Ayrshire

Contents

A Scots Glossary

The table below lists some Scots legal terms, some Latin that is used in legal documents and some obselete terms that may be encountered by genealogists researching their Scots ancestry.

Term	Meaning
ab initio (Latin)	from the beginning
abridgments of sasines/seisins	An abridged extract from the Register of Sasines.
academy	Originally a private or public school in a burgh.
ad finem (Latin)	at the end
ad infinitum (Latin)	forever
ad litem (Latin)	appointed for a lawsuit
adminstrator/administratrix	A person appointed by the court to settle the estate of someone who died intestate.
adverse possession	Gaining title to another's land by exercising the rights of ownership of that land unchallenged for a period of time, typically on the order of five to ten years, and meeting other requirements (as set by each state). See seizin.
advowson	The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice.
annuity	The right to a yearly payment in money.
amerced (Scots)	fined or mulcted
americament (Scots)	A penalty inflicted.
ante (Latin)	before
arbiter	A person chosen voluntarily by parties to a dispute to decide the difference between them (In English Law, he is called "arbitrator").
arrest	1 To apprehend; 2 To take the property of a debtor or defender in the hands of a third party.
arrestee	The person holding goods arrested.
bona fide (Latin)	sincerely
bona fides (Latin)	good faith
bond of manrent	A written agreement whereby a fee person becomes a follower of a patron or defender.
border warrant	A warrant for the arrest of the effects and person of a man in England for debts owed in Scotland.
bore-brieve	A formal certificate of descent given to a person who had settled, or intended to settle, on the continent, The certificate was granted under the great seal or the seal of a burgh. It secured to holder's social position in their new abode.
bothy	A hut or shelter.
bovate	An ancient land measure
broche	A burgh or town.
burgess	Inhabitant of a burgh with full legal rights.
burgh	A Scottish town that has been granted a Charter by the monarch (a Royal Burgh) or by a noble (a Burgh of Barony). The status formerly gave the town certain legal rights, such as holding town fairs and to have a town council.
call (of summons)	A summons is called by the exhibition, in a list on a wall of the court, of the names of parties and their legal representatives. From this date is estimated the time for entering appearance.
carucate	An ancient land measure: the amount of land that one team of oxen could plough in a season.
Candlemas Day	A Scots quarter day (2 February).
chattel	A tangible, movable article of personal property, as opposed to real property.
circa (Latin)	Approximately
collateral	Property put up by someone getting a loan. If they fail to repay the loan, the property goes to the person granting the loan.
comburgess	Fellow burgess, a member of the same burgh.
consanguinean	A sibling having the same father but not the same mother.
consensus (Latin)	agreement
conservator	Guardian or custodian.
contra (Latin)	against; to the contrary
contra bonos mores (Latin)	contrary to good morals
corpus (Latin)	body
corpus delicti (Latin)	body of offence
croft	A small piece of arable land adjoining a dwelling, worked by the occupier and his family. Under late 19th century legislation crofting in Scotland is confined to the Highlands and Islands..
curator	A person appointed by law as guardian.
de die in diem (Latin)	from day to day
de facto (Latin)	in fact
deforce (Scots)	Resistance to an officer of the law in the execution of his duty.
de futuro (Latin)	in the future
de integro (Latin)	as regards the whole
de jure or de iure (Latin)
deed	A formal document, authenticated by the maker's signature, the signatures of two witnesses, and a proper testing-clause.
dictum (pl. dicta) (Latin)	a saying or usually a judicial statement
disponed (Scots)	Legally made over or conveyed to another.
distraint	Seizure of goods.
dominie	Schoolmaster (from the old term dominus - an inferior member of clergy).
escheat	Forfeiture
escheator	An official appointed yearly to take notice of the escheats in the county to which he is appointed and top certify them to the Exchequer.
ex cathedra (Latin)	with official authority
ex gratia (Latin)	freely; without a legal obligation
ex officio (Latin)	by virtue of one's office
ex parte (Latin)	for proceedings, when the party against whom they are brought is not heard
ex posto facto (Latin)	after the event
factum (Latin)	an act or deed
fee (Scots)	To hire the services of someone, usually a farm-labourer or servant.
