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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

ROYAL, adj. Also †ryal (Sc. 1724 Ramsay Ever Green I. 196).

Sc. combs.: 1. royal blue, whisky. See Blue; 2. royal bounty, an annual payment made by the Crown to the Church of Scotland for the promotion of religion in the Highlands and Islands; 3. royal brachens, see Brachan, n., (2); 4. royal burgh, a burgh deriving its charter and its lands and privileges directly from the Crown. See Burgh, n.¹ The Royal Burghs formed a separate Estate in the Scottish Parliament. Phr. Convention of Royal Burghs, a corporate body consisting of representatives orig. of Royal Burghs only but now of all Scottish burghs, which meets annually in Edinburgh to discuss matters of interest, e.g. in regard to trade and legislation, affecting these towns. Its executive powers are strictly limited to the apportionment of some small taxes and its chief function is as a deliberative forum for local economic affairs (see quots.); 5. Royal Company of Archers, the Sovereign's body-guard in Scotland; 6. Royal Mile, the street in Edinburgh extending from the Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, officially the Lawnmarket, High Street and the Canongate, orig. forming the main street in the older part of Edinburgh and so called as being freq. traversed by the kings and queens of Scotland. The name itself is relatively recent.1. Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 26:
Weel she lo'ed a kittle story Owre a wee drap royal blue.2. Sc. 1726 Acts Gen. Assembly 13:
To name a Cashier for receiving and giving out the foresaid Royal Bounty.Sc. 1807 J. Hall Travels 407:
What is termed the royal bounty; a thousand pounds a year given by his majesty to catechists and preachers.Sc. 1887 W. Mair Digest Ch. Laws 314:
Yearly, at the opening of the Assembly, the Lord High Commissioner announces a gift of money from the Sovereign, for the promotion of religion in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. It was first given in 1725, £1000; and in 1811 was increased to £2000.4. Sc. 1700 Rec. Conv. Burghs (1880) 307:
The generall conventione of the royall borrowes doe ratifie, approve, and confirme. . . .Sc. 1708 J. Chamberlayne State Gt. Britain ii. 505:
These Royal Boroughs are not only several distinct Corporations, but they are also one entire Body, governed by . . . one general court.Sc. 1734 Treat. Orig. and Progr. Fees 34:
That Duty which Burghs-Royal, by their Charters of Erection, owe to the King.Sc. 1774 Kames Sk. Hist. Man III. 464:
By a royal borough, is, in Scotland, understood, an incorporation that hold their lands of the Crown, and are governed by magistrates of their own naming.Sc. 1830 W. Chambers Bk. of Scotland 63:
There are sixty-six royal burghs in Scotland returning members to Parliament; but it must be comprehended that these by no means form the bulk of the Scottish towns.Sc. 1904 Sc. Hist. Review I. 124:
In one sense all towns established on the domains of the Crown and held directly of the Sovereign were Royal Burghs. But our constitutional writers have held that the essential criteria of proper burghs royal are the erection of the burgesses into communities or municipal corporations, and the grant of property to the individuals and the community under a permanent feudal tenure, in return to the Crown for certain fixed rents or maills, and the performance of personal services for the security of the public peace.Sc. 1905 C. S. Terry Sc. Parliament 21, 52:
From early times the burghs had a Parliament of their own — the Convention of Royal Burghs, an institution which still survives. . . . Throughout the whole existence of the Scottish Parliament, and until the reform of Parliament in the nineteenth century, the burgh franchise was confined exclusively to the Royal Burghs.Sc. 1924 J. Mackinnon Constit. Hist. 305:
The quota of all general taxation payable by them [royal burghs] was one-sixth, and the proportion of this quota payable by each was fixed by the Convention of the Royal Burghs.Sc. 1949 W. M. Mackenzie Sc. Burghs 68:
The two general characteristics of royal burghs, that they should each possess a monopoly of merchandise within a given area, and should be the only centres of foreign trade.Sc. 1957 Early Rec. Burgh Abd. (S.H.S.) cxlv.:
In March 1534, however, the commissioners of the burghs of Edinburgh, Dundee, Perth, St Andrews and Stirling, meeting in Edinburgh, decided that all burghs should send commissioners to Edinburgh, to meet on the 26th July following, to treat on matters relating to the common weal of the burghs, and this was one of several attempts to revive a common gathering for common action which eventually led to the formation of the Convention of Royal Burghs.Sc. 1958 Intro. Sc. Legal Hist. (Stair Soc.) 384:
Differentiation between types of burghs dates from the 15th century. For the first time, apparently, in any Scottish document, Rothesay was designated a “royal burgh” (burgus regalis) in 1401, and the term came into general use only in the 16th century.5. Sc. 1704 J. B. Paul Hist. Royal Co. Archers (1875) 43:
The signature under her Majesty's hand in favors of the Royal Company of Archers.Sc. 1726 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 105:
A Poem on the Royal Company of Archers.Sc. 1816 H. Arnot Hist. Edb. 274:
The uniform of the royal company of archers is tartan, lined with white, trimmed with green and white ribbons; a white sash, with green tassels; and a blue bonnet, with a St Andrew's cross.Sc. 1966 Scotsman (20 July):
Members of the Queen's Body Guard for Scotland (Royal Company of Archers) completed a series of shoots in the garden of the Palaee of Holyroodhouse.6. Edb. 1906 W. Roughead Deacon Brodie (1921) 9:
Throughout the length of the Royal mile extending from Holyrood to the Castle Hill.