PAGE see ... 55 PAGE 58 37 95, 96 96 87 105 60 33 18 54 83 0. 30, see Crimes 53 Husband and Wife (xiv.) 56 and Creditor (iv.) 14; (vi.) 53 ; 73 ruptcy (xlii.) 79; Company (xviii.) 12; County Court (iv.) 97 6 ropolitan Management (i.) 21 92 see Election (xviii.) 102 Surety, see Bankruptcy (lxii.) 81 ; Bill of Exchange (ii.) 82; Principal and Surety 31, 67, 102 (xii.) 5; Practice (xvii., xix.. 106 106 Clauses Act (i.) 20; (vii.) 92; 40 93 101 100 Bankruptcy (xliv., liv.) 79, 80; 97, 101 72 66 37 See also Agreements and Con- tracts (iii.) 2 17 105 (xlvii.) 30; (xcix.) 66; (cxlvi., 101, 102 102 60 23; Husband and Wife (xiii.) 55 ... 37, 73, 107 (ii.) 61 ; Settlement (xii.) 105 33 ... see ... ... 71 ... ... ... 90 PAGE see ... (i.) PAGE Uncertainty, see Will (xxxii.) 75 Unconscionable Bargain, Agreements and Contracts (xii.) 46 Undisclosed Principal, see Prin. cipal and Agent (ii., iii.) 30, 31 Unmarried, see Will (lv.) 110 Unregistered Company, see Com. pany (xlii.) 85 Vacation, see Practice (iii.) 26 ; (lxxxii.)... 65 Vendor and Purchaser, 38, 74, 1 8 See also Warranty (i.) 40 ; Scotland (vi.) 69 xxxiv., xxxix.) 75, 76; (lvi.) ... 110 60 Vis Major, see Water (i.) 74 Voluntary Allowance to Bank. rapt, see Bankruptcy (lii.) 80 Voluntary Gift 39 See also Canada (iv.) 8; Scot. land (iii.) 33 Voluntary Settlement, see Settle. ment (viii.) 35 Voluntary Winding.up, see Com. _pany (xix., xx.) 12 ; (li.) 86 Volunteer Corps 40 Wager, see New South Wales (i.) 24 Wages, see Company (1.) 86; Masterand Servant (i.) 58; Ship 106 Wages and Disbursements, see Ship (xxxi.) 71 Waiver, see Agreements and Contracts (xi.) 3; Bill of Sale (ix.)8; Landlord and Tenant(iv.) 20 Warranty 40 Waste 40 Waste, Inclosure of, see Copyholds 52 Water 74, 108 See also Railway (i., iv.) 32 ; Scotland (iv.) 34 58 Wife's Debts, see Husband and Wife (ii.) 18; Settlement (x.) 69 Wild's Case, Rule in, see Will(xii.) 42 Will .., 40, 74, 108 See also British Honduras (i.) 83; Husband and Wife (xviii.) 91 ; Partition (iv.) 60; Power of Appointment (iii.) 61; Pro bate, 31, 67, 102 xx.) 10.12; (xxvii. xxxiv.) 51, 97, 101 Withdrawal of Appeal, see Prac. tice (cix.) 97 Withdrawal of Defence, see Practice (iv., viii.) 26 Witness, see Bankraptoy (viii.) 4; Defamation (v.) 88: Evidence 90 Woman Past Child-bearing, see Settlement (xiv.) 105 Woodlands, see Poor Law (v.) 61 Workman, see Master and Ser. vant (ii.) 58 ... ... · THE LAW MAGAZINE AND REVIEW. No. CCXLI.-AUGUST, 1881. 1.-SHERIFFS AND SHERIFF COURTS IN SCOTLAND. TH that of Sheriff.* The name is derived from shirereeve, that is, the magistrate or ruler of the shire, or part of the country sheared or cut off; and to this day a large and important part of the common law jurisdiction exercised by the Sheriff is as “ Judge Ordinary of the bounds.” In Scotland, as indeed in all countries where the Feudal system prevailed, the great landed proprietors asserted of old an almost unlimited jurisdiction in regard to crimes committed within their territories, as well as a civil jurisdiction of a less extensive character, whose duties they discharged with the aid of their vassals or freemen as jurors. In some cases the right of criminal jurisdiction was derived from royal grant, either in the form of a barony, or of a holding cum fossa et furca, that is—as it was pithily translated—"a right of pit and gallows." This latter class of grant was of frequent occurrence. In nearly all the * It is noticed, says Sheriff Barclay (Digest of the Law of Scotland. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1880), under Alexander I. (1107-24). A statute ou Alexander II. (1214-49), cap. 14, directs the attendance of Sheriffs or their deputies at the Courts of Bishops, Abbots, Barons, and Freeholders (Alexander Robertson, The Government, Constitution, and Laws of Scotland : Stevens and Haynes, 1878). were led more important old castles the tourist is shown the dismal dungeons or pits into which often the prisoners had to be lowered. The visitor to the yet inhabited castle of Cassilis, in South Ayrshire, cannot fail to observe from its northern windows the mighty “dule tree” close by on which the rough Kennedys hung more than gypsies; and the antiquarian who finds his way to the remote ruins of Edzell Castle, in Forfarshire, can see from the window of the banqueting hall the gallows-knowe, on which the victims of the Lindsays of the “proud House of Edzell' out in the evening to die. To assist the heritable proprietor in his capacity of territorial Sheriff when points of law came up, or frequently to act for him, there was his Sheriff depute. On the other hand, the Crown persistently strove to introduce its own authority. Twice in the year-on the grass and on the corn-its Justiciar held his Courts throughout the country; and a Sheriff, called for distinction the King's Sheriff, was appointed to live in the shire and look after the interests of the Crown. One part of his duty was to collect, with the assistance of his fiscal, the Crown revenues, and another to attend the local Courts as inspector, and see that justice was properly administered. It is little matter for surprise that-just as in the case of the clerk of the Justiciary Court, eventually the Lord Justice Clerk—the Sheriff's functions gradually assumed a judicial character, and, aided by the powerful and friendly backing of the Supreme Court, he drew to himself more and more authority, and so enlarged the sphere of his duties that ultimately it often became necessary for him to appoint one or more substitutes who acted for and under him. In some cases even the King's Sheriffships became hereditary in certain families. But the evil results of such a system, and, indeed, of the judicial rights of territorial magnates, were found to be so serious and so adverse to the national interests in the case |