feu (Scots)	A possession held on payment of a certain annual rent in grain or money.
feuar (Scots)	One who holds a feu.
feu-farme (ferme) (Scots)	A mode of possessing land.
gowk	1. A cuckoo. 2. A fool or stupid person.
groat	A silver English coin, nominally worth 4 pence, current until 1662.
heir portioner (Scots)	On of the co-heirs who inherits part of a divided property.
heritor (Scots)	A landholder in a parish.
holograph	Wholly written by one person.
husband land (Scots)	A division of land containing 26 acres.
ibid (Latin)	at the same place (used in footnotes for work already cited previously)
in camera (Latin)	in private
indweller	An inhabitant.
in loco parentis (Latin)	in place of the parent
in modo probationis (Latin)	in the way of proof
in omnibus (Latin)	in every respect
in rem suam (Latin)	to one's own advantage
in situ (Latin)	in its place
in toto (Latin)	in total, in full
incendiary letter	A threatening letter.
indenture	A written agreement. (Originally, the document was written in duplicate, and the two copies placed side by side and 'indented', or cut, with a wavy line so they fit together perfectly. Each party held one copy.) See also deed poll.
inter alia (Latin)	among other things
intestate	Having no will. If someone dies intestate, the court appoints an administrator to settle the estate.
ipso facto (Latin)	by that very fact; thereby
justifiable homicide	Killing in exercise of a public duty (e.g. execution of sentence of death), or of a private right (e.g. of self-defence).
Lammas Day	Scots quarter day (1st August).
law agent	Term used to denote a solicitor or a writer.
libel	1. written defamation; 2. criminal indictment.
lien	The right to retain the property of a debtor until he pays (originally an English term).
locus standi (Latin)	the right to be heard before a tribunal
lodge	For pleadings and other documents, to leave them in the custody of the Clerk of Court.
loose	To remove, cancel, or take off e.g. an arrestment.
Lyon King Of Arms, Lord	The principal administrative officer (who is also a judge) in Scottish heraldic matters.
major	A person of full legal age (opposite minor).
mala fides (Latin)	bad faith; used in phrase "mala fide possessor" which refers to one who possesses property upon a title which he knows or should know to be invalid
malicious mischief	Damage done to property out of malice or cruelty.
mandate	An authority given to a man to act (gratuitously) for another.
march	A boundary.
marriage-contract	a contract between two people married or about to be married, for the purpose of regulating the rights in property of themselves and their children
mens rea (Latin)	wicked mind
messuage (Scots)	A dwelling house with its adjacent buildings and lands appropriated to the use of the household.
Mains	The home farm on an estate that is cultivated by or for the land-owner.
Martinmas	Scots quarter day (11 November).
modus operandi (Latin)	way of doing something
mortis causa (Latin)	on account of death
munus publicum (Latin)	a public office
mutatis mutandis (Latin)	(in comparing cases) making the necessary alterations
nexus (Latin)	connection
nisi (Latin)	unless
non compos mentis (Latin)	not of sound mind and understanding
non sequitur (Latin)	an inconsistent statement, it does not follow
novation	the replacement, by agreement between the parties involved, of one obligation by another
obiter dictum (Latin)	of judicial statements, not essential to the decision of the case and therefore without binding authority (pl. obiter dicta)
onus probandi	burden of proof
outwith (Scots)	outside of, beyond, without
oxgang	As much land as could be tilled by use of an ox and plough.
pactum (Latin)	agreement
pactum illicitum (Latin)	unlawful contract
par delictum (Latin)	equal fault
particate	A rood of land.
per curiam (Latin)	in the opinion of the court
per se (Latin)	by itself
perambulator	One who attested to the bounds of a land by walking round the boundaries.
pertinent	Anything pertaining to land, generally used in the plural.
plead	To argue a case in court.
plea-in-law	A short legal proposition at the end of a pleading showing exactly the relief sought and the reasons for that.
portioner (Scots)	One who possesses part of a property that had been originally divided among co-heirs.
possession	Detention of a thing with the intention to hold it as one's own or for one's own benefit.
post (Latin)	after; later
post mortem (Latin)	after death
precept	An order subscribed by the King or under his signature.
prepositus (Latin) Provost	The elected head of local government in a town or burgh. Equivalent to an English Mayor.
pro rata (Latin)	in proportion
pro tempore (Latin)	for the time being
probate	The process of proving a decedent's will and settling the estate. The signing of a will was typically witnessed by neighbours, who would later swear in court that they saw the decedent sign the will prior to death. This "proved" that the will was actually that of the decedent.
procurator	A Lawyer or advocate
Procurator Fiscal	A legal official, appointed by the Lord Advocate, who ascertains in criminal cases whether there is sufficient evidence for a prosecution to take place.
production	An article produced as evidence in court.
publici juris, publici iuris (Latin)	of public right (also of)
pupil	Children up to 12 (girls) and 14 (boys) (n. pupillarity).
purparty	The share of an estate held by co-parceners and allotted to them in partition.
quantum (Latin)	how much, an amount
Quarter Days	The days on which certain payments, such as rents, were traditionally due and on which tenancies began and ended. Scots quarter days were Candlemas Day (2 February); Whit Sunday (15 May); Lammas Day (1 August) and Martinmas (11 November).
quid juris ,quid iuris (Latin)	what is the law? (used often in exam questions)
quid pro quo (Latin)	consideration. something for something
quit-claim	A renunciation of all claim.
quit-rent	A rent paid in lieu of required feudal services. See fee and socage. The quitrent can be considered a real estate tax.
re (Latin)	in the matter of
register of sasines (Scots)	The 900 year archive of the sasines created in Scotland.
res (Latin)	thing; the object of an action; matter, affair
res communes	things in their nature incapable of appropriation, such as light and air
res gestae (Latin)	the circumstances of a case
restitutio in integrum (Latin)	restoration to the original position or condition
sasine (seisin, seizin) (Scots)	1. The act of giving legal possession of property. The instrument (document) by which such possession is proved. Seizin was originally not an estate, but a way to gain one, as by adverse possession. This is rooted in the Roman legal concept that whoever worked the land should be its owner.
seised, seized (Scots)	Given possession of property by legal authority.
servitor	Clerk, Secretary, Attendant.
sine die (Latin)	indefinitely
sine qua non (Latin)	an indispensable condition
socage	A form of tenure of agricultural land. Holding of land by a tenant in return for fixed payment or originally for non-military service to the lord.
status quo (Latin)	the existing state of affairs
sub modo (Latin)	within limits
sub nomine (Latin)	under the name of
suggestio falsi (Latin)	the suggestion of something which is untrue
sui generis (Latin)	unique
suppressio veri (Latin)	the suppression of the truth
supra (Latin)	above; earlier
talis qualis (Latin)	such as it is
tenement (in law)	That which is held by tenure, the possessor of which is a tenant. Hence the lands, houses etc, leased from another person for a term of years.
tertius (Latin)	third party
testament	will
testate	Having a will.
timeous	in due time.
trustee	An individual to whom another's property is entrusted.
tutor	The guardian of children in pupillarity.
uberrima fides (Latin)	the utmost good faith
ultimus haeres (Latin)	last heir; the Crown inherits as last heir for want of other heirs
umquhile (Scots)	Former, the deceased, late, formerly.
uterine	Of a sibling, to have the same mother but different fathers.
verbatim (Latin)	word by word; exactly
veritas (Latin)	truth
vest	To become the property of a person.
vide (Latin)	see
view	An inspection of premises, the subject matter of an action, sometimes allowed to jurors before a jury trial takes place.
volens (Latin)	willing
warrant	A governmental order authorising some action. An arrest warrant instructs a sheriff to arrest someone. A land warrant instructs a state to issue land to someone.
Whit Sunday	A Scots quarter day (15 May).
wrongous	wrongful