A burgh of regality is a type of Scottish town. They were distinct from

royal burgh A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

s as they were granted to "

lords of regality In the Baronage of Scotland, a Lord of Regality is an ancient noble title. Lords of regality were said to hold a Burgh of regality, regality - a type of territorial jurisdiction under old Scots law. This jurisdiction was created by erecting lands ...

", leading noblemen. (In distinction, burghs of barony were granted to a tenant-in-chief, a landowner who held his estates directly from the crown, and had fewer civil and criminal law powers). They were created between 1450 and 1707, and conferred upon the landowner varying trading rights, such as the right to hold weekly markets or to trade overseas. Burghs of regality possessed higher jurisdictional rights ''in liberam regalitatem'', amounting to complete criminal jurisdiction except for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

. These rights were abolished by the

Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746 The Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746 (20 Geo. 2. c. 43) or the Sheriffs Act 1747 was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745 abolishing ...

, after which the

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

s enjoyed only the jurisdictional rights of burghs of barony.

Notes

References

* * Government of Scotland Early modern history of Scotland Scots language Burghs Defunct types of subdivision in the United Kingdom {{UK-gov-stub

See also

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References