Ragman Rolls are the collection of instruments by which the nobility and gentry of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

subscribed allegiance to

King Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

, during the time between the Conference of Norham in May 1291 and the final award in favour of Balliol in November 1292; and again in 1296. Of the former of these records two copies were preserved in the Chapter House at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

(now in the

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at Kew), and it has been printed by

Thomas Rymer Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 14 December 1713) was an English poet, critic, antiquary and historian. His lasting contribution was to compile and publish 16 volumes of the first edition of ''Foedera'', a work in 20 volumes conveying agreements betwe ...

. Another copy, preserved originally in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

, is now also in the National Archives. The latter record, containing the various acts of homage and fealty extorted by Edward from

John Balliol John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...

and others in the course of his progress through Scotland in the summer of 1296 and in August at the parliament of Berwick, was published by Prynne from the copy in the Tower and now in the National Archives. Both records were printed by the

Bannatyne Club The Bannatyne Club, named in honour of George Bannatyne and his famous anthology of Scots literature the Bannatyne Manuscript, was a text publication society founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history ...

in 1834. The derivation of the word ''ragman'' is described in several mixed and conflicting accounts. Various guesses as to its meaning and a list of examples of its use for legal instruments both in England and Scotland can be found in the preface to the Bannatyne Club's volume, and in Jamiesons Scottish Dictionary, s.v. Ragman. Brewer's ''Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' defines "Ragman Roll" as follows: ::''originally meant the “Statute of Rageman” (De Ragemannis), a legate of Scotland, who compelled all the clergy to give a true account of their benefices, that they might be taxed at Rome accordingly. Subsequently it was applied to the four great rolls of parchment recording the acts of fealty and homage done by the Scotch nobility to Edward I. in 1296; these four rolls consisted of thirty-five pieces sewn together. The originals perished, but a record of them is preserved in the Rolls House, Chancery Lane.'' The name ''ragman roll'' survives in the colloquial ''rigmarole'', a rambling, incoherent statement.

Merriam Webster Merriam-Webster, Inc. is an American company that publishes reference books and is especially known for its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States. In 1831, George and Charles Merriam founded the company as G ...

gives a very different account of the origin of ''rigmarole'', suggesting the source to be a medieval game of verse called a ''Ragman Roll,'' after a fictional king purported to be the author of the verses. The name of Ragman has been sometimes confined to the record of 1296. There is an account of this given in Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland preserved in the Public Record Office,

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.(1884), vol. ii., Introd., p. xxiv; and as to the seals see p. lii and appendix.

References

External links

1834 transcription of the Ragman Rolls
by the

. *{{1911, wstitle=Ragman Rolls, volume=22, page=815 1290s in Scotland Wars of Scottish Independence