symbols

the giving of sasines was a ceremony deriving from a time when few people were literate and it was thus highly symbolic so that anyone could see and recognise what was going on.   The grantee’s baillie would meet the granter’s baillie on the ground of the lands being granted, with several witnesses and a notary, present the grantee’s title to the lands (his charter and precept of sasine from the granter) and ask that sasine by given; these would be passed to the notary who would read them to the witnesses, and then the granter’s baillie would give sasine by presenting the grantee’s baillie with a symbol appropriate to what was being granted, so that the witnesses could understand that ownership had been formally transferred.  The most common symbols were earth and stone used for the giving of sasine in lands, if what was granted was an annual rent from lands, these would be passed over together with ‘a penny money’.  If sasine was given in fishings the symbols were a net and coble; if in the patronage of a church, a psalm book and the church keys, if in a mill, the clap and happer of the mill, if in teinds, a sheaf of corn, if a jurisdiction, the court book, if property in a burgh, a hasp and staple, and combinations of these might be used.   Finally, if lands were resigned to a superior, the symbol passed over were the staff and baton.  After all this was done, the notary would go away and write it all up in the form of an instrument.