The Association
About the Baronage of Scotland Association
An independent, voluntary and non-profit honourable body, dedicated to preserving the historical integrity of Scottish baronies.
Our Emblem
In Liberam Baroniam · Per Cartas Nostras
“Into a free barony · By our charters”
Our emblem takes the form of an engraved seal — recalling the wax seals appended to the Crown charters by which every Scottish barony was created. The motto around its ring preserves the very words of those grants: lands were erected in liberam baroniam — “into a free barony” — conferring the rank and dignity of baron upon the grantee and their heirs. The Crown charter of 6 May 1590 erecting Spynie in liberam baroniam conferred “Titulum, Honorem, Ordinem et Statum liberi Baronis” — the title, honour, rank and status of a free baron — a barony distinct from the later peerage of Spynie (Innes of Learney, PSAS 79, p. 113, citing Great Seal vol. v, no. 1727).
Per cartas nostras — “by our charters” — records the source of that honour: the sealed charters of the Crown, from which every baronial dignity flows. The shield at the seal’s centre stands for the baronage itself — the ancient Nobility of Scotland, whose titles the Association and the Roll exist to verify and preserve.
Recognised in Law
A noble dignity, affirmed
The status of the Scottish Baronage is recognised in the nobiliary court, the Court of Session and within UK legal frameworks.
The dignity of baron has a noble character in that it is a right which historically originated in a Crown grant.
The 2000 Act… does not affect the noble nature of the dignity.
A barony, although no longer connected to land, remains a noble fief… As owner of a barony Dr Lindberg is in a noble feudal relationship to the Crown.
Even were feudal baronies abolished altogether, the dignity of baron would “continue as a floating dignity” — allowing the “noble aspects of the barony title” to lapse was mentioned, but rejected.
The essential feature of a barony title is the noble quality of the feudal grant… giving the proprietor a territorial rank and dignity… thus when one was divested of an estate the title of honour ceased.
Barony titles are conferred on “persons deserving of being raised to the nobility” — the court’s words, taking up Innes of Learney’s description of those granted arms, who by the grant become the root of a “noble stok”.
Finds and Declares that the Minor Barons of Scotland are, and have been both in this nobiliary Court and in the Court of Session recognised as a ‘titled nobility’ and that the estait of the Baronage (i.e. Barones Minores) are of the ancient Feudal Nobility of Scotland.
Craig, Stair, Bankton and Mackenzie confirm that a grant of lands with rank attached ennobles the grantee — nobility following the dignity of the estate. Under the institutional writers nobility ran with the barony lands; since 2004 it runs with the dignity alone.
Of law and reason the barons of this realm ought to have vote in Parliament as a part of the nobility.
On the abolition of feudal baronies, the dignity of baron was expressly preserved as a non-territorial, “floating” dignity in Scots law: “an estate held in barony ceases to exist as a feudal estate, the dignity of baron, though retained, shall not attach to the land” — and “nothing in this Act affects the dignity of baron”; s. 63(4): “‘dignity’ includes any quality or precedence associated with, and any heraldic privilege incidental to, a dignity”.
Our Mandate
In service of heritage and society
- Advocacy for the titles of the Baronage of Scotland, one of the historic Three Estates.
- Legal protection of the historic rights and heritage of the baronage, upholding the principles of honour.
- Keeper of the open-source verification Roll of Scottish Barons.
- Offering barons The Pledge — converting a barony into a pledged hereditary title, bound by the Baronial Code.
- Representing barons in their engagement with government.
- Updating baronial descriptors to reflect the law: since the 2000 Act, titles are personal and non-territorial, and the term “feudal” baron is no longer correct for extant baronies (Lord Lyon Sellar, in 2009, accordingly termed them “quondam feudal baronies” — quondam meaning “formerly” — and removed the word “feudal” from his Letters Patent for new grants after the appointed day). This is set out in full in Scottish Baronies, Explained.
- Lobbying for HRH the Baron of Renfrew as patron, for a royal warrant recognising the Roll, and for the modern relevance of the Lord Lyon office.
- Signing Memorandums of Understanding with other baronial and noble organisations, at home and on the Continent.
The heir to the British throne holds the baronage titles Lord of the Isles and Baron of Renfrew, and around forty Scottish clan chiefs are also barons — titles rooted deep in antiquity. As the Court of the Lord Lyon declared under Lord Lyon Sir Francis Grant in 1945 — printed by his successor, Sir Thomas Innes of Learney — Scottish barons are of baronial race and of rank equivalent to the chiefs of baronial houses on the Continent:
“That the Petitioner, as feudal Baron of Niddrie-Merschell and Lochtoure is of Baronial Race, and of rank equivalent to that denominated Hoch Adel [the high nobility], and equivalent to the Chiefs of Baronial Houses, upon the Continent of Europe, and that by demonstration of the foresaid Ensigns Armorial, he, and his son and heir-apparent and their successors in the same are to be so accounted, taken, and received amongst all Nobles and in all places of Honour.”
Nobility clauses of this kind no longer appear in Letters Patent: Hamilton of Rockhall v Lord Lyon [2019] CSOH 85, para [21].
About Us
An impartial, voluntary honourable body
The Roll of Scottish Barons and Baronage of Scotland Association (baronage.com), “the Roll,” is an independent, voluntary non-profit dedicated to preserving the historical integrity of Scottish baronies. Since 2004, there has been no legal requirement to record baronies in Scotland, leading to false or questionable claimants appearing in sources like Debrett’s. We address this by maintaining a strict and verified, public record, ensuring succession is documented with accuracy and legal precision.
The Court of the Lord Lyon has, for its part, an evidential practice of its own. Since Lord Lyon Sellar’s Note in the petition of the Baron of Cartsburn (1 December 2009) and Lord Lyon Morrow’s Note in Menking (30 April 2015, para 5), an entry in the Scottish Barony Register, with the Custodian’s report as “a person of skill”, has been treated as sufficient “for aught yet seen” to establish the dignity and to bring the petitioner within the Lord Lyon’s jurisdiction — where Lord Lyon Blair had declined to accept the private register in 2006 (Hamilton of Rockhall v Lord Lyon [2019] CSOH 85, para [23]). The Association’s Roll sits alongside that practice as an open editorial record: nobody pays to be listed, and verification is free.
As a non-political and impartial honourable body, we collaborate with recognised authorities, researchers, and institutions to authenticate claims. Inclusion on the Roll is free/voluntary pledged or non-pledged but requires adherence to rigorous criteria—only dignities with proven legitimacy are recognised. Non-recognition of unverified titles is fundamental. By safeguarding the historical record and upholding the traditions of the Scottish Baronage—part of the Three Estates—we provide a trusted resource for scholars, genealogists, and those interested in Scotland’s heritage.
Governance
Three separate entities
To ensure proper checks and balances, our work is held across three distinct bodies.
The Association
A non-profit honourable body owned by its members, with ownership and votes. Membership is optional and open to those who share our values and heritage.
The Roll
A non-membership register of verified titles within the Baronage of Scotland — free, for life, to verify an entry.
The Baron’s Trust
A separate, independent charitable entity being established for donations to good causes, in collaboration with all baronage stakeholders.
We, as custodians of the Roll, do not wish to own or control this entity; we plan to eventually transfer its oversight to government supervisors to ensure proper checks and balances into the future (once agreed with officials).
Legal Status
Baronage of Scotland Association is a non-profit honourable body owned by its members — not a charity. A separate, independent charitable entity is being formed for donations from barons to good causes, in collaboration with other stakeholders.