The manufacture and sale of ale in medieval burghs was supervised by burgh officials, often known as 'ale-tasters', and by the brewers themselves, who in large burghs would be organised into Incorporations of Maltmen or Brewers. In this way quality standards and entry into the craft were controlled. The town council would fix prices annually. The modern system of licensing is a much later development, imported from England in the mid-eighteenth century.

In counties the Justices of the Peace probably had a right to control the retailing of ale and spirits, but seem only to have taken action after the Alehouses Act 1756 (29 Geo.II, c.12). Even then the clerk often issued licences to the justices without any process of examination into the fitness of the applicant. Licensing in its modern form dates largely from 1808 (48 Geo.III, c.143), with the introduction of half-yearly meetings at which JPs in counties and magistrates in royal burghs granted licensing certificates. Such a certificate was a necessary precondition to the grant of a licence by the Commissioners of Excise. To retail liquor without a licence was a criminal offence.

Nineteenth-century legislation aimed at ever-stricter controls, including the reduction of opening hours. By the end of the century repeated minor amendments had led to an urgent need for codification, which was met by the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1903 (3 Edw.VII, c.25). This introduced further controls, including a requirement to deposit plans of licensed premises with the licensing courts, and the regulation of licensed clubs. The working of the licensing authorities continued to be affected by the temperance movement. The Temperance (Scotland) Act 1913 (3 & 4 Geo.V, c.33) introduced the so-called 'veto poll', enabling electors in a local area to have it declared 'dry', and to ban any licensed premises within its boundaries. The First World War brought further restrictions on opening hours, made permanent shortly afterwards (Licensing Act 1921, 11 & 12 Geo.V, c.42). Throughout this period the licensing system itself remained largely unchanged. Licensing courts in burghs and counties were held twice a year, with an appeal to licensing appeal courts consisting partly of JPs and partly of councillors.

The present system is based on the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 (c.66), which began the process of relaxing the licensing laws and replaced the former courts with licensing boards for each council area (originally islands or district councils) or for separate divisions within them. Appeal is now to the sheriff and thereafter to the Court of Session.

Historical records
Records of liquor licensing prior to 1976 consist mainly of licensing registers in Justice of the Peace (JP) court records and burgh records. For more information on liquor licensing registers click here.

Bibliography
Robert Black, Hamish Henderson,Joseph M Thomson, Kenneth Miller (editors), The Laws of Scotland: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia (Edinburgh, 1996); J C Cummins, Licensing Law in Scotland (2nd, edition, Edinburgh, 2000) I Donnachie, A History of the Brewing Industry in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1979)