WHAT THEY ARE
Scottish Feudal Baronies
From the 13th Century, Scottish Kings created administrative units called baronies, supervised by men who were called barons.
What Are Baronies?
A Scottish feudal baron derives his or her title, also called a dignity, from a deed created by the monarch through a Crown Charter. This charter recognizes the title as noble and lists the name of the barony, the main dwelling (caput), and a detailed description of the lands, termed as “all and whole the lands and barony of” X.
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These lands, which weren’t necessarily connected, were elevated to barony status by a royal decree, typically granted to an individual or the landowner. This process officially transformed the land into a barony, a distinct legal and administrative entity recognized for its self-governance and social order.
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The Crown Charter provided significant legal privileges, including the right to use the title “Baron” and to hold governing power within the barony. That included severe powers such as the right of pit and gallows, granting the authority to impose the death sentence.
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Baronial jurisdiction also included civil and criminal matters, including the enforcement of taxes, the operation of barony courts to uphold the King’s Laws, and the duty to supply military personnel from the barony’s residents during times of war or defense.
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Thus, elevating lands to barony status secured the vassal’s direct allegiance to the Crown, typically in exchange for military service. The emergence of permanent royal armies in the Middle Ages contributed to the decline of feudalism. Though originally a feudal creation, the concept of barons may predate these structures, existing even in the Gaelic Kingdom of Dalriada.
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In the case of the Strathardle Ashintully Spaldings, the baron of Ashintully mandated their involvement in the rebel Jacobite Atholl Brigade, commanded by Lord George Murray. This was a feudal levy rather than a voluntary regiment of the Spalding Clan. This feudal power was abolished in 1747 with the Heritable Jurisdiction Act, which aimed to prevent barons from participating in rebellions.
A feudal baron is a member of the Baronage of Scotland, one of the three members of Scots Nobility. Some Scottish Chiefs are also feudal barons.
More About Baronies
Although the lands and barony were connected, they were recognized as separate legal entities, allowing them to be separated. In 2004, Parliament passed the Abolition of Feudal Tenure Act. This law ensured that the dignity of the baron’s title, including its status, heraldic privileges, and precedence, remained intact despite its legal separation from the land. As a result, the title was transformed into an incorporeal hereditament, allowing it to be passed on even without a physical presence. These changes took effect on 28 November 2004.
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Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, Lord Lyon from 1945 to 1969, revived interest in baronies, leading to a small but active market for these titles. The 2000 Act provided special provisions for baronies, converting them into personal titles devoid of powers or responsibilities. Furthermore, the abolition of feudalism did not impact the right of a titleholder to sell, gift, or bequeath the barony title, which remains separate from land ownership.
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Since feudal dignities can no longer be registered in the Sasines (the Land Registers of Scotland), ownership of a barony is now finalized through the delivery of a deed of Assignation. A Scottish feudal barony title remains unique as the only title of nobility that can be bought, sold, bequeathed, or inherited. It’s distinct from titles like peerages and baronetcies that typically pass to the heir presumptive. This unique aspect of Scottish Law is reflected in the varied families and surnames that have owned these baronies since their establishment.
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After the last Jacobite uprising in 1746, feudal barons lost their right to adjudicate using their right of “pit and gallows” (death penalty).  After the abolition of feudalism in Scotland in 2004, they lost any final and residual vestige of feudal authority and were transformed from Scottish feudal barons to simply Scottish barons (not to be confused with the peerage degree of Lord of Parliament, the Scottish equivalent of an English Baron peerage); when the land was detached, so were some of the heraldic additaments such as the mantle or cape and the cap of maintnenance as there was nothing left to maintain. The title became a bare superiority.
A feudal barony title (a prescriptive barony by tenure title which meant that passage of the title didn’t have to be hereditary but could be acquired by whoever owned the land regardless of their ancestry) was attached to land, was real property, and could be transferred by being bought, sold or bequeathed. A feudal baron owns his title like property. Nowadays since it was detached from the land, it is incorporeal property and it is a free-floating personal title that can still be transferred by being bought, sold or bequeathed. It was a title created (“erected”) by a Crown Charter and the title and land were owned as a single unit of property referred to as “the whole, the lands and barony”. It can never be extinguished but can exist unclaimed.
A peerage barony title (eventually becoming “Lord of Parliament”) is part of that person’s identity, and cannot be bought or sold, and is transferred only through a genetic male heir without their consent (with few exceptions). It was created not by charter but by letters patent. It can be extinguished if there are no male heirs to inherit it.
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For further explanation of Feudal Baronies these publications are excellent further references:
Durie, Bruce. “Chapter 12: The Feudal Baronies of Scotland, Regality, Barony and Jurisdiction”. Scottish Genealogy, Fourth Edition, The History Press, 2017, pp 138-147.
Dobson, David. “Introduction”. Scottish Baronial Families, 1250-1750, Genealogical Publishing Company for Clearfield, 2024.
Over the centuries, it is estimated that up to 2,000 feudal baronies have been created in Scotland. However, only about 150 of these are currently registered in the Scottish Barony Register.
No Scottish Feudal Barony Has Been Created Since 1880
Unlike peerage titles such as Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, or Lord of Parliament, feudal barony titles cannot be abolished unless by a Crown edict or an Act of Parliament. Therefore, they persist indefinitely, and can be claimed by anyone who proves their entitlement after an owner's death.
Barons have the right to seek a Grant of Arms from the Lord Lyon King of Arms, with all heraldic matters overseen by the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh. Ownership of these titles is officially recorded and regulated by the Scottish Barony Register.
