The Much Honoured
The Much Honoured (abbreviated to The Much Hon.) is an honorific style applied to the holders of certain Scottish feudal baronies and Clan chiefs.
Overview[edit]
There were around 350 identifiable local baronies in Scotland by the early fifteenth century and these could mostly be mapped against local parish boundaries.[2] In addition, there are a small number of feudal earldoms in the Baronage of Scotland (Aboyne, Angus, Arran, Breadalbane, Crawfurd-Lindsay, Dunbar, Errol, Lennox, Nithsdale, Orkney, Rothes, Wigtoun), one feudal marquisate (Huntly) and one 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 feudal baron in Scotland is The Much Hon. The Baron of Renfrew, HRH The Duke of Rothesay; 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". 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.[3]
Usage[edit]
Historically, the honorific is used in association with four groups:
- Scots feudal barons. For example, The Much Hon. David Leslie, Baron of Leslie, or The Much Hon. The Baron of Leslie
- Scots feudal lords (not to be confused with lairds). For example, The Much Hon. David Leslie, Lord of Leslie, or The Much Hon. The Lord of Leslie
- Scots feudal earls. For example, The Much Hon. James Leslie, Earl of Rothes or The Much Hon. The Earl of Rothes
- Clan Chiefs or Lairds—not by those owning souvenir plots—who are recognised in a territorial designation by the Lord Lyon. For example, The Much Hon. Hugh Montgomerie, The Earl of Eglinton and Winton is Chief of the Clan Montgomerie.
The eldest son of a Scots baron is entitled to be addressed by courtesy as the Younger (abbreviated to the Yr); the eldest daughter of a Scots baron, if heir apparent, is entitled to use the courtesy title The Maid of [name of barony] (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[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ 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.