Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1722-1896
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TERRITORY, n. Sc. Law: the area over which a judge holds jurisdiction (Sc. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 987).Sc. 1722 W. Forbes Institutes I. iv. 243:
A Person may be exempted from the Jurisdiction of an inferior Judge, because he lives not within his Territory.Sc. 1754 Erskine Principles i. ii. § 4:
Inferior courts are those whose sentences are subject to the review of the supreme courts, and whose jurisdiction is confined to a particular county, borough or other territory.Sc. 1776 Morison Decisions 7712:
To prosecute their rights and privileges, especially before the Judge of the territory.Sc. 1896 W. K. Morton Manual 18:
The judge of first instance, called Sheriff-Substitute, resides within the territory.
Adj. territorial, 1. Sc. Law, of a jurisdiction, limited to a defined area or district, esp. of the heritable jurisdictions of lords of regality and barons, abolished in 1746; 2. Sc. Church, of a church serving an area, esp. in a large town, not coterminous with the parish. The usage was devised by Dr Thomas Chalmers in his scheme for church extension. Hence territorial church, -minister.1. Sc. 1754 Erskine Principles i. ii. § 7:
Even after sheriff-ships ceased to be territorial, by the Sovereign's resuming the jurisdiction to himself from the proprietors of the lands to which it was originally annexed.Sc. 1773 Erskine Institute i. ii. § 11:
Because this kind of jurisdiction was incident to, and followed the lands or territory to which it was annexed . . . it got the name of territorial.2. Sc. 1822 T. Chalmers Speech in Gen. Assembly (24 May) 52:
The assignation of a territorial district to each chapel.Sc. 1863 A. H. Charteris J. Robertson 231:
A territorial church furnishes the best of all means for leavening the people.Sc. 1864 W. G. Blaikie Better Days for Working People 119:
They are the heart breaks of the city missionary, the territorial minister and the district visitor.
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"Territory n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/territory>
