The Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) 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. Since the SCAN project ended, the Dictionary of the Scots Language has gone online at http://www.dsl.ac.uk/, and this should be consulted for Scots words and phrases (including legal terms).
the Scottish legal terms for what is common
knowledge or generally accepted by people as
a fact; usually applied to one way in which
a marriage could be recognised, which was by
two people living together and being commonly
looked on by others as being man and wife
halked; halkit, hawkit
(mainly relating to cattle) spotted or streaked
with white; white-faced
the symbols by which somebody got
sasine (possession) of property in a burgh;
see symbols
heck
rack; slatted wooden or iron framework (eg for
fodder in a stable)
heir, heirs
can come in various forms. The heir general is one who succeeds to both the heritable and moveable property of a deceased person, who also happens to be that person's heir at law and heir by normal course of succession (his heir of line); the heir of provision on the other hand, is one who succeeds by virtue of the terms of a settlement or some express provision; ‘heir special’ refers to the right of an heir to receive infeftment in particular lands; an heir of conquest is one who inherits lands or other heritable rights from someone who did not succeed to the lands or rights himself but acquired them in some other way; and heirs portioners are women who succeed jointly to heritable property; see alsoapparent heir
heirship
moveables
certain moveable goods (generally the best)
belonging to the deceased, to which the heir
in heritage was entitled by law
one of the two types of property recognised
in Scots law. This concerns all rights
to land and whatever goes with land, houses,
mills, fishings, teinds
and so on. (The other type is, of course, moveable
property, which comprises just about everything
else. The laws and documents relating
to each type of property are different).
the landed proprietors in each parish who
were responsible for the upkeep of the parish
church, the parish school, payment of the minister's
stipend
and schoolmaster's salary etc.
hership
nothing to do with heirship (though it is
sometimes spelt the same); this is the crime
of making away with someone's cattle by force
one of the forms of diligence;
the comparatively mild one. Takes the
form (as they generally do) of a letter in the
monarch's name under the signet
seal. Which is sent to a law officer
instructing him to charge someone who has defaulted
on an agreement to pay or perform what he had
agreed within a set time under pain of being
denounced rebel and " put to the horn "
- it opens the way for the action by which the
defaulter's moveables can escheat
to the Crown in theory and in fact be sold to
satisfy the complainer in practice. See poinding.
hypothec
rather difficult to explain since it is really
" hypothetical"; it could be said
to be an understood security, right or claim
which a creditor might have over something belonging
to his debtor (or potential debtor). For
example, a landlord could be said to have a
hypothec over the crops grown by his tenants
in any particular year, for the rents due for
that year
