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The Lyon Court

The Lord Lyon and the baronage since 2004

How the Lyon Court’s practice on recognising barons has moved since the appointed day — and what has not changed

4 min read · Reviewed September 2026 · The Reading Room

The dignity of baron is held under section 63 of the 2000 Act whether or not the Lyon Court mentions it. What the Lyon Court says in Letters Patent is another matter, and it has changed more than once since the appointed day. This is the record, date by date.

The Lord Lyon grants arms under a delegated royal prerogative; recognition of a barony in Letters Patent has always been at his discretion, and his practice has changed more than once since the appointed day. The dignity itself has not changed: it is held under s. 63 of the 2000 Act whether or not the Lyon Court mentions it.1

The practice, date by date

DateLord LyonPractice
17 Dec 2002 (reported)BlairAnnounces that from the appointed day he “will no longer officially recognise a person as a feudal baron, nor make any grant of baronial additaments”; existing barons may use additaments for life, heirs may not; a blue chapeau may be allowed to the heir of a baron recognised before the appointed day.2
15 May 2006BlairNote in Hamilton of Rockhall (Barony of Lag): recognises the petitioner only as “Holder of the Barony of Lag”, without baronial additaments, and declines to accept an entry in the Scottish Barony Register as evidence.3
2008Blair / SellarHeads of Agreement settle the Hamilton and Lindberg judicial reviews: fresh petitions for recognition as Baroness of Lag and Baron of Delvine, “a helmet befitting his degree, namely the helmet assigned to barons as specified in Scots Heraldry”, and (paras 4–5) a statement of practice for future post-2004 petitions.4
3 Dec 2008SellarParagraphs 4–5 published on the Lyon Court website: where the dignity exists and the petitioner is “virtuous and well deserving”, Lyon “will, (1) if so required, officially recognise the petitioner as ‘Baron of [the barony]’ and (2) grant them ensigns armorial with a helmet befitting their degree”; ownership of a barony accepted as sufficient connection with Scotland.5
1 Dec 2009SellarNote in Lindley-Highfield of Ballumbie Castle, Baron of Cartsburn: coins “quondam feudal baronies”; accepts the Custodian of the Scottish Barony Register as “a man of skill” and his confirmation as “for aught yet seen, sufficient proof of the existence and ownership of the barony”.6
5 Jan 2010SellarGeneral guidance: post-2004 barons “will be granted a helm appropriate to their degree … and will be recognised in the style of ‘baron of X’”; pre-2004 chapeaux may continue and pass to heirs; representatives of baronial houses keep the blue chapeau or supporters; no more additaments for baron-bailies; territorial designation test (five acres with a house, outwith a burgh).7
c. 2010SellarNote in Sturzenegger of Arran: holds that the transfer of an existing barony for payment is not a “grant” caught by the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925; affirms that “there can be no doubt about the thread of continuity from the earliest days of feudalism in Scotland until the present day” (p. 7).8
30 Apr 2015MorrowNote in Menking (Lordship and Regality of the Garioch): lordships, regalities and earldoms are “of the genus of barony”; the Scottish Barony Register is “the only register for the Lord Lyon to have reference to”; recognition wording becomes “the Petitioner holds the [dignity] … being of the genus of barony, which ownership brings the Petitioner within the jurisdiction of the Lord Lyon”; additaments as for a baron; applied to all future petitions.9
1 Mar 2018MorrowAnnounced 23 October 2017: Letters Patent no longer refer to the assignation or to the barony; they state only that the petitioner is “within the jurisdiction of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms”.10
5 Nov 2019Court of SessionHamilton of Rockhall v Lord Lyon [2019] CSOH 85 (Lady Wolffe): paragraphs 4–5 of the 2008 agreement “do not … have contractual effect”; they were “an expression of intent, or the statement of a practice or policy”; a grant of arms “is only ever a matter of grace (and not entitlement)”, and the prerogative is “wholly inimical to the articulation of a policy or practice by him that is capable of binding successors in the office of Lord Lyon in the grant of arms”. The pursuer’s evidence was that the change cut the market value of a barony from about £85,000 to about £10,000.11

What has stayed constant

Two constants run through the table. Ownership of a barony, evidenced by the Scottish Barony Register, continues to bring a petitioner within the Lord Lyon’s jurisdiction wherever they live; and the helm assigned to barons continues to be granted. What has gone is the sentence in the Letters Patent naming the petitioner “Baron of X”. Whether that sentence returns is for each Lord Lyon: as Lady Wolffe held, no Lyon can bind his successor.11

The statutory hook is s. 63(4) of the 2000 Act, which defines “dignity” to include “any quality or precedence associated with, and any heraldic privilege incidental to, a dignity”; that is why ownership of a barony brings a petitioner within the Lyon Court’s jurisdiction (Menking, paras 6–8).9 The dignity is held as of right under s. 63;1 recognition by the Lord Lyon is, in the Court of Session’s words, “only ever a matter of grace (and not entitlement)”.11 And as Lord Lyon Morrow observed in Menking, “in Scotland anyone is at liberty to call themselves what they wish subject to it not being the intention to deceive” (para 21).9

The Association’s answer to the practical question is at Scottish Baronies, Explained.

Notes

  1. Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000, s. 63(1)–(4), in force 28 November 2004. ↩
  2. Reported in von Quast, “To what extent are feudal titles recognised by the Scottish authorities?” (2020). The statement is reported at second hand and has not been verified against the Lyon Court’s archived website. ↩
  3. Hamilton of Rockhall v Lord Lyon King of Arms [2019] CSOH 85, para [23] — PDF of the opinion. ↩
  4. Hamilton of Rockhall [2019] CSOH 85, paras [4], [6]–[9]. ↩
  5. Lyon Court statement of 3 December 2008, reproduced in D. D. Campbell, Scottish Armory and Heraldry (2019), pp. 82–83. ↩
  6. Lord Lyon Sellar, Note of 1 December 2009 in the Petition of Lindley-Highfield of Ballumbie Castle, Baron of Cartsburn, reproduced in Campbell (2019), p. 82. ↩
  7. Lord Lyon’s general guidance on baronial additaments, 5 January 2010, reproduced in Campbell (2019), p. 83. ↩
  8. Lord Lyon Sellar, Note in the Petition of Sturzenegger of Arran; Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925. ↩
  9. Lord Lyon Morrow, Note in the Petition of Menking, 30 April 2015, paras 5–8, 21. ↩
  10. Hamilton of Rockhall [2019] CSOH 85, paras [24]–[30]; Lindsays, A guide to Scottish barony titles (December 2019). ↩
  11. Hamilton of Rockhall [2019] CSOH 85, paras [21]–[30], [84]–[86] — PDF of the opinion; Scottish Legal News, 6 November 2019. ↩

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