Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/489

 s. in. MAY 27, INS.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

401

LOXDON* SATURDAY, MAY 27. 1905.

CONTENTS. -No. 74.

NOTES : The Convention of Royal Burghs of Scotland, 401 Zornlin Family, 402 Mary Masters, 404 "Dreary" Macaulay's Essay on dive Ghost-Words, 405 Bray- ley's ' Londiniana ' Byron and Moore St. Nicholas's, Hertford, 406.

QUERIES : Philippina : Philopoena, 406 Badges David Erskine Wace on the Battle of Hastings Nunburnholme Priory, 407 Madame Violante in Edinburgh Hugo de Burgh Chemist of the Future Thunder Folk-lore Bonaparte and England Lines by Whyte Melville "I sit with mv feet in a brook," 408" Wrong side of the bed" Heraldic Swedish Royal Family "By hook or by crook" York 1517 and 1540 Beautiful Miss Gunnings, 409.

REPLIES :-The Van Sypesteyn Manuscripts, 409-Egyp- tian Hall, Piccadilly, 411 Spenser's ' Kpithalamion ' Queen's Surname, 412 Guinea Balances Sarah Curran, Kobert Emmet, and Major Sirr " Vastern " Straw- Plaiting, 413-Goethe and Book-keeping-Copying Press Shacklewell Antiquity of Japan, 414 Thomas Cooper English Officials under Foreign Governments Diving- Bell Satan's Autograph, 415 All Fools' Day Henry Travers John Butler, M.P.-Polonius and Lord Burleigh Addition to Christian Name, 416 The Wreck of the Wager Lynde : Delalynde Russian and Japanese : Official and Private Communications, 417.

JTOTES ON BOOKS : Madame D'Arblay's Diary Law- rence's 'Magic of the Horseshoe 'Lee's 'Life of Shake- speare' Wessely's 'Pocket French Dictionary' Rhymer's Lexicon' 'Edinburgh Review' 'Scottish Historical Review.'

Notices to Correspondents.

THE CONVENTION OF ROYAL BURGHS OF SCOTLAND.

THE Convention this year celebrated the quincentenary of an important change in its constitution. In 1405 the Court of the Four Burghs ordered that its sphere of operations should be considerably widened, and with this end in view it was decreed " that Commissioners from every one of the other King's Burghs on the south side of the water of gpey, properly authorized, should appear yearly at the Convention of the Four Burghs, there to treat, ordain, and determine upon all things concerning the utility of the common weal of all the King's Burghs, their liberties and Court."

Those burghs created by charter held burgage of the sovereign, and were called Royal Burghs. In more ancient times rents were paid for the houses and lands to the collectors of the revenue. Afterwards an alteration was made, and instead of a direct payment to the Exchequer, accounting had to be made to the Corporation, who farmed out the possessions, and paid for that sum an annual payment to the governing authorities. The burghs of Scotland answered for a pro- portion, together with the other vassals of the Crown, of all general national taxations, and consequently they were summoned at an

early period by commissioners or representa- tives in the Parliament of that kingdom, which consisted of three estates the clergy, the barons, and the burgesses. Of these the barons were only amenable to the King's Chief Justice, termed the Justiciar, who held courts in Scotland called Justice Airs. The burghs were under the jurisdiction of the Lord Chamberlain, who was responsible for furnishing the necessaries for the person and family of the sovereign. These articles were got from the traders of the burghs, and it can be easily understood that in course of time this official, from his high position, gradually began to exercise considerable judicial powers in the burghs. Periodically, by himself or deputy, he held circuits or assizes, and, aided by an inquest or jury, settled all differences. The courts thus held were called Chamberlain Airs. In its internal administration every burgh was entitled to hold courts, and exercise jurisdiction over its burgesses, in the same way as the sheriff did in the county. In the latter any appeal was to the Justiciar or Lord Chief Justice, while in the former it was to the Lord Chamberlain in his great Court of Four Burghs, so termed from its being composed of commissioners from the four chief towns of the kingdom, and the judgments were held to be of equal force to those given in Parliament.

Abuses began to creep into the working of the Court of the Chamberlain Air, the members composing it showing a disposition to nurture their own interests as far as possible, and conscious of the instability of their positions, they took every opportunity of adding to their gains. A crisis was reached, and Parliament made the following request to James II. for relief :

" Anent the reformation of Chamberlain Airs, be the quhilk all the estates, and especially the pure Commonis, are greatly grevit, the Lordis, in the name of the three estates, exhortis oure Soverane Lord, as it pleis him, with the said counsal of the three estates beand now present, to have pitie and consideration of the mony and greit inconuenientis that fallis upone his pure leeges thairthrow, and of his grace to prouyde suddane remeid, aud reforma- tion thereof."

The appeal to Caesar was nob in vain. Gradually the powers of the Court were diminished, as far as the position of the Chamberlain was concerned. Then was exemplified the truth of the proverb, "111 blows the wind that profits nobody." From that date the Court of the Four Burghs grew in importance, which culminated in the changes indicated in the opening paragraph. For many years the Convention, or, as it was called as late as 1500, " the Parliament