Group of hereditary titles conferred upon the Scottish nobility prior to 1707
The
Peerage of Scotland
(
Scottish Gaelic
:
Moraireachd na h-Alba
;
Scots
:
Peerage o Scotland
) is one of the five divisions of
peerages in the United Kingdom
and for those peers created by the
King of Scots
before 1707. Following that year's
Treaty of Union
, the Kingdom of Scots and the
Kingdom of England
were combined under the name of
Great Britain
, and a new
Peerage of Great Britain
was introduced in which subsequent titles were created.
Scottish Peers were entitled to sit in the ancient
Parliament of Scotland
. After the Union, the Peers of the old
Parliament of Scotland
elected 16
Scottish representative peers
to sit in the
House of Lords
at
Westminster
. The
Peerage Act 1963
granted all Scottish Peers the right to sit in the House of Lords, but this automatic right was revoked, as for all hereditary peerages (except those of the incumbent
Earl Marshal
and
Lord Great Chamberlain
), when the
House of Lords Act 1999
received the
Royal Assent
.
Unlike most peerages, many Scottish titles have been granted with remainder to pass via female offspring (thus an Italian family has succeeded to and presently holds the
earldom of Newburgh
[1]
), and in the case of daughters only, these titles devolve to the eldest daughter rather than falling into
abeyance
(as is the case with ancient English baronies by
writ of summons
). Unlike other
British peerage
titles,
Scots law
permits peerages to be inherited by or through a person who was not legitimate at birth, but was subsequently legitimised by their parents marrying later.
[2]
[3]
The ranks of the Scottish Peerage are, in ascending order:
Lord of Parliament
,
Viscount
,
Earl
,
Marquess
and
Duke
. Scottish Viscounts differ from those of the other Peerages (of England, Great Britain, Ireland and the United Kingdom) by using the style
of
in their title, as in
Viscount
of
Oxfuird
. Though this is the theoretical form, most Viscounts drop the "
of
". The
Viscount of Arbuthnott
and to a lesser extent the
Viscount of Oxfuird
still use "
of
".
Scottish Barons
rank below Lords of Parliament, and although
considered noble
, their titles are incorporeal
hereditaments
. At one time feudal barons did sit in parliament. However, they are considered minor nobles and not peers because their titles can be bought and sold.
In the following table of the Peerage of Scotland as it currently stands, each peer's highest ranking title in the other peerages (if any) are also listed. Those peers who are known by a higher title in one of the other peerages are listed in
italics
.
Extant dukedoms
[
edit
]
-
Subsidiary title.
-
Secondary dukedom in the Peerage of Scotland.
Extant marquessates
[
edit
]
Extant earldoms
[
edit
]
-
Secondary earldom in the Peerage of Scotland.
Extant viscountcies
[
edit
]
Extant Lords of Parliament
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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