539 VI. Certificate by a sheriff of a peer's having qualified himself to grant a proxy, or send a signed list, VII. List of the peerage of the north part of Britain cal- X. Form of sheriff's precept intimating day of election, 613 XVII. Opinions of the Judges, from the session-papers of Sir Ilay Campbell, in the case Mackenzie v. XVIII. Proclamation for dissolving a parliament of Great Britain, and declaring the calling of another, XX. Deed of sale of a tenement in Glasgow to the Abbey of Paisley, ib. XXI. Charter of David II. in favour of Dunfermline, Kirk- ERRATA. Page 140, 15 lines from top, insert of before Session, 326, 2d line of note, for he read are here 339, 3 lines from bottom of text, for are read have been 430, 11 lines from top, for in firm read in farm 465, 3 lines from bottom of notes, insert et cæteris after 'Prepositis 488, INTRODUCTION. By the original constitution of the Scottish Parliament, those who held their lands immediately of the king were bound to give attendance in that assembly as the feudal court of their superior. This duty applied equally to the great nobles of the land, and to the smaller proprietors. The obligation appears, however, to have been so far relaxed, that, instead of constantly attending in person, those who owed suit were often in the habit of sending procurators or substitutes to supply their places,-a practice which was checked by the act 1425, c. 52, which ordained all the king's freeholders to attend in person, unless the procurators could prove a lawful cause of their absence. It will be observed, however, that this system of sending substitutes did not afford an example of representation, according to our present ideas of that term, because each procurator merely appeared for the particular individual who sent him, and not for any greater number. The first approach to a system of proper representation, was in the case of the boroughs of the kingdom; some of which came to enjoy the right, or to suffer the burden, of sending individuals to the Parliament or Convention, as the representatives of the communities by whom they were deputed. The precise period at which this event first happened, has been the subject of much controversy, and is not yet determined. To one author, it has appeared that the boroughs must have been originally one of the estates of Parliament, because they must have been bound, as the king's immediate vassals, to give suit and presence in the king's court, for the subjects held by them of the A crown. Another writer2, with the view of shewing that, at least as early as the year 1210, during the reign of William the Lion, they attended in Parliament, has referred to the following passage in Fordun3:- Hoc anno (1210) rex "Scotia Willielmus magnum tenuit concilium apud Strivelyn, ' ubi interfuit frater ejus comes David de Huntyndon, paulo 'post festum Sancti Michaelis, ubi petito ab optimatibus auxilio pro pecunia regi Angliae solvenda promiserunt se daturos 6 decem mille marcas, præter burgenses regni qui sex millia marcarum promiserunt, praeter ecclesias, super quas nihil 'imponere praesumpserunt. A third author has conjectured, that the first time the boroughs were represented was in the year 1304, when Edward I. ordered a general council of the Scottish nation to be held at Perth 1. From an indenture, in the year 1326, betwixt Robert Bruce and the nobles, freeholders, and boroughs of the kingdom, which document has been preserved 5, it is certain, that in that year representatives from the boroughs attended a Parliament held at Cambuskeneth, which granted the king the tenth penny of all the revenues from land. It is, however, not improbable, that, even at this period, the representatives of the boroughs may not have uniformly, and, on all occasions, constituted a part of the Parliament 6. After the admission of the burgesses to Parliament, that assembly consisted of the three estates,-of the clergy, the 1 Lord Kames, Essays on British Antiquities, p. 31. 2 Lord Hailes, Annals, i. p. 165. 3d edit. 4 Wight, p. 44. 3 Lib. 8. c. 73. See Wight, p. 29.-In the Parliament held at Edinburgh in the year 1357, which agreed to the ransom of David Bruce, representatives were present from the following boroughs :-Edinburgh, Perth, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverkethyn, Carale, Cupar, St Andrews, Monros, Stryvelin, Linlithgow, Haddington, Dumbretane, Rotherglan, Lanark, Dumfries, Peblis. The representatives are designated Aldermanni, Mercatores, et 'Burgenses' of the different towns. Rymer's Federa, vol. vi. p. 44. barons, and the representatives of the burghs, who met together in one house. The first attempt which was made to introduce a system of representation amongst the barons who owed suit in Parliament, was in the year 1427, a few years after James I. returned from his captivity in England, where he had probably imbibed the English ideas on the constitution of Parliament. By the act 1427, c. 101, it was provided, that the small barons and free tenants should not be under the necessity of coming to Parliament, provided each sheriffdom should send there two or more wise men, according to the size of the county, chosen at the head court of the shire. But this provision did not take effect. The small barons neglected to elect representatives; and, therefore, continued bound to give personal attendance. One or two acts were, however, subsequently passed, to remove or alleviate the weight of this duty, with respect to the smaller freeholders1. At length, in the reign of James VI., the measure which had been attempted in that of James I. was carried into effect, by the establishment of a system of representation among the king's freeholders, below the degree of prelates and lords of Parliament. By the act 1587, c. 114, it was provided, that in each shire, commissioners, according to the number mentioned in the act of James I., should be chosen at the Michaelmas head court yearly; and that the qualifications of those entitled to vote in their election, should be a forty shilling land held of the king, and actual residence within the shire. The qualification was farther extended by the act 1661, c. 35, which declared, That beside all heritors who hold a 'fourty shillings land of the king's majesty in capite, that ' also all heritors, liferenters, and wadsetters, holding of the king, and others who held their lands formerly of the bishops 'or abbots, and now hold of the king, and whose yearly ' rent doth amount to ten chalders of victual, or one thousand 1 1457, c. 75; 1503, c. 78. 6 6 |