| LOCATION | London, BL |
| MANUSCRIPT | London, BL, Addit. 48050 |
| ITEM No. 2 | Ius proprium Scotiae - Practicks (digest of "Auld Lawis"), systematic in seven books |
Ius proprium Scotiae - Practicks (digest of "Auld Lawis"), systematic in seven books
Incipit:
Explicit:
Ius proprium Scotiae - Practicks (digest of "Auld Lawis"), systematic in seven books (in Latin) (some chapters are written in Scots).
Penned by only one scribe. The present work was mentioned by Peter McNeill in his introduction to the reprint of Balfour's Practicks, pag. lviii n. 47. The text corresponds to Edinburgh, NL Scotland, Adv.MS.25.4.11. Both MSS derive from the same ancestor MS. In both copies some page headers of the ancestor MS were penned along with the main text as if they constituted a part of it. This phenomenon would enable us to identify the ancestor MS - if it were extant and came to light. The present MS has obvious misreadings in text passages where Adv.MS.25.4.11 has the correct text. It thus appears that the latter MS was written by a more careful scribe. Yet, the latter MS has gaps, and the present MS provides the pertinent text to fill the gaps.
The seven books and their individual titles are numbered. In most titles, also all their individual chapters are continuously numbered. In long titles, however, it happens that the numbering of the chapters ceases.
The individual chapters bear headings. The titles, in contrast, often lack a heading, so that they immediately start with their first chapter's heading.
A vast majority of chapters is written in Latin, but some chapters are written in Scots. Texts taken from the following sources are usually presented in Scots: Ship laws, Modus tenendi curias baronum, De maritagiis, Maner of battell within listis, Leges Marchiarum. Furthermore, also some chapters of Iter Camerarii and many styles of writs etc. are translated into Scots - e.g. fol. 67r-68r, fol. 85v-86r. I shall render some text samples below. The Scottish text passages in the present MS are in part anglicised. Edinburgh, NL Scotland, Adv.MS.25.4.11, preserves a higher percentage of old Scots words and spellings.
For comparison: fully translated digests of the "Auld Lawis" in Scots are preserved in MS Edinburgh, UL, Laing III.381a, and Edinburgh, NR Scotland, GD112/71/5, and the beginning of one is preserved in MS Edinburgh, UL, Laing III.423
No. of pages: Fol. 1r-106v
Rubric: (on flyleaf ii recto:) The buik callit the maiestie [{i}written several times{/i}].
Prooemium, fol. 1r, substantially as in Regiam maiestatem, ed. Thomas Mackay Cooper [{i}Lord Cooper of Culross{/i}], Edinburgh 1947 (Stair Society vol. 11), p. 57
Incipit:
[{i}Last part of preface:{/i}] Leges autem et iura regni universaliter scripto concludi nostris quidem temporibus omnino impossibile est, tam propter scribentium carentiam, quam propter multitudinem causarum confusam. Verum, sunt quaedam generalia in curia frequentius usitata, quae scripto commendare non mihi videtur absurdum vel presumptuosum, sed ad iuvandam memoriam admodum necessarium. Harum itaque quandam particulam ad mandatum populi quam cleri in scriptis decrevi redigere, stylo vulgari et verbis utens curialibus ex industria, ad totius regni notitiam in hunc modum duxi distinguendum. Liber i., in principio [{i}thus King David not mentioned{/i}].
First Book, fol. 1r-30v: Liber primus, de iure (personarum) [{i}38 titles. Fol. 1r has the correct page header 'De iure personarum'{/i}]
After chapter 1.4.1, the copyist inserted the words 'De iure personarum'. This was most probably the page header of a new page in the ancestor MS which happened to start here. The scrivener was either unaware that it did not belong to the main text, or he deliberately wanted to indicate also the page layout of the model MS. Same phenomenon in Edinburgh, NL Scotland, Adv.MS.25.4.11.
The text in the present MS does not break off in title 1.34 at chapter 8, as does the text in Adv.MS.25.4.11. We can thus read here what is missing in the latter MS, namely a title 1.35 De parva custuma, with 4 chapters. Thereafter a title 1.36 'Burgenses possunt habere mensuras et pondera', several chapters, not numbered. Then another title, again numbered '36' (which should thus be read as '36a'): 'De pretio frumenti aut pondere panis', with 16 chapters. And lastly a title 1.37 Iter Camerarii, with 33 chapters.
(Fol. 31v-37r) Liber secundus, de contractibus [{i}nine titles{/i}].
Book 2 ends with 2.9.4 - as in Edinburgh, NL Scotland, Adv.MS.25.4.11.
(Fol. 35v, sample of reception of Jus Commune:) 2.8.1 De revocandis donationibus. Cum donatio facta fuerit, ... [X.3.24.10, based on C.8.55.10, words taken over into a statute of King Robert III].
(Fol. 38r-43r) Liber tertius, de ultimis voluntatibus [{i}six titles{/i}].
(Fol. 44r-59r) Liber quartus, de praeparatoriis iudiciorum [{i}sixteen titles{/i}].
[{i}Last title of book 4, comprising only one chapter, 4.16.1:{/i}] Quibus modis potest quis contradicere proprium factum. Tribus modis seu casibus potest quis contradicere proprium factum. Primo si sit infra aetatem ... lib. 4 c. 53 Quoniam attach. c. 41.
(Fol. 60r-88v) Liber quintus, de actionibus civilibus [{i}twenty-two titles].{/i}.
Fol. 64 is lacking.
(Fol. 89v-100v) Liber sextus, de causis criminalibus [{i}seventeen titles{/i}].
(Fol. 101v-106r) Liber septimus, de re militari [{i}seven titles. The text here is again more complete than in Edinburgh, NL Scotland, Adv.MS.25.4.11. It is obvious that the latter MS has lost leaves.{/i}].
[{i}Incipit of book 7:{/i}] De his qui duellum committunt per se vel per alios. Tit. 1, cap. 1. Statutum fuit per regem et per communitatem Scotiae apud Sconam quod, si miles vel filius militis vel aliquis libere tenens in feudo militari ... [{i}19 chapters in that first title of book 7{/i}].
Tit. 2 Ordinatio armorum pro guerra ... [{i}3 chapters{/i}].
[{i}Last title = book 7 title 7:{/i}] Leges Merchiarum ... item dixerunt quod nullus de regno Anglie potest probare aliquem de regno Scotie per testes, nec e converso, nisi tantummodo per corpus hominis, et ita multa bella possunt oriri in loquelis motis
Explicit:
Text samples in Scots: