The Much Honoured (abbreviated to The Much Hon.) is an honorific style applied to various minor nobles in Scotland, including Scots barons, it is also argued that the title is a form of address for English feudal Manorial Lords and Barons such as those who hold titles like Lord of the Manor of xxxx.
Overview
editThere were around 350 identifiable local baronies in Scotland by the early fifteenth century and these could mostly be mapped against local parish boundaries.[3] In addition, there are a small number of extant feudal earldoms in the Baronage of Scotland (Aboyne, Arran, Breadalbane, Crawfurd-Lindsay, Errol, Lennox, Orkney, Rothes, Wigtoun), one extant feudal marquisate (Huntly) and one extant feudal dukedom (Hamilton), all held in baroneum. Since all these titles, being feudal, are based in Scots property law and not personal peerages, there are some instances when, for historic reasons, the feudal title happens to share the same name as an extant peerage title, but the current holder of the feudal title is different from the current holder of the peerage title of the same name. The two are not to be confused. Historically, they were held by one and the same person, but the feudal title may subsequently have been disponed according to Scots property law, whereas the peerage title always descends according to the destination in the letters patent of creation of the peerage and the rules of peerage law.
The highest-ranking baron in Scotland is HRH The Duke of Rothesay, who holds the barony of Renfrew; by tradition both titles being held concurrently by the heir apparent to the British throne.
Genuine territorial lairds (not those owning souvenir plots of land) style themselves "The Much Honoured", albeit archaic. This practice is now in decline - with notable exceptions, namely that of Catherine Maxwell-Stuart, 21st Lady of Traquair. The official use of titles and honorifics in Scotland comes under the jurisdiction of the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh.[4]
Usage
editHistorically, the honorific is used in association with five groups:
- Scottish barons. For example, The Much Hon. David Leslie, Baron of Leslie, or The Much Hon. The Baron of Leslie
- Lords in the Baronage of Scotland (not to be confused with lairds). For example, The Much Hon. David Leslie, Lord of Leslie, or The Much Hon. The Lord of Leslie
- Earls/marquises/dukes in the Baronage of Scotland. For example, The Much Hon. James Leslie, Earl of Rothes or The Much Hon. The Earl of Rothes
- Clan chiefs/chieftains or lairds (not by those owning souvenir plots) who are recognised in a territorial designation by the Lord Lyon. For example, The Much Hon. Catherine Maxwell-Stuart, Lady of Traquair or The Much Hon. Catherine Maxwell-Stuart of Traquair.
- English Feudal Lords (Including feudal Barons) according to Debretts The Much Hon should also be used for English Feudal Lords as using the term Mr, Mrs or Miss is incorrect.
The eldest son of a Scots minor noble is entitled to be addressed by courtesy as the Younger (abbreviated to the Yr); the eldest daughter of a minor noble, if heir apparent, is entitled to use the courtesy title The Maid of [designation] (e.g. David Leslie the Younger and The Maid of Leslie).
The honorific "The Much Honoured" is distinct from honorifics attaching to peers of the realm.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Ruling of the Court of the Lord Lyon (26 February 1943, Vol. IV, page 26): "With regard to the words 'untitled nobility' employed in certain recent birthbrieves in relation to the (Minor) Baronage of Scotland, 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".
- ^ Moncreiffe of that Ilk, Iain (1982). The Highland Clans. Barrie & Jenkins. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-09-144740-3.
- ^ Alexander Grant, Franchises North of the Border: Baronies and Regalities in Medieval Scotland, Chapter 9, Michael Prestwich. ed., Liberties and Identities in Medieval Britain and Ireland (Boydell Press: Woodbridge, 2008)
- ^ "Territorial Designationse, Scottish History Online, Scotland - UK". www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-16.