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).
letters of, were letters in the monarch's
name under the signet
seal to the effect that a particular person
had shown cause to dread harm from another,
and that therefore this other complained of
was commanded to find "sufficient caution
and surety" that the complainer would be
free from any violence on his part
nothing to do with a lease (which is perhaps
why they are called tacks in Scotland); this
is really the same as lese-majesty,
verbal contempt of the Crown
in Scots law there were various types, those
in the name of the Crown being under the signet
seal; most of the types are covered under the
headings, caption,
cocket,
diligence,
fire
and sword, horning,
inhibition,
lawburrows,
marque,
poinding,
regress, reprisal, respite and slains.
"Letters of four forms" were a form
of diligence incorporating successive means
of getting debtors to pay up. They rapidly
became obsolete; like apprising
they may have been considered too abrupt for
the popular taste (given that they seem to have
been the horning, poinding and caption in one)
it can mean scandalous statements made in
writing about someone in the same sense as in
England, but in Scotland most often means the
form of a complaint made in a civil case, or
the grounds of the charge made against the accused
in a criminal one
This word is used to introduce local names
used in documents, or any Scots word or phrase
brought into a Latin document.
lieges
the word commonly used to mean "the subject
of the Crown"
liege poustie
the same idea as somebody making a will "sound
in mind"; it was that state of health which
would give someone full and undoubted power
to arrange for the disposal of his heritable
property in the event of his death
a right entitling a person (called a "liferenter")
to use and enjoy another's property for life,
providing this was done without wasting it;
the liferent might be a sum of money paid yearly,
or the income from a piece of land
commonly applied to broke
men, sorners, and Borderers
and Highlanders in general; it means "villains"
or "rogues"
lindar, linder
woollen jacket or cardigan; woollen or flannel
undershirt
litiscontestation
takes place where both parties in a case have
stated their respective pleas in a court, it
being then understood that, by doing so, they
have consented to abide by the decision of the
judge in the case
