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”
one of the four conditions, or tenures, in Scots law on which lands could be granted by charter, this was the original condition; in this case, the return which had to be made to the superior for the grant was the performance of military service.
a feudal casualty due to a superior on the death of a feuar. This one was payable when the feuar’s heir was a minor, and was due from the time of the feuar’s death until his heir reached 21, when he could legally succeed to the property. (Such a minor heir would then have to pay his relief when he was entered by his superior and also the casualty of marriage when he got married).
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 granter would grant him something else of equal value.