word is used to introduce local names used in documents, or any Scots word or phrase brought into a Latin document.
Liferent - A right entitling a person (called a "liferenter") to use and enjoy another's property for life, providing this was done without wasting it; the liferent might be a sum of money paid yearly, or the income from a piece of land
Liferent or Life-rent in Scots law is the right to receive for life the benefits of a property or other asset, without the right to dispose of the property or asset.
Liquidat - In relation to debts or other due payments, it meant fixed in advance at a definite sum, or specified exactly; judicially assessed; having a monetary equivalent prescribed by decreet of court and appointed to be so paid
M
M./mar. - Married
Macmillanite - A follower of Rev. John Macmillan (1670-1753), one of the founders of the Reformed Presbyterian Church
Mail, maills and duties - Mail is the Scots word for rent; maills and duties were the yearly rents of an estate due in money or grain
Mains - Home farm on an estate
Major - Person of full legal age (21 before 1970, 18 after 1970)
Manse - House provided for parish minister
Mark or merk - A silver coin worth 13 shillings 4 pence (or two-thirds of a pound) Scots, and therefore just over shilling sterling at the time of the Union; common also as a unit of valuation of land, as in "the two merklands of ault extent of Glaur"
Marriage contract - A contract made between the husband or promised husband of a woman who was about to marry or just had, and her male relatives, settling the provision to be made for the wife or future wife. The idea was to improve on the legal rights of the wife or future wife and any children of the marriage, usually by the husband agreeing to grant them a liferent, or to grant the wife an annuity (the jointure), which would safeguard against any risk of the husband becoming insolvent. The contract could be made before marriage, when it was termed an "ante-nuptial contract", or it could be "post-nuptial" if made after; the ante-nuptial version gave the wife and children much stronger rights over the husband's estate should get into debt, because they would then be entitled to be considered as his creditors.
Martinmas, mertinmas - 11 November one of the quarter, or term, days
Master/mr - Person was a graduate of a university
Mell - Associate with, or have dealings with
Minor - Young person aged between 12-21 (girl) and 14-21 (boy) (before 1970)
Minor - Someone who is older than 12 if female or 14 if male, but still under the age of 21; however "minority" can be used to refer to the whole period of a person's life from birth until they reach 21. Minors may have curators who are appointed to look after their affairs; see also pupil
Mortcloth - The pall covering a coffin on the way to the gravesite. The mortcloth was hired out to parishioners by the kirk session or the guild. Information on mortcloth hire can be found in kirk session minutes.
Moveable property - The other kind of property in Scots law as opposed to heritable; in general, it is every type of property which isn't land or something connected with land.
N
Natural - Illegitimate, born out of wedlock
Notar, notary - Someone licensed to record legal transactions
O
Of. - Indicates a landowner e.g. John baxter of idvies
Omissa - Items which had been originally omitted from the deceaseds estate
Outfield - The more outlying and less fertile part of a farm, where the ground was seldom or never cultivated (before the introduction of enclosure and crop rotation in the 18th century)
Outsight plenishing - Moveable property kept or lying out of doors; it would include livestock and implements like ploughs, but not corn or hay, which were not reckoned as "plenishings"
Oxgang - A measure of land which like Scottish measures in general, varied from place to place; in general, it was about 13 acres
P
P. - Pensioner (usually army or navy)
Pairts and pertinents - The parts and pertinents are what a piece of land was always granted with; they implied everything connected with the land granted whether names or not, and could be considerable
Pand/pawn - Pledge of good behaviour by a betrothed couple, usually a sum of money deposited with the Kirk Session
Parish - An ecclesiastical district having its own minister and church (Established Church)
Paroch, parochin - Parish
Parochial - Of or pertaining to the parish
Pend - A vaulted entry to a passageway
