Burgh of barony

Aburgh of baronywas a type ofScottishtown (burgh).

Burghs of barony were distinct fromroyal burghs,as the title was granted to a landowner who, as a tenant-in-chief, held his estates directly from the crown. (In some cases, they might also beburghs of regalitywhere the crown granted the leading noblemenjudicial powersto try criminals for all offences except treason). They were created between 1450 and 1846, and conferred upon thelandownerthe right to hold weekly markets. Unlike royal burghs, they were not allowed to participate inforeign trade.In practice very few burghs of barony developed intomarket towns.

Over 300 such burghs were created: the last wasArdrossanin 1846. From 1833 inhabitants of such burghs could form apolice burghgoverned by elected commissioners. In some cases the existing burgh continued to exist alongside the police burgh. Remaining burghs of barony were abolished in 1893 by theBurgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892(55 & 56 Vict.c. 55). Where a police burgh had been formed it absorbed the burgh of barony, in other cases the burgh was dissolved. From that date there was no practical difference between burghs of barony and other police burghs, though a distinction was still sometimes made. For instance, in 1957Lord Lyonintroduced distinctive "burghal coronets" to be displayed above the arms of burghsmatriculatedby his office: a "coronet suitable to a burgh of barony" was a redmural crown,whereas that for a police burgh was blue in colour.

All burghs were abolished in 1975 by theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973.However,feudalhereditary titlesformally attached to the lands have been preserved, and are still recognized by theBritish crowntoday.

References

• Smith, William Charles(1878),"Borough",in Baynes, T. S. (ed.),Encyclopædia Britannica,vol. 4 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 62–64.
• Smith, William Charles;Bateson, Mary(1911),"Borough",inChisholm, Hugh(ed.),Encyclopædia Britannica,vol. 4 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 268–273.

See also

• List of burghs in Scotland