| b |
born |
| baron |
member of the lowest order of the nobility |
| barony |
domain or rank of a baron |
| brevet |
a document entitling a military
officer to hold a higher rank temporarily |
| canon |
1. general law, rule, principle or criterion.
2. church decree or law
3. member of a cathedral chapter |
| charter |
document granting rights, issued esp. by a
sovereign or legislature |
| d |
died |
| Dominus |
Sir (Latin) signifying
knighthood. |
| d.s.p. |
decessit sine prole (Latin: died without issue) |
| escheat |
1. reversion of property to the State etc, in
the absence of legal heirs.
2. property so affected |
| impignorate |
to pledge, pawn or mortgage |
| infeft |
Land-holding in Scotland was feudal, i.e. there
was an overlord or superior and his vassal. Each time land changed hands,
permission had to be obtained from the superior in the form of a 'precept'
(letter). The letter was then shown to the 'bailie' (official) of
the particular lands who then gave title to the new owner. This took place
on the actual property, where the new owner was given a handful of earth
and stone or if in a burgh, took hold of the handle of the door and
thereby became 'infeft' or 'seised' in the property. An
Instrument of Sasine was then recorded in the Register of the county in
which the land lay. |
| m |
married |
| Mercer
Family Tree |
"The Mercer Pedigree"
compiled "from various sources" by Major
William Lindsay Mercer of Huntingtower (1858-1926.) It is the
most extensive and detailed of all the various records that we have
available to us. The fact that we give it as a reference source does
not however, guarantee that it is necessarily accurate. Only that it
is the source of the information. |
| Palatine |
having local authority that belongs elsewhere
only to a sovereign. |
| relict |
widow |
| seneschal |
steward of a medieval great house |
| s.p. |
sine prole (Latin: without issue) |
| tailzie |
a |
| tenement |
apartment within a building containing other
apartments |
| terce |
the right (under Scots Law) of a widow who has
not accepted any special provision to a liferent of one-third of the
heritage in which her husband died infeft.) |
