A Lord in the Baronage of Scotland is an ancient title of nobility, held in baroneum, which Latin term means that its holder, who is a lord, is also always a baron. The holder may or may not be a Lord of Regality, which meant that the holder was appointed by the Crown and had the power of "pit and gallows", meaning the power to authorise the death sentence.
A Scottish Baron is below a Lord of Parliament (the Scottish equivalent of an English baron) which is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, while a Lord in the Baronage of Scotland is a noble dignity of higher degree than Baron, but below an Earl in the Baronage of Scotland, which is a baron of still higher degree than a lordship. In the baronage there is only a small number of lordships compared to baronies, whilst earldoms are very rare.[1]
While barons originally sat in parliament (along with the lords and higher nobility who made up the Peerage), all of the peerage, originally, was within the feudal system. Later, some of what used to be feudal lordships came to be known as peerages (such as that of The Right Honourable The Lord Forrester) while others were disponed, inherited by greater peers, or otherwise disqualified from the modern-day peerage. The feudal rights were gradually emasculated and, with the demise of the Scottish parliament in 1707, the right of feudal barons to sit in parliament ceased altogether, unless, that is, a feudal baron was also a Peer (Peerage rights are dealt with elsewhere).
The rights of the baronage were all but abolished by Act of Parliament in 1747, following the Jacobite rising. Baronage titles no longer provide any political power as such, although the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 has preserved the noble titles themselves, and the quality, precedence and heraldic rights pertaining.
Only about 400 baronies are identified as existing in 1405.[2] Burke's Landed Gentry for Scotland lists only about 130. Few are lordships.
Lords of regality, barons, lords and earls in the Baronage of Scotland are not to be confused with lairds or a manorial lordship.
The holder of the title Lord in the Baronage of Scotland, in similar fashion to the holder of a barony (e.g., "Lochaber"), has the title added to his existing name (e.g., "John Smith, Lord of Lochaber") or territorial designation added to his surname if they own the caput ("John Smith of Lochaber, Lord of Lochaber").[3] [4] [5]
Lords are addressed "Lord of Lochaber" or "His Lordship" or "My Lord" while barons are addressed as "Baron of Lochaber" or just "Baron" or more intimately just "Lochaber".
A female baron is usually referred to as "Lady Lochaber" or "My Lady" or "Baroness". The wife of a Lord receives the courtesy title "Lady Lochaber", but the husband of a Lady, who holds a lordship in her own right, is just plain "Mr Surname".
The heir normally follows lordships in Scotland "Master of Lochaber" or barons in Scotland "Younger of Lochaber" for a son, for a daughter "Mistress of Lochaber" or
It can be a tradition of the family or a personal style of the holder for Lordships to be styled Lord or Baron interchangeably, both uses are correct and will not cause offense, in some cases female holders have been referred to in official documents as "Baroness of Lochaber" as a preference while male predecessors (and successors) were Lord.
Sometimes in the most formal of occasions (for example an envelope) the prefix honorific style The Much Hon. (The Much Honoured) is put before the name, this prefix honorific is used to distinguish Scottish Barons from honorifics attaching to peers.
E.g. The Much Hon. The Lord of Lochaber / Much Hon. Lord of Lochaber / Much Hon. John Smith, Lord of Lochaber / Much Hon. John, Lord of Lochaber
Wallace states that in regards to Baronial titles:
"Lordships, Earldoms, Marquessates and Dukedoms differ only in name from Baronies" but continues "one whose property was erected into a Lordship ranked before a simple Baron" and "A person to whom an Earldom belonged, would be superior to a person who had no more than a lordship ... One, whose lands were incorporated into a Marquessate, was superior to both ... A man, who owned a fief elevated into a Dukedom, was exhaulted above all three."[6]
The inference in terms of superiority from greater to lesser is thus: Duke, Marquess, Earl, Lord, Baron. (Note however that Lord Stair states that Lordships or Earldoms are "but more noble titles of a Barony".[7])
Below is an incomplete list of Lordships created in the baronage, please help by filling in details below (with reference links).
Note that for Lords in the Baronage of Scotland a baron is a lord and a lord is a baron and can be used interchangeable or as per the preference of the holder. While a Scots baron - that is not a lord - is only ever called a baron.
Titles in italics are subsidiary baronial titles held by the same lord. Titles linked and with The before the name is the holder's primary title.
| Title | C. | Infeft | Arms | Incumbent | Heir | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lord of Abernethy | 12c | 2017 | Mahfouz bin Mahfouz, Lord of Abernethy | |||
| The Lord of Annandale | 1124 | Annexed to Crown in c1536 | ||||
| The Lord of Ardrossan | 1315 | 2008 | Marko Dobroschelski, Lord of Ardossan [8] | |||
| Lord of Argyll | 12c | 2001 | Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll | Archibald Campbell, Marquess of Lorne | ||
| Lord of Lorne | 14c | |||||
| Lord of Badenoch | 1258 | 1987 | Granville Gordon, 13th Marquess of Huntly | Alastair Gordon, Earl of Aboyne | ||
| The Lord of Balvaird | 1673 | 2018 | Brady Brim-DeForest, Baron of Balvaird | Huxley Brim-DeForest, Younger of Balvaird | also Count of Petra in the royal house of Georgia[9] | |
| Lord of Bothwell | 12c | 2023 | Sir William Gallagher, Lord of Bothwell and Kildrummie [10] | Ian Gallagher, Master of Bothwell | ||
| Lord of Kildrummie | Chris Gallagher, Master of Kildrummie | |||||
| Lord of Braemar | 17c | 2004 | John Sullivan, Earl of Breadalbane and Lord of Braemar [11] [12] | Paul Sullivan, Master of Breamar | also Duke of Bolnisi granted by HRH Crown Prince David of Georgia [13] | |
| The Earl of Breadalbane | ||||||
| The Lord of Cockburn | 14c | 2008 | Herr Olivier Fuchs, Baron of Cockburn, Hallrule, Over Liberton, and Buncle and Preston [14] | Herr means Lord in German which Lord Lyon recognised his name with, see ref | ||
| Lord of Buncle and Preston | 14c | 2009 | ||||
| Baron of Liberton | 2009 | |||||
| Baron of Hallrule | ||||||
| The Lord of Coldingham | 16c | 2010 | Dr Peter Leando, Lord of Coldingham [15] [16] [17] | |||
| The Lord of Cowal | 2018 | James Devlin, Lord of Cowal, Baron of Over Cowal | father is Baron of Gogar | |||
| Baron of Over Cowal | 2024 | |||||
| Lord of Cumbernauld | 1314 | 2004 | Dr Roland Zettel, Earl of Wigtoun, Lord of Cumbernauld https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Proof_of_Earl_of_Wigtoun_and_Lord_and_Baron_of_Cumbernauld.jpg | |||
| The Earl of Wigtoun | 1606 | |||||
| Lord of Douglas | 1445 | 2010 | Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton, 13th Duke of Brandon | Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale | ||
| The Lord of Forbes | 1445 | 2013 | Malcom, 23rd Lord Forbes | Geordie Forbes, Master of Forbes | Peer's title has feudal origins | |
| The Lord of the Garioch | 2001 | George Menking, Lord of the Garioch | holder RIP? | Recognised by the Lord Lyon as a Lord of Regality with historic power over life and death | ||
| The Lord of Garlies | 1263 | Timothy Busch Reisinger, Lord of Garlies, Baron of Buchan Forest, Blaurbuis, Coreswall and Glencammon [18] | father is Baron of Inneryne | |||
| Baron of Buchan Forest | ||||||
| Baron of Blairbuis | ||||||
| Baron of Corsewall | ||||||
| Baron of Glencammon | ||||||
| The Lord of Fulwood | 1314 | 2002 | Camilo Agasim-Pereira, Baron of Fulwood and Dirleton | Elio Samuel, Younger of Fulwood | ||
| Baron of Dirleton | 1220 | 2002 | Yaalit Maria, Maid of Dirleton | |||
| The Lord of Hailes | 1451 | 2008 | Sam Malin, Lord of Hailes | |||
| The Lord of Halydean | 1128 | 2006 | Taylor Moffitt, 15th Lord of Halydean | Ewan Moffitt, Younger of Halydean | ||
| Lord of the Isles | 875 | 2022 | HRH The Prince William, Duke of Rothesay | HRH Prince George of Wales | ||
| The Lord of Kilmarnock | 1316 | 2018 | John Werschler, Lord of Kilmarnock | |||
| Lord of Leslie | 16c | 2004 | Sir Philip Ondaatje, Earl of Rothes, Lord of Leslie, Sheriff of Fife [19] | |||
| The Earl of Rothes | 1458 | |||||
| Sheriff of Fife | ||||||
| The Lord of Liddesdale | 1124 | Annexed to Crown in c1540 | ||||
| The Lord of Pittenweem | 15c | 2015 | Claes Zangenberg, 18th Lord of Pittenweem[20] | |||
| The Lord of Slains | 1452 | 2015 | Paul Bell, Lord of Slains | |||
a: The creation date is the earliest known date for the Lordship and subject to revision
The first degree of baronage nobility.
Click here for a list of Baronies in the Baronage of Scotland
Earl is the third degree of baronage nobility, nobler than Baron (first) and Lord (second).
Click here for a list of Earldoms in the Baronage of Scotland
