Lord Lyon King of Arms
Encyclopedia : L : LO : LOR : Lord Lyon King of Arms
|
Law of Scotland This article is part of the series: Courts of Scotland |
|
Scottish Court Service College of Justice |
| Civil courts |
| Criminal courts |
| Special courts |
| Criminal justice |
| Advocates and solicitors |
The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the oldest Heraldic court in the world that is still in daily operation. The post was formerly held by an important nobleman, whose functions were in practice carried out by his assistant, the Lyon-Depute. The practice of appointing Lyon-Deputes, however, ceased in 1866.
The Lord Lyon is responsible for overseeing state ceremonial in Scotland, for the granting of new arms to persons or organisations, and for confirming given pedigrees and claims to existing arms.
As a government department, fees paid for granting coats of arms are paid to the Treasury. The misuse of arms is a criminal offence in Scotland, and treated as tax evasion. Prosecutions are brought before Lyon Court, Lord Lyon being the sole judge. Appeals can be made to the Court of Session in Edinburgh, and ultimately to the House of Lords in London, following standard legal practice. There is no appeal if the Lord Lyon refuses to grant a coat of arms, as this is not a judicial function, but an exercise of the Royal Prerogative.
The Lord Lyon has several English equivalents.
- Being responsible for Scottish state ceremonies he parallels the Earl Marshal in England.
- Lord Lyon is Scotland's only "King of Arms", or a high heraldic officer. England has three: the Garter Principal, the Clarenceaux (responsible for southern England), and the Norroy and Ulster (responsible for northern England and Northern Ireland). Unlike the English Kings of Arms, he does not need permission from the Earl Marshal.
- The Court of the Lord Lyon is the heraldic authority for Scotland, much as the College of Arms is responsible for granting arms in England
List of Office Holders
(incomplete)
- Alexander Nairne (1437- 1450)
- Duncan Dundas (1450-1490)
- Henry Thomson (1504-1512)
- Sir William Cumyng (1512-1530)
- Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount (1530 - 1535)
- Sir Robert Forman (1535 - 1567)
- Sir William Stewart (1567 - 1568)
- Sir David Lindsay of Rathillet (1568 - 1591)
- Sir David Lindsay of the Mount (1591 - 1621)
- Sir Jerome Lindsay (1621 - 1630)
- Sir James Balfour (1630 - 1658)
- Sir James Campbell (1658 - 1660)
- Gilbert Stewart (1660)
- Sir Alexander Dundas (1660 - 1663)
- Sir Charles Erskine, Bt (1663 - 1677)
- Sir Alexander Erskine (1677 - 1726)
- Alexander Badie (1727 - 1754)
- John Hooke-Campbell (1754 - 1796)
- Robert Hay-Drummond (1796 - 1804)
- Thomas Hay-Drummond (1804 - 1866)
- George Burnett (1866-90)
- Sir James Balfour Paul (1890 - 1927)
- Captain George Sitwell Campbell Swinton (1927 - 1929)
- Sir Francis James Grant (1929 - 1945)
- Sir Thomas Innes of Learney (1945 - 1969)
- Sir James Monteith Grant (1969 - 1981)
- Sir Malcolm Innes of Edingight (1981 - 2001)
- Robin Orr Blair (2001 - )
External links
- [Official Website of the Court of the Lord Lyon]
- [The Heraldry Society of Scotland’s pages on the Lord Lyon]
- [The Scottish Court Service’s page on the Lord Lyon]
| Court of the Lord Lyon |
|
|---|---|
| King of Arms: Lord Lyon | |
| Heralds of Arms: Albany | Islay | Marchmont | Rothesay | Ross | Snowdoun | |
| Pursuivants of Arms: Bute | Carrick | Dingwall | Kintyre | Ormond | Unicorn | |
| Officers of Arms Extraordinary: Falkland | Linlithgow | March | Orkney | |
| Other Officers: Procurator Fiscal | Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records | Herald Painter |
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.