Geneapedia
Family History Factsheet: Glossary of terms used in the Scottish registers of sasines and deeds
Acceptation - an agreeing to the action of another, by some act which binds the person in law
Advocate - solicitor acting in a law court
Alienation - Transfer of property from one owner to another.
Apothecary - person who prepares and sells drugs and other medicines; a pharmacist
Apparent - a person on whose behalf the succession process has begun, following the death of a predecessor, but the process has not yet been completed
Appearance, bond of - a legal document requiring someone to attend a court on a certain date (cf bail bond)
Armourer - a smith who specialized in manufacturing and repairing arms and armour
Assignation - deed assigning one's rights in moveable property, or one's claim for debts, or rights in land which is leased, to another
Back bond - bond given by one to a surety, to indemnify such surety in case of loss. In Scotland, a back bond is an instrument which, in conjunction with another which gives an absolute disposition, constitutes a trust. A declaration of trust.
Bailie - magistrate in a Scottish burgh
Bairns - children (Scottish)
Baronet - a man holding a British hereditary title of honor reserved for commoners, ranking immediately below the barons and above all orders of knighthood except the Garter.
Baxter - baker
Bis - Latin term meaning twice
Bond - a written obligation to pay or perform something
Bond of appearance - a legal document requiring someone to attend a court on a certain date (cf bail bond)
Bond of caution - is an obligation by one person to act as security or surety for another
Bond of corroboration -an additional confirmation by a debtor of his original debt
Bond of provision - bond by a father, providing for his children
Bond of relief - an undertaking to relieve someone from his obligation under a bond of caution
Bower - bow-maker (ie the sort that shoot arrows)
Burgess - man listed as merchant or craftsman in a town burgh
Burgh - a corporate entity in Scotland, usually a town. Equivalent to borough in England.
Caution, bond of - is an obligation by one person to act as security or surety for another
Chamberlain - an officer who manages the household of a sovereign or noble; a chief steward.
Chapman - dealer of goods from a stall, or by travelling from village to village
Charter party - a contract by which the owner of a ship lets it to another to transport a cargo
Chirurgeon - archaic form of surgeon
Collector - person employed to collect taxes, duties or other payments
Collector of the cess - tax collector. The "cess" is a rate or tax levied on a parish for any purpose. The word is derived from an abbreviation of "assessment".
Commissary - the officer of the local registry (commisariot or commissary) for confirmation or probate of wills and for grants of administration, who is empowered to make the confirmation or grant
Commissary clerk - clerk at the local registry (commisariot or commissary) for confirmation or probate of wills and for grants of administration
Commission - a contract by which one party agrees to perform services for another without payment (cf mandate).
Confit maker - confectioner, someone who makes candies and other sweets
Contract of wadset - a written deed by which a debtor transferred land to his creditor, who could then collect the rents in payment of the debt, with a reserved power for the debtor to redeem his lands from the lender of the money when his debt was repaid or his obligation fulfilled.
Cooper - A craftsman who makes and repairs barrels and similar wooden vessels such as casks, buckets and tubs
Co-partnery -a partnership
Cordiner - shoe and boot maker
Corroboration, bond of -an additional confirmation by a debtor of his original debt
Declaration - a written statement submitted to a court in which the writer swears 'under penalty of perjury' that the contents are true.
Decree Arbitral -. the decision of arbitrators on a point at issue, jointly submitted to them by the parties in the dispute
Deed of Prorogation - a legal document extending the time allowed to do a thing beyond the term previously fixed.
Discharge - a written deed which cancels or extinguishes an obligation, usually one to repay a debt
Disposition - a deed whereby a right to property (either heritable or moveable) is alienated by one person and conveyed to another
Draper - dealer in fabrics and sewing materials
Drover - someone who drives a herd, eg sheep or cattle, especially to and from a market
Excambion - a contract to exchange one piece of land for another
Executor - person named under a will to administer the distribution of the deceased’s assets as directed by the will
Factor - estate agent for landowner, collector of rents
Factory - power of attorney to manage affairs generally, or in particular
Feu - a type of land tenure in which the 'superior' received a return ('feu duty') in agricultural produce or money. The 'feu' was also the name of the piece of property so held and the 'feuar' the vassal who held the property by feu tenure.
Feuar - someone who holds a feu (land or house) at a rent.
Fiar - one who holds a property in fee; the heir who has the fee (ie full ownership, as distinct from the person in possession who has the life-rent)
Flesher - butcher
Girdlesmith - a maker of "girdles". A girdle was a flat cooking surface, usually round and made of iron, that was hung over the fire by a long metal chain. It was particular to Scotland and was used for cooking such items a bannock - a flat, unleavened bread.
Glassinwright - glazier
Goodwife - the mistress of a house
Grantee - the person to whom a grant or conveyance is made
Granter - person who grants or gives something
Haberdasher - retailer of small items, usually items used for sewing such as ribbons and buttons, needles, thread etc.
Hammerman - metalworker, smith
Heritiable bond - a bond in which the obligation is to be renewed by the heir
Indenture - a contract binding one party into the service of another for a specified term, usually a contract drawn up between a master and an apprentice
Indweller - Inhabitant of a particular town or place
Interdiction - a type of restraint, usually a bond, imposed by a court. Either imposed by a court upon, or assumed voluntarily by, a person who cannot handle their own affairs its purpose is to prevent them from doing anything which might affect their estate, without the prior consent of those named in the bond
Laird - owner of a Scottish estate; a landlord
Licet - (Latin) it is allowed
Litster - dyer of cloth
Lumberman - man who sells timber
Macer - a court officer
Maltman - man who prepars malt from fermented barley for brewing or distilling
Mariner - seaman, usually in merchant navy
Marriage contract - a contract made between a husband and the male relatives of the wife, settling the provision to be made for the wife.
Mealman - dealer in meal or flour
Minute of sale - a contract of sale embodied in a 'formal minute' which clearly defines the terms of the bargain. It was used primarily in transactions of great importance as it was more expensive than the usual procedure. It was a bilateral contract defining the obligations of both seller and purchaser and included penalties if either party failed in their obligations.
Mutual discharge - a written deed which cancels or extinguishes the obligations of both parties
Not booked see Warrant No. ... - the deed is not in the register but a warrant of execution exists which should contain a full copy of the deed - the number of the warrant is given
Notary - solicitor, lawyer
Of that Ilk - "of the same", eg "James Kingstoune of that Ilk" means James Kingstoune of Kingstoune
Oy - grandchild, or sometimes nephew or neice
Periwig maker - maker of gentlemen's wigs
Pewterer - one who makes utensils of pewter; a pewtersmith
Portioner - the proprietor of a small portion of a larger piece of land; a laird of a small estate (particular to Scotland)
Precentor - a cleric who directs the choral services of a church or cathedral
Principal Party - The person having prime responsibility for an obligation as distinguished from one who acts as surety or as an endorser
Procurator fiscal - a legal officer who acts as public prosecutor and coroner (particular to Scotland)
Procuratory of resignation - the authority granted by a vassal (see definition below) to his representative (ie procurator) to restore the lands held by the vassal to his superior. This process was neccesary if the vassal sold his lands to someone else, who would then have to have the lands re-granted by the superior to him to complete his title.
Prorogation, deed of - a legal document extending the time allowed to do a thing beyond the term previously fixed.
Provision, bond of - bond by a father, providing for his children
Provost - elected head of town burgh council
Ratification - confirmation of the correctness of a previous act or deed
Relict - widow
Relief, bond of - an undertaking to relieve someone from his obligation under a bond of caution
Renunciation - at act of renouncing a right or a title to property
Retrocession - a re-conveyance of any right by a person to whom it had been assigned, back to the person from whom he got it
Reversion - the right of redeeming heritable property; letters of reversion were an undertaking by the lender who held lands in security of repayment of a debt (the wadsetter) to restore these lands to the borrower from whom he had got them (the reverser) when the debt was repaid.
Revocation - a deed which calls back or revokes some former deed
Salter - a manufacturer of, or dealer in, salt
Servitor - household servant (male); or a lawyer's clerk or secretary
Servitrix - household servant (female)
Sheriff - chief officer of the Crown in a county
Sheriff clerk - clerk to the sheriff court, and keeper of the records
Skinner - a person who prepares or deals in animal skins
Skipper - the master of a ship
Square-wright -a highly skilled carpenter who worked predominantly crafting fine wood furniture
Stabler - a stable keeper
Submission - a legal document summarizing an agreement between parties in a dispute to abide by the decision of an arbiter
Tack - a lease; which in Scotland had to be a formal written contract between landlord and tenant setting the period of the lease and the payments due
Tacksman - farm tenant who sub-lets rents or tacks
Tocher - dowry
Translation - eg of a bond, document transferring it from one holder to another
Trust - A legal title to property held by one party for the benefit of another
Vassal - someone who holds land from a landowner (the superior) for the payment of a yearly rent or 'feu-duty' or the performance of some regular service to the superior
Vendition - the act of vending, or selling; sale
Victual - any sort of grain or corn; 'victual rents' are payments made in grain
Vintner - someone who sells wine
W.S. - writer to the signet, see above.
Wadset, contract of - (Scottish law) a written deed by which a debtor transferred land to his creditor, who could then collect the rents in payment of the debt, with a reserved power for the debtor to redeem his lands from the lender of the money when his debt was repaid or his obligation fulfilled.
Wadsetter - (Scottish law) A creditor to whom a wadset is made (see definition of wadset in section 3 below)
Walker - a fuller, a cloth worker who cleans and thickens cloth by wetting and walking over it
Warrandice - an undertaking to maintain and support a grantee in the property or right granted to him, against all challenges made to his right which might arise after the grant was made
Water bailie - a magistrate of Leith and Edinburgh, and of Glasgow, who had local jurisdiction over maritime cases in the Forth and Clyde respectively.
Wobster - a weaver
Writer - solicitor (lawyer)
Writer to the signet - a lawyer who writes signet letters. The signet was the smallest of the four royal seals and was used for the most routine business. It was used to authenticate orders by the king's court 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.
