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).
"feudal casualties" were payments
which fell due to a feudal superior when certain
events happened, usually to an heir to property
held from the superior; the usual casualties
were marriage, non-entry, relief and wardship
security; bail; one who stands surety for another
originally, one of a bishop's officials; but
after the Reformation an official of an organisation
called the Commissary Court; in both cases he
dealt with matters to do with inheritance, particularly
the confirmation of testaments
any title to lands held jointly, usually by
husband and wife; a 'conjunct' right is any
right held jointly
conjunctly and severally
an obligation or empowerment to two or more
people to do something, either acting singly
or in consort
the tenant of cottage (a rural dwelling house, usually a small building attached to farm or agricultural estate). A group of such dwellings can be referred to as a cottarton (or cottertown etc) or a fermtoun.
the main court in Scotland which tries civil
a small agricultural holding, originally a general term (for example the house and large garden belonging to a burgess might be termed 'toft and croft'. After the Crofters Act of 1883 the term became a specific type of land tenure in the counties of Argyll, Caithness, Inverness, Orkney, Ross and Cromarty, Shetland and Sutherland.