Baronies
A Barony was an area of land, not always contiguous, granted by the Crown to a Tenant. Baronies became a unit in administration and law, however the actual size was variable and they merged or separated from time to time. The holder or Baron had power to hold courts which dealt with civil and criminal cases of less than major importance. Some crimes were reserved for royal courts, namely murder, rape, robbery with violence, fire raising and treason. To come under the jurisdiction of a baronial court, the crime had to have been committed within the barony or concerned its people or property.
In England a Baron was a peerage title, this was not the case in Scotland. He or she held their land directly from the King or Queen. After c1700 the emphasis was on administration, a good neighbourhood and economic and other rules for the benefit of those living within the Barony. In 1747 the criminal jurisdiction of a Baron Court was much restricted. The Barony was largely a self-governing community, however there was a system of appeals to the Sheriff and the Central Courts.
The term baron had simply meant "man" originally; later the term baron came to imply holding the barony lands immediately of the King. Finally baron came to mean one who held such lands "of the King" with accompanying rights and duties and the therefore the word came to mean one who held as 'tenant in chief' of the King's lands erected by Charter 'in free barony'. Sir John Skene in his glossary of Scots legal terms defines it as In this Realme he is called ane Barrone quha haldis his landes immediatlie in chiefe of the King and hes power of pit and gallow. The Barons of Scotland continued to have the right to sit in the Scottish Parliament until 1594.