The study examines the most active officers of state and privy councillors, exclusive of earls, who constituted James VI's Scottish governments between 1580 and 1603. Using prevailing but sometimes conflicting ideas that James VI's servitors were a class of 'new men' or 'noblesse de robe' who transformed traditional government and administration in Scotland, this work is a systematic comparison of these men in respect of their social, cultural and economic environments and backgrounds. They are also compared and contrasted in terms of how James VI both employed and rewarded their services to the crown. Based on this survey, James VI's most active servitors are shown to be noblemen entitled to participate in Scottish political life by virtue of their social rank. This suggests that prevailing concepts of 'new men' or a 'noblesse de robe' are not wholly appropriate terms to describe James VI's administrators. Fundamental to this study is how James VI selected, directed and used the skills of his servitors, concentrating on whether his practices in using political servitors conform to the ideas he expressed in Basilikon Doron. Based on this survey, James VI was far more traditional in selecting and employing his servitors than historians have tended to understand. Both their promotion into political circles, and their function once there, remained very traditional. The patronage system also continued to operate along very conservative and traditional lines during this period. Only rarely, in respect of the exchequer and the foreign service, did James VI venture into the creation of truly new administrative roles for his servitors. This study suggests that what makