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  The Glossary

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).

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H

habit and repute

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

hamesucken
the crime of assaulting someone in his own home

hasp and staple
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 also apparent heir

heirship moveables
certain moveable goods (generally the best) belonging to the deceased, to which the heir in heritage was entitled by law

heritable bond
an obligation to repay borrowed money, which has been secured by a grant of land which would be held by the lender as security for the repayment.

heritable property
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).
 
heritable security
see heritable bond

heritors
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

homologation
the act by which someone approves of a written deed (and thereby binds himself to fulfil its terms)

horning, letters of
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

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z