regality
an extensive area of jurisdiction granted by the Crown, the holder of which had similarly extensive powers in criminal cases, the same in effect as those of the king’s own justices in ayre.
Your Scottish Archives Glossary
The Your Scottish Archives Glossary defines archaic words and phrases, mostly Scots law terminology, commonly found in documents and records in Scotland’s archives. If you think a word or phrase should be added to the glossary, or an existing entry could be defined better, please contact us at your@scottisharchives.org.uk.
You can also use the Dictionary of the Scots Language as a further resource at https://dsl.ac.uk/ for Scots words and phrases (including legal terminology).
To find a term within the glossary, click on the initial letter of the word you are looking for, then select the relevant syllable segment displayed below.
Example: to find the term “roup” select section “R” then sub-section “Ro”
Regesta Regum Scottorum
‘the Registers of the Kings of Scots’, the name of a project to trace, edit and publish all the charters, brieves and other written acts of the Scots kings from the earliest times until the accession of James I in 1406. Sometimes abbreviated to R.R.S.
Registrum Magni Sigilli (RMS)
the Latin for the Register of the Great Seal (the abbreviation is mainly used to refer to the printed edition of this register), which contains copies of charters and other deeds by the Crown issued under the Great Seal.
Registrum Secreti Sigilli (RSS)
Latin for the Registers of the Secret (or privy) Seal (the abbreviation is mainly used to refer to the printed edition); these contain copies of royal orders, commissions, minor grants and other documents issued under the king’s secret seal.
regrating
purchasing goods for market and then selling such goods at inflated prices; often appears in documents as ‘regrating and forestalling‘.
regress, letters of
a written promise by the superior of a feuar who had granted his lands to another as a security for the repayment of a debt under a redeemable right, by which the superior undertook to re-admit the debtor (or reverser as he would be called) as his feuar once the debt had been cleared and the lands returned to him.