A guild is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They sometimes depended on grants of letters patent from a monarch or other ruler to enforce the flow of trade to their self-employed members, and to retain ownership of tools and the supply of materials, but most were regulated by the local government. Guild members found guilty of cheating the public would be fined or banned from the guild. A lasting legacy of traditional guilds are the guildhalls constructed and used as guild meeting-places.
The politics of Edinburgh are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of the City of Edinburgh Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.
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.
A livery company is a type of guild or professional association that originated in medieval times in London, England. Livery companies comprise London's ancient and modern trade associations and guilds, almost all of which are styled the "Worshipful Company of" their respective craft, trade or profession. There are 111 livery companies in total. They play a significant part in the life of the City of London, not least by providing charitable-giving and networking opportunities. Liverymen retain voting rights for the senior civic offices, such as the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs and Common Council of the City Corporation, London's ancient municipal authority with extensive local government powers.
A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United Kingdom. Following local government reorganisation in 1975, the title of "royal burgh" remains in use in many towns, but now has little more than ceremonial value.
Provost is a title held by the civic heads of local governments in Scotland. It is similar in use to the title of mayor in other parts of the English-speaking world.
The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of Edinburgh and honorarily the Admiral of the Firth of Forth. It is the equivalent in many ways to the institution of Mayor that exists in many other countries.
Burgess was a British title used in the medieval and early modern period to designate someone of the burgher class. It originally meant a freeman of a borough or burgh but later came to mean an official of a municipality or a representative in the House of Commons.
The Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh is a Scottish golf club, which holds claim to be the oldest golfing society in the world, with references to it being instituted in 1735 dating from 1834. The club enjoys a parkland course located in Barnton, Edinburgh that was designed initially by Tom Morris and Willie Park Jnr, with subsequent revisions by James Braid. Notable members have included Jack Nicklaus and Bernard Gallacher alongside a host of royals, aristocrats and socialites.
The Royal Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh, previously known as the Merchant Company of Edinburgh is a mercantile company and Guild officially recognised in 1681, but dating back to at least 1260. The Company, or Confraternity, was created to publicly represent, and protect the trading rights, of the merchants of the royal burgh of Edinburgh. Today, it continues to serve as a forum for businesses people and professionals operating in the City of Edinburgh. It also carries out a significant amount of charitable and educational work.
Sir Robert Baird (1630–1697) was a Scottish merchant, landowner, and investor in colonial enterprise in the Province of Carolina.
The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of 514,990 in 2022, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland.
Several Aberdeen trades hospitals were built by the merchants and trades associations of Aberdeen from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. Traditionally hospitals had been built by the church.
The Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh are the trade and craft bodies of the City of Edinburgh, Scotland, in much the same way as the Livery companies are in The City of London, but on a much smaller scale. The Incorporations are not "guilds", that term being properly reserved in Scotland for the merchant bodies in the various burghs. The Incorporations have never referred to themselves as guilds; indeed they came into existence, mostly in the latter part of the fifteenth century, in order to counter the growing power of the merchant guild, known as the Royal Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh.
Nicholas (Nicol) Uddert or Udward or Udwart or Anglicised as Nicol Edward was a 16th century Scottish merchant who served as Provost of Edinburgh in 1592/93.
John Arnot of Birswick (Orkney) (1530–1616) was a 16th-century Scottish merchant and landowner who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1587 to 1591 and from 1608 to death. He was Deputy Treasurer to King James VI.
Sir Samuel McClellan, MacClellan or McLellan was a Scottish cloth merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1709. He served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1706 to 1708.
James Barroun or Baron was a wealthy Scottish merchant based in Edinburgh and supporter of the Scottish Reformation.
Robert Rodger MP was a 17th/18th century Scottish merchant who twice served as Lord Provost of Glasgow including the critical junction of the Act of Union 1707 when the overarching power translated to London. He served as MP for Glasgow Burghs 1708–1710.
The Burgesses of Guild of the City of Aberdeen is an organisation which dates back over 800 years. Originally, with a membership composed of local merchants, it played a part in the Town Council for more than 700 years. With a changed role, diminished by legislation, it continues with a changed purpose and an active membership of over 1,100 members.