Pendicle - Small piece of ground
Penny wedding - A wedding where guests put money towards the food and drink, the balance of which went to the bride and groom
Petitioner - Someone who brings an action before a court
Plenishings - In general, furniture and other household moveable goods; "outsight plenishings" were those kept out of doors
Ploughgate - A measure of land which contained 8 oxgangs each of 12-13 acres, but the size varied from place to place
Poll tax - Levied on all adults in Scotland, except those receiving charity, between 1693 and 1699. It made a brief reappearance in the 1990s
Presbyterian - A form of Protestant Church governed by elders or presbyters
Proclamation of banns - Notice of contract of marriage, read out in the Kirk before the marriage took place. Kirk Session minutes record the money pledged by the groom to ensure that the couple married within 40 days
Procurator - In the context of testaments, it was the person authorised to act on behalf of another; a solicitor
Procurator fiscal - In the context of testaments, the procurator, or solicitor, with responsibility for the `fiscal or treasury
Proport - Purport, convey
Propriis minibus - "With his (or her) own hand"
Pupil - A child younger than 12 if female or 14 if male; one older than that (but still not 21) was a minor. Pupils might have their affairs administered by a tutor
Q
Quha - Who
Quhilk - Which
Quoad sacra - Parish disjoined for ecclesiastical purposes only
Quondam - Former or deceased
Quot - The twentieth part of the moveable estate of a deceased person, which was originally the due of the bishop in whose diocese he had resided; it continued to be paid after the Reformation, but to the commissaries
R
Ranking of creditors - A system of deciding, impartially, which creditors should have prior claim on a debtor's estate; this was why it was so important to a wife to have an antenuptial marriage contract making provision for her and her children because, if she had, they would be entitled to be "ranked" among any creditors on her husband's estate if he fell into debt
Rce - Register of Corrected Entries
Relict - A widow
Resignation - This occurred when a vassal gave up his estate to the superior, either permanently, or 'in favorem', i.e where the intention was that the superior should make a new grant in favour of another, usually a purchaser from the person resigning the land.
Rests - Arrears
Retour - See Services of Heirs
Roup - An auction, governed by conditions called "articles of Roup"
Runrig - Strips of land allocated to tenants
S
Sandemanian - A follower of Robert Sandeman (1718-71), leader of a religious sect, which developed out of the Glassites
Sasine - Instrument by which changes in ownership of land were recorded
Seceder - A member of the Secession Church, which broke away from the Established Church in 1733
Services of heirs - On the death of a landowner, the heir had to prove his right to inherit the land. An investigation took place to ascertain the extent of the land held by the deceased, and a retour (return) of the jury's decision was made to the Chancery. The heir received a certified copy of the retour, thereby ratifying the entitlement.
Sett - A lease
Shieling - A rough hut used by farm workers as temporary accommodation while tending sheep or cattle on the summer pastures
Siclyk, sicklyk - Likewise
Skaith - Harm, damage
Spiritualities - The teinds due to the church
Steading - Farm buildings
Stent - Valuation, tax
Stent roll - Valuation roll
Stipend - The salary of a parish minister
Summa - Latin for the sum, or total, normally found at the end of the inventory where the value of the deceaseds estate is given
Superior - The person who had made an original grant of land in return for the payment of an annual sum or feu, or for the performance of certain services, or both; the person receiving the grant who was thereby bound to make the payment or do the service which went with the lands, was the superior's vassal
Surrogate - To appoint as a substitute; a substitute in respect of a right or claim
T
Tack - Lease
Teind - Tithe
Tenement - A building divided into dwellings for a number of families
Testament - Will
Testament-dative - A written deed whereby an executor is appointed by the Court in cases where the deceased left no testament
Testament-testamentar - A written deed whereby an executor is appointed by the testator
Testator - A person who leaves a valid will at death
Tocher - A dowry
U
