Scot and lot is a phrase common in the records of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
and
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
medieval
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
s, referring to local rights and obligations.
The term ''scot'' comes from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
word ''
sceat
A ( ; ang, sceatt , ) was a small, thick silver coin minted in England, Frisia, and Jutland during the Anglo-Saxon period that normally weighed 0.8–1.3 grams.
History
Its name derives from Old English ', meaning "wealth", "money", and "coi ...
'', an ordinary coin in
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
times, equivalent to the later
penny
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...
. In Anglo-Saxon times, a payment was levied locally to cover the cost of establishing drainage, and embankments, of low-lying land, and observing them to ensure they remain secure. This payment was typically a sceat, so the levy itself gradually came to be called ''sceat''. In
burgh
A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...
s, ''sceat'' was levied to cover maintenance of the town walls and defences.
In
Norman times
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
, under the influence of the word ''escot'', in
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...
, the vowel changed, and the term became ''scot''. In 19th century
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
and
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
, low-lying farmland was still being called scot-land. ''Scot'', though, gradually became a general term for local levies; a person who was not liable for the levy, but received its benefits, ''got off '
scot-free'.''
''Lot'' means ''portion''/''share'', hence ''
lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...
'', ''
land lot
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property (meaning practically the same thing) in ...
'' and ''
allotment''. The phrase ''scot and lot'' thus meant the local levies someone paid, and the share they received of local provisions; more generally, it meant ''rights and obligations'', in respect of local government.
In the medieval
Lordship of Ireland
The Lordship of Ireland ( ga, Tiarnas na hÉireann), sometimes referred to retroactively as Norman Ireland, was the part of Ireland ruled by the King of England (styled as "Lord of Ireland") and controlled by loyal Anglo-Norman lords between ...
, Frenchmen were required to pay scot and lot. Scot and lot is also mentioned in a statute of the city of
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
: no man could enjoy the liberties of the city unless he was resident there, and paid scot and lot.
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
had evolved from the king's
baronial court, with the
commons
The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...
being populated by representatives of the landholders who were too minor to call in person. Burghs were somewhat outside the
feudal system
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
, making their
franchise
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
ambiguous. Before the mid 19th century, burghs varied in their choice of franchise. In some burghs, the franchise was set at ''scot and lot''; that is, people were only permitted to vote if they were liable for the local levies.
In mediaeval times, this could mean dozens of people, and by the 19th century tens of thousands of people could qualify in a single ''scot and lot'' burgh. In
Gatton, however, only two people qualified under ''scot and lot''; since burghs received 2 MPs, this meant that each MP for Gatton represented exactly 1 voter.
The quirks of the existing system, such as Gatton, was one of the reasons for the
1832 Great Reform Act. There were two scot and lot boroughs in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
:
Flint Boroughs (1727–1832) and
Haverfordwest
Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...
.
A
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...
term, ''skat'', exists in the
udal law
Udal law is a Norse-derived legal system, found in Shetland and Orkney in Scotland, and in Manx law in the Isle of Man. It is closely related to Odelsrett; both terms are from Proto-Germanic *''Ōþalan'', meaning "heritage; inheritance".
Hi ...
of
Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
and
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
.
References
Sources
*
Danby Palmer Fry
Danby Palmer Fry (1818–1903) was an English official and barrister, known as a legal writer.
Life
Born in Great Ormond Street, London, on 1 December 1818, he was second son in the family of four sons and four daughters of Alfred Augustus Fry, an ...
, 'On the Phrase Scot and Lot', in ''Trans. Philological Society'' (1867), pp. 167–197;
*C. Gross, ''Gild Merchant'', i. c. iv.
*Pollock and Maitland, ''Hist. Eng. Law'', p. 647.
{{Taxation in medieval England
English legal terminology
Local taxation in England
Government of England
Feudal duties
Taxation in medieval England
Property taxes
Feudalism in England