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| The chapeau (or cap of maintenance) represents Scot barons in historical heraldry instead of a coronet |
| The Ancient Nobility of the Baronage of Scotland |
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| Convention of the Three Estates |
Maid was a customary title in the Scottish Highlands for the heiress to a chiefship or chieftainship. [2]
It was also granted to the eldest daughter of a laird. The title is not often used today but can still be used. The title is customary and not automatically given.
The eldest daughter of a laird is entitled to place the title at the end of her name along with the lairdship therefore becoming "Miss [Firstname] [Lastname], Maid of [Lairdship]". Placing only the word "maid" at the end of the name is incorrect, as the lairdship must be included.
As the title is customary and not automatic, it means that the eldest daughter can choose if they wish to take on this title, if they choose not to they are simply addressed as "Miss [Firstname] [Lastname] of [Lairdship]".
If the eldest daughter is the heir apparent to a lairdship, she has the choice to either take on the title "younger" or to remain titled as "Maid of [x]". Once they take on the lairdship in their own right, they will then become styled as "lady" and the title of "Maid of [x]" will pass onto their eldest daughter.
The title "Maid of [x]" is held for life, unless the eldest daughter becomes a "lady" in her own right. No one else can be given this title during the lifetime of another maid. If a laird has a son who is the heir apparent but still has an elder daughter, she is still entitled to become styled as "maid".
If the eldest daughter of a laird chooses to accept the title it would be styled as "Miss [Forename] [Surname], Maid of [Lairdship]" (e.g. Miss Jane Smith, Maid of Edinburgh). If the eldest daughter should marry, she will still hold the title.
If a laird has any younger daughters, they are styled as "Miss [Forename] [Surname] of [Lairdship]"
Peerages in the United Kingdom form a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles, composed of various ranks, and within the framework of the Constitution of the United Kingdom form a constituent part of the legislative process and the British honours system. The British monarch is considered the fount of honour and is notionally the only person who can grant peerages, though there are many conventions about how this power is used, especially at the request of the British government. The term peerage can be used both collectively to refer to the entire body of titled nobility, and individually to refer to a specific title. British peerage title holders are termed peers of the Realm.
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight, but lower than a viscount or count. Often, barons hold their fief – their lands and income – directly from the monarch. Barons are less often the vassals of other nobles. In many kingdoms, they were entitled to wear a smaller form of a crown called a coronet.
A courtesy title is a form of address and/or reference in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer, as well as certain officials such as some judges and members of the Scottish gentry. These styles are used "by courtesy" in the sense that persons referred to by these titles do not in law hold the substantive title. There are several different kinds of courtesy titles in the British peerage system.
Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage, and as such its holder is the premier peer of Scotland, as well as being head of both the House of Hamilton and the House of Douglas. The title, the town of Hamilton in Lanarkshire, and many places around the world are named after members of the Hamilton family. The ducal family's surname, originally "Hamilton", is now "Douglas-Hamilton". Since 1711, the dukedom has been held together with the Dukedom of Brandon in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the dukes since that time have been styled Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, along with several other subsidiary titles.
Forms of address used in the United Kingdom are given below.
A Lord of Parliament was the holder of the lowest form of peerage, entitled as of right to take part in sessions of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland. Since that Union in 1707, it has been the lowest rank of the Peerage of Scotland, ranking below a viscount. A Lord of Parliament is said to hold a Lordship of Parliament.
Earl of Rosebery is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created in 1703 for Archibald Primrose, 1st Viscount of Rosebery, with remainder to his issue male and female successively. Its name comes from Roseberry Topping, a hill near Archibald's wife's estates in Yorkshire. The current earl is Harry Primrose, 8th Earl of Rosebery.
Lady is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men.
False titles of nobility or royal title scams are claimed titles of social rank that have been fabricated or assumed by an individual or family without recognition by the authorities of a country in which titles of nobility exist or once existed. They have received an increasing amount of press attention, as more schemes that purport to confer or sell such honorifics are promoted on the internet. Concern about the use of titles which lack legal standing or a basis in tradition has prompted increased vigilance and denunciation, although under English common law a person may choose to be known by any name they see fit as long as it is not done to "commit fraud or evade an obligation".
When the crown of Scotland became vacant in September 1290 on the death of the seven-year-old Queen Margaret, 13 claimants to the throne came forward. Those with the most credible claims were John Balliol; Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale; John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings; and Floris V, Count of Holland.
In Scotland, "baron" or "baroness" is a rank of the ancient nobility of the Baronage of Scotland, a hereditary title of honour, and refers to the holder of a barony, formerly a feudal superiority or prescriptive barony attached to land erected into a free barony by Crown Charter, this being the status of a minor baron, recognised by the crown as noble, but not a peer.
The Scottish Noblesse is a class of aristocracy in Scotland, including both those with peerage titles as well as those without. The concept of this distinct Scottish noble class was prominently advocated for by Sir Thomas Innes of Learney during his tenure as Carrick Pursuivant of Arms and later Lord Lyon King of Arms.
Laird is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those holding official recognition in a territorial designation by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. They are usually styled [name] [surname] of [lairdship]. However, since "laird" is a courtesy title, it has no formal status in law.
The British nobility is made up of the peerage and the (landed) gentry. The nobility of its four constituent home nations has played a major role in shaping the history of the country, although the hereditary peerage now retain only the rights to stand for election to the House of Lords, dining rights there, position in the formal order of precedence, the right to certain titles, and the right to an audience with the monarch.
A Lord in the Baronage of Scotland is an ancient title of nobility, held in baroneum, which Latin term means that its holder, who is a lord, is also always a baron. The holder may or may not be a Lord of Regality, which meant that the holder was appointed by the Crown and had the power of "pit and gallows", meaning the power to authorise the death sentence.
In England, the baronage was the collectively inclusive term denoting all members of the feudal nobility, as observed by the constitutional authority Edward Coke. It was replaced eventually by the term peerage.
The Much Honoured is an honorific style applied to various minor nobles in Scotland, including Scots barons.
Younger is a Scottish convention, style of address, or description traditionally used by the heir apparent to:
Baron of Renfrew is a dignity in the Baronage of Scotland held by the heir apparent to the British throne, currently Prince William, Duke of Rothesay. It has been held by the Scottish heir apparent since 1404. It is closely associated with the title Duke of Rothesay. An act of the Scottish Parliament passed in 1469 confirmed the pattern of succession. Renfrew, a town near Glasgow, is sometimes called the "cradle of the royal Stewarts".
Baron of Glengarnock is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland in the county of Ayrshire.
