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”
the proprietor of lands which had been granted by him to another as security for the repayment of a debt, under a redeemable right; he therefore had the right, when the debt was repaid, to resume possession of the lands from the lender, who was called the wadsetter, the deed by which all this was done being the wadset. The reverser would need letters of regress from his superior undertaking to accept him again as feuar (vassal) when the lands were restored.
Reversion was simply the right of redeeming heritable property; letters of reversion were an undertaking by the lender who held lands in security of repayment of a debt (the wadsetter) to restore these lands to the borrower from whom he had got them (the reverser) when the debt was repaid.
a deed, or a clause in a deed, which calls back or revokes some former deed.