U.R. - Usual residence
Umquhile - Late, deceased
Un. - Unmarried
Unm. - Unmarried
Utencilis & domiceillis - Household goods
V
Vassal - A person to whom land is conveyed to be held by him from the landowner (the superior) for the payment of a yearly rent or feu-duty or the performance of some regular service to the superior
Vennel - A lane or narrow alley
Vide - Latin for see
Vizt. - Latin for namely
W
W. - Widowed
Warrandice - An undertaking, usually in the form of a "clause of warrandice "in a grant, whereby the person making the grant promised to maintain and support the grantee in the property or right granted him, against all challenges made to his right or impediments concerning it which might arise after the grant was made. "real warrandice" was an undertaking that if the grantee were to lose his right to what had been granted, then the granted would grant him something else of equal value
Whitsunday - 15 May; one of the term, or quarter, days
Writ - A legal document or writing
X
Y Younger of - Reference to heir when landowner still alive
A
Abuilyements [of one's body] - Clothing, or garments
Act - Formal decision
Addettit - Indebted to, owing
Air - Heir
Alienate - Sell
Aliment - A maintenance
Allenarly - Only, solely or exclusively
Anent - Concerning
Annalzie - Alienate, or sell
Annualrent - Interest on a loan, paid annually
Antiburgher - A member of that part of the Secession Church, which broke away from the main body in 1747
Apparent heir - Not the person who "appears" to be heir to landed property, but the heir who has already succeeded to it
Appraisement - Valuation
Articles of roup - The conditions under which the property was to be auctioned
At - Indicates a landless person e.g. Andrew bennett, farm servant at Little Kenny
Auchtand - Owing
Auld-licht - A member of the Secession Church
Availl - Worth, or monetary value
Awand - Owing
B
Bairn's pairt of gear - Children's legal share of their father's moveable property on his death; also called the legitim
Barony - A large freehold estate or manor
Base-born - Illegitimate, born out of wedlock
Behoof - On behalf of
Bigging - A building
Books of council and session - Another title for the Register of Deeds and Probative Writs in which, according to the directions they contain, deeds were registered for preservation and execution, or for preservation only
Bothy - A building which housed bachelor farm labourers and itinerant workers
Bro. - Brother
Burgher - A member of the Secession Church, which broke away from the Established Church on the question of the burgess oath
C
Candlemas - 2 February - one of the quarter, or term, days
Caution, cautioner - Security; bail; one who stands surety for another
Cess - Land tax
Cessioner - A person to whom a cession of property is made
Chalder - A measure, which varied from place to place and depending on what it was a measure of. When applied to grain, it was (about) 16 bolls, the boll being (about) 6 imperial bushels
Chincough - Whooping cough
Clachan - Small settlement
Close - Narrow passageway off a street leading to a tenement or courtyard
Codicil - A writing by which a person bequeathes legacies out of his moveable estate and which does not contain the nomination of an executor; usually executed in reference to a previous testament, or it may be a writing which alters the terms of a settlement to take account of circumstances which have changed since the original deed was drawn up
Cognition and sasine - The process by which an heir is accepted into property in a burgh
Collation - Applied to benefices; it was the approval given by a bishop to appoint someone to a church living
Collegiate church - Basically a church founded by a private person, in free alms
Commendator - This was originally a churchman who levied the income from a benefice while it was vacant, but later he was a layman who had a grant of a vacant benefice for life
Commissariot - The office, jurisdiction or court of a commissar(y); the district included in such jurisdiction
Commissary - Originally, one of a bishops officials; but after the Reformation an official of an organisation called the Commissary Court; in both cases he dealt with matters to do with inheritance, particularly the confirmation of testaments
Compear - Present oneself or appear, usually before a court
Compt - Account
Conjunctlie and severally - An obligation or empowerment to two or more people to do something, either acting singly or in consort
Conventicle - A clandestine religious meeting e.g. Of the covenanters
Cottoun/cotton - Settlement occupied by cottars
Croft - Smallholding
Curator - A person who is appointed to act for someone else who cannot manage his own affairs, usually someone who administers the estate of a minor
D
D., dau., daur. - Daughter
Davach - A measurement of land, amounting to about four ploughgates
Dead's part, deid's part - The part of someone's moveable estate which they are entitled to dispose of by testament after death; see bairn's part and jus relictae, which are the other parts
Dec. - Deceased
Decree or decreet - The final judgement or sentence of a court
Decreet of cognitionis causa - The pronouncement of a court ascertaining the amount of a debt to be paid out of the deceaseds estate by the heirs to a creditor; upon obtaining this, the creditor may be confirmed as executor of the estate
Deed - In the most usual Scottish sense, a formal written document in a set form which gives the terms of an agreement, contract or obligation; for practical purposes, any document which isn't a sasine or concerned with the transfer of heritable property
Defunct - The deceased person
Deponent - Someone who makes a deposition before a court
Deposition - The testimony of a witness put down in writing
Diligence - The application of legal means against a person, especially for the recovery of debt; a warrant issues by a court to enforce the appearance of witnesses or the production of writings
Dissenter - Non-conformist, does not conform to the Established Church
Dom. - Domicile
Domicills - Household goods
Donator - The receiver of a donation, usually where the rightful succession has failed
Dsp - Decessit sine prole, died without issue
E
Edict - A legally authoritative proclamation made in a public place summoning persons to appear (compear) before the courts
Effeirs, as effeirs, effeiring - Relating or corresponding to
Eik - An addition or supplement to a deed
Ell - A measure of length; traditionally the distance between the elbow and the fingertips
Entail or tailzie. - A deed by which the legal course of succession to lands can be altered and another one substituted, or by which the descent of the lands can be secured to a specified succession of heirs and substitutes
Entres - Interest
Enumeration districts - The administrative units into which the country was divided in order to facilitate the recording of census information
Executor - The legal administrator of the moveable property of a dead person, either nominated in the deceased's testament or by the Commissary Court.
Executrix - Female executor
F.
Father
Factor - A person appointed by another to conduct affairs on his behalf; a business agent
Failzie - Failure to comply with something, or non-fulfillment of an obligation
Farder - Further
Ferd - Fourth
Ferme, ferm - Rent or annual payment
Feu - Feudal holding, land granted to the Vassal by his Superior in return for feu-duty (cash or kind)
Feu-duty - Annual payment by the Vassal to the Superior for use of land
Firlot - A Scottish measure which, like the rest, differed from place to place and depended on what it was being used to measure; as far as grain was concerned, it was the fourth part of a bol (and therefore anything from about nine-tenths to one and a half Imperial bushels)
Forsamekle - Forasmuch
Foundling - An abandoned infant
Freith - Free
G
German - Full, of a brother or sister, or cousin
Gif, gyf - If, whether
Glassite - A follower of John Glas (1695-1773), former Church of Scotland minister, who believed that a congregation should be subject only to the authority of Jesus Christ. See also Sandemanian
Glebe - The parcel of land given to a Minister for his use, in addition to his stipend (salary in cash and/or kind)
Grassum - A lump sum paid by a person taking on a lease of landed property
Ground-mail - Payment for right of burial
Guids and geir - Possessions (moveable as opposed to heritable)
H
H - Head of household
Haill - Whole
Handfast - To be betrothed
Hearth tax - A tax on the number of hearths in a dwelling, levied several times in Scotland between 1691 and 1695
Heirs - Can come in various forms. The heir general is one who succeeds to both the heritable and moveable property of a deceased person, who also happens to be that person's heir at law and heir by normal course of succession (his heir of line); the heir of provision on the other hand, is one who succeeds by virtue of the terms of a settlement or some express provision; "heir special" refers to the right of an heir to receive infeftment in particular lands, and heirs portioners are women who succeed jointly to heritable property; see also apparent heir
Heirship moveables - Certain moveable goods (generally the best) belonging to the deceased, to which the heir in heritage (normally the eldest son) was entitled by law
Heritable - Capable of being inherited; pertaining to land and houses, i.e. The property which went by inheritance to the heir-at-law as opposed to moveable property; `heritable right meant right by inheritance
Heritage - Inheritance; property in the form of land and houses which descended to the `heir-at-law on the death of the proprietor; heritable estate
Heritors - The landowners in a parish who held responsibility for the parish church, parish school, the poor and payment of the schoolteacher's salary and the Minister's stipend
Hillfolk - Members of the Cameronians religious sect, or Covenanters in general
Howff - A meeting place
I
Ilk - Same, used after surname to indicate person is of the estate of the same name as the family
Ilke, ilkane - Each, every one
Illeg. - Illegitimate
Ill-gotten - Illegitimate
Imprimis - Latin for first or firstly
In. - Indicates a tenant e.g. Charles malloch in haughs of cossins
Ind. - A person of independent means
Inde - Latin for therefore
Indweller - Resident, inhabitant
Inf. - Infant, informant
Infeftment - The investing of a new owner with legal possession of land or heritage; 'infeftment in security' was the temporary infeftment of a creditor in heritable property as security against a loan or debt.
Infield - The better land closest to the farm buildings, which received all the manure
Insicht - Furniture, or household goods
Inst. - Instant, this week or month
Intromission - Taking up the possession and management of property belonging to someone else; it can be legal, when someone is designated as an "intromettor with the goods and gear" of another, or illegal, when it is called "vicious intromission" in which case an heir intromits with the moveable property of his ancestors without right
Inventar - Inventory of moveable property
J
Jointure - A provision for a widow, usually made in her marriage contract and consisting of an annual payment to be made to her in her lifetime; if such a jointure was appointed for a wife, it would unless otherwise provided for deprive her of her widow's terce, but she was better off with the jointure, since if her husband died in debt or bankrupt, she would be reckoned as one of his creditors and be able to make her claim first rather than waiting till the debts were settled and having to make do with a share of what was left
Jus mariti - A husbands right to his wifes moveables
Jus relictae - "The right of the relict" (the widow). It is the share of the moveable goods of a marriage to which a widow was entitled on the death of her husband; if there were children, one-third would go to them as the bairns' pairt or legitim, and a further one-third would be the dead's part the deceased could bequeath, so that the jus relictae would be the other. (terce has to do with heritables).
K
Ken, kend - Know, known
Kin - Relatives
Kirk - The Church, in particular, the Church of Scotland
Kirk session - Church court made up of the Minister and elders of the Parish
L
L. - Lawful
Lair - Burial plot in a graveyard
Lammas - 1 August - one of the quarter, or term, days
Landward - Part of a parish, which is in the country
Late - Formerly, dead
Legator - The person to whom a legacy is left
Legitim - That part of the deceaseds moveable property which went by law to his children one third if there was a surviving spouse, otherwise half; it only applied after satisfaction of any prior rights; sometimes referred to as `bairns part (of gear)
Leillie & treullie - Legally and honestly (in later testaments the word used was "faithfully")
Lie - This word is used to introduce local names used in documents, or any Scots word or phrase brought into a Latin document.
Liferent - A right entitling a person (called a "liferenter") to use and enjoy another's property for life, providing this was done without wasting it; the liferent might be a sum of money paid yearly, or the income from a piece of land
Liferent or Life-rent in Scots law is the right to receive for life the benefits of a property or other asset, without the right to dispose of the property or asset.
Liquidat - In relation to debts or other due payments, it meant fixed in advance at a definite sum, or specified exactly; judicially assessed; having a monetary equivalent prescribed by decreet of court and appointed to be so paid
M
M./mar. - Married
Macmillanite - A follower of Rev. John Macmillan (1670-1753), one of the founders of the Reformed Presbyterian Church
Mail, maills and duties - Mail is the Scots word for rent; maills and duties were the yearly rents of an estate due in money or grain
Mains - Home farm on an estate
Major - Person of full legal age (21 before 1970, 18 after 1970)
Manse - House provided for parish minister
Mark or merk - A silver coin worth 13 shillings 4 pence (or two-thirds of a pound) Scots, and therefore just over shilling sterling at the time of the Union; common also as a unit of valuation of land, as in "the two merklands of ault extent of Glaur"
Marriage contract - A contract made between the husband or promised husband of a woman who was about to marry or just had, and her male relatives, settling the provision to be made for the wife or future wife. The idea was to improve on the legal rights of the wife or future wife and any children of the marriage, usually by the husband agreeing to grant them a liferent, or to grant the wife an annuity (the jointure), which would safeguard against any risk of the husband becoming insolvent. The contract could be made before marriage, when it was termed an "ante-nuptial contract", or it could be "post-nuptial" if made after; the ante-nuptial version gave the wife and children much stronger rights over the husband's estate should get into debt, because they would then be entitled to be considered as his creditors.
Martinmas, mertinmas - 11 November one of the quarter, or term, days
Master/mr - Person was a graduate of a university
Mell - Associate with, or have dealings with
Minor - Young person aged between 12-21 (girl) and 14-21 (boy) (before 1970)
Minor - Someone who is older than 12 if female or 14 if male, but still under the age of 21; however "minority" can be used to refer to the whole period of a person's life from birth until they reach 21. Minors may have curators who are appointed to look after their affairs; see also pupil
Mortcloth - The pall covering a coffin on the way to the gravesite. The mortcloth was hired out to parishioners by the kirk session or the guild. Information on mortcloth hire can be found in kirk session minutes.
Moveable property - The other kind of property in Scots law as opposed to heritable; in general, it is every type of property which isn't land or something connected with land.
N
Natural - Illegitimate, born out of wedlock
Notar, notary - Someone licensed to record legal transactions
O
Of. - Indicates a landowner e.g. John baxter of idvies
Omissa - Items which had been originally omitted from the deceaseds estate
Outfield - The more outlying and less fertile part of a farm, where the ground was seldom or never cultivated (before the introduction of enclosure and crop rotation in the 18th century)
Outsight plenishing - Moveable property kept or lying out of doors; it would include livestock and implements like ploughs, but not corn or hay, which were not reckoned as "plenishings"
Oxgang - A measure of land which like Scottish measures in general, varied from place to place; in general, it was about 13 acres
P
P. - Pensioner (usually army or navy)
Pairts and pertinents - The parts and pertinents are what a piece of land was always granted with; they implied everything connected with the land granted whether names or not, and could be considerable
Pand/pawn - Pledge of good behaviour by a betrothed couple, usually a sum of money deposited with the Kirk Session
Parish - An ecclesiastical district having its own minister and church (Established Church)
Paroch, parochin - Parish
Parochial - Of or pertaining to the parish
Pend - A vaulted entry to a passageway
Pendicle - Small piece of ground
Penny wedding - A wedding where guests put money towards the food and drink, the balance of which went to the bride and groom
Petitioner - Someone who brings an action before a court
Plenishings - In general, furniture and other household moveable goods; "outsight plenishings" were those kept out of doors
Ploughgate - A measure of land which contained 8 oxgangs each of 12-13 acres, but the size varied from place to place
Poll tax - Levied on all adults in Scotland, except those receiving charity, between 1693 and 1699. It made a brief reappearance in the 1990s
Presbyterian - A form of Protestant Church governed by elders or presbyters
Proclamation of banns - Notice of contract of marriage, read out in the Kirk before the marriage took place. Kirk Session minutes record the money pledged by the groom to ensure that the couple married within 40 days
Procurator - In the context of testaments, it was the person authorised to act on behalf of another; a solicitor
Procurator fiscal - In the context of testaments, the procurator, or solicitor, with responsibility for the `fiscal or treasury
Proport - Purport, convey
Propriis minibus - "With his (or her) own hand"
Pupil - A child younger than 12 if female or 14 if male; one older than that (but still not 21) was a minor. Pupils might have their affairs administered by a tutor
Q
Quha - Who
Quhilk - Which
Quoad sacra - Parish disjoined for ecclesiastical purposes only
Quondam - Former or deceased
Quot - The twentieth part of the moveable estate of a deceased person, which was originally the due of the bishop in whose diocese he had resided; it continued to be paid after the Reformation, but to the commissaries
R
Ranking of creditors - A system of deciding, impartially, which creditors should have prior claim on a debtor's estate; this was why it was so important to a wife to have an antenuptial marriage contract making provision for her and her children because, if she had, they would be entitled to be "ranked" among any creditors on her husband's estate if he fell into debt
Rce - Register of Corrected Entries
Relict - A widow
Resignation - This occurred when a vassal gave up his estate to the superior, either permanently, or 'in favorem', i.e where the intention was that the superior should make a new grant in favour of another, usually a purchaser from the person resigning the land.
Rests - Arrears
Retour - See Services of Heirs
Roup - An auction, governed by conditions called "articles of Roup"
Runrig - Strips of land allocated to tenants
S
Sandemanian - A follower of Robert Sandeman (1718-71), leader of a religious sect, which developed out of the Glassites
Sasine - Instrument by which changes in ownership of land were recorded
Seceder - A member of the Secession Church, which broke away from the Established Church in 1733
Services of heirs - On the death of a landowner, the heir had to prove his right to inherit the land. An investigation took place to ascertain the extent of the land held by the deceased, and a retour (return) of the jury's decision was made to the Chancery. The heir received a certified copy of the retour, thereby ratifying the entitlement.
Sett - A lease
Shieling - A rough hut used by farm workers as temporary accommodation while tending sheep or cattle on the summer pastures
Siclyk, sicklyk - Likewise
Skaith - Harm, damage
Spiritualities - The teinds due to the church
Steading - Farm buildings
Stent - Valuation, tax
Stent roll - Valuation roll
Stipend - The salary of a parish minister
Summa - Latin for the sum, or total, normally found at the end of the inventory where the value of the deceaseds estate is given
Superior - The person who had made an original grant of land in return for the payment of an annual sum or feu, or for the performance of certain services, or both; the person receiving the grant who was thereby bound to make the payment or do the service which went with the lands, was the superior's vassal
Surrogate - To appoint as a substitute; a substitute in respect of a right or claim
T
Tack - Lease
Teind - Tithe
Tenement - A building divided into dwellings for a number of families
Testament - Will
Testament-dative - A written deed whereby an executor is appointed by the Court in cases where the deceased left no testament
Testament-testamentar - A written deed whereby an executor is appointed by the testator
Testator - A person who leaves a valid will at death
Tocher - A dowry
U
U.R. - Usual residence
Umquhile - Late, deceased
Un. - Unmarried
Unm. - Unmarried
Utencilis & domiceillis - Household goods
V
Vassal - A person to whom land is conveyed to be held by him from the landowner (the superior) for the payment of a yearly rent or feu-duty or the performance of some regular service to the superior
Vennel - A lane or narrow alley
Vide - Latin for see
Vizt. - Latin for namely
W
W. - Widowed
Warrandice - An undertaking, usually in the form of a "clause of warrandice "in a grant, whereby the person making the grant promised to maintain and support the grantee in the property or right granted him, against all challenges made to his right or impediments concerning it which might arise after the grant was made. "real warrandice" was an undertaking that if the grantee were to lose his right to what had been granted, then the granted would grant him something else of equal value
Whitsunday - 15 May; one of the term, or quarter, days
Writ - A legal document or writing
X
Y Younger of - Reference to heir when landowner still alive