Manuscripta juridica

Decisiones curiae supremae Scotiae - Practicks 1592-1624: (1609/11/4 - 1623/11) .

Very carefully written in darkbrown ink, easily readable. The items are not numbered and bear no headings. The names of the parties only appear in the text, they are not written above the text, and the date is given at the end of each item. The series comes to a provisional end 1614/12/29 (pag. 166) and then resumes with an intermediate title 'Practiques Januarii and Februarii anno 1622', and continues into November 1623.

Comparison between MSS Signet L. 13 and 20:

I have compared several years' ends and years' beginnings. It appeared that the text in MS 20 is usually more complete, because the scribe of MS 13 left words and names out whenever he deemed that they were not indispensable. Yet at the end of December 1622, MS 20 lacks several items which are present in MS 13. For the year 1623, MS 13 has twice as many pages. It appears that MS 20 lacks items of 1624, but it might be that items of this year are just misplaced, as MS 20 shows some chronological disorder. MS 13 is more anglicised than MS 20 which maintains spellings from old Scots - eg. 'duik' rather than 'duke'

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Author(s):

• Thomas Hamilton later 1st Earl of Haddington

No. of pages: Pag. 1-210

Rubric: Practiques of law penned be the old Earle of Haddingtoun when Lord of the Sessione.

[{i}First item:{/i}] In ane actione perseved be Mr. Robert Boyd advocat against his mother in lau and Mr. Johne Russell nou her spous ... as his airship, 4 Nov. anno 1609.

[{i}Appendix by the same scribe, a long item:{/i}] Gilbert Wood of Pilrig as assigney be his umquhill father ... [{i}dated 1643/1/31, not in Tait's index, and not found in MS Signet 13. The date is either due to a scribal slip of pen, or the item is a late addition. In both cases the date suggests that the text was penned at the earliest in 1643{/i}]