sigillography
the study of seals.
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”
signature
a document prepared by a clerk or writer to the signet as the warrant for a royal grant to the person in whose name it was presented.
Signet
the signet was the smallest of the four royal seals, and being smallest, was used for the most routine business, such as the private letters by the king to his ‘sheriffs in that pairt’ ordering them to carry out a specific function; it was thus used to authenticate orders by the king’s court, and became the seal of the Court of Session; One of four royal seals: see also Privy Seal, Great Seal, Quarter Seal.
signet letters
letters from the king’s court, authenticated by the signet seal, to its functionaries for the administration of the law, in summoning people to court or in carrying out one of the legal diligences against them, such letters were prepared by writers to the signet.