History and Definition
A Laird is a member of the gentry; historically Lairds rank below a Baron and above an Esquire in the non-peerage table of precedence in the Statutes of 1592 and the Baronetcy Warrants of King Charles I. The designation is used by and about the owner of a substantial and distinctive landed estate in Scotland, not part of a village or town and that lies outwith a burgh.
In the 15/16th century the designation was used for land owners holding directly of the Crown, and therefore were entitled to attend Parliament. Lairds reigned over their estates like princes, their castles forming a small court. Originally in the 16th and 17th centuries the designation was applied to the head chief of a highland clan and therefore was not personal property and had obligations towards the community. The Laird may possess certain local or feudal rights. A Lairdship carried voting rights in the ancient pre-Union Parliament of Scotland, although such voting rights were expressed via two representatives from each county who were known as Commissioners of the Shires, who came from the Laird class and were chosen by their peers to represent them. A certain level of landownership was a necessary qualification (40 shillings of old extent). A Laird is said to hold a Lairdship. A woman who holds a Lairdship in her own right has been styled with the honorific Lady.
Though translated as Lord and historically signifying the same, Laird is not a title of nobility. The designation of Laird is a 'corporeal hereditament' (an inheritable property that has an explicit tie to the physical land), i.e. the designation can not be held in gross, and cannot be bought and sold without selling the physical land. The designation does not entitle the owner to sit in the House of Lords and is the Scottish equivalent to an English squire in that it is not a noble title, more a courtesy designation meaning landowner with no other rights assigned to it. However, a Laird possessing a Coat of Arms registered in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland is a member of Scotland's minor nobility. Such an individual can be recognised as a Laird, if not a Chief or Chieftain, or descendant of one of these, by the formal recognition of a territorial designation as a part of their name by the Lord Lyon. The Lord Lyon is the ultimate arbiter as to determining entitlement to a territorial designation, and his right of discretion in recognising these, and their status as a name, dignity or title, have been confirmed in the Scottish courts.
Several websites, and internet vendors on websites like Ebay, purport to sell Scottish Lairdships along with small plots of land. The Court of the Lord Lyon considers these particular titles to be meaningless because it is impossible to have numerous “Lairds” of a single Estate at the same time, as has been advertised by these companies.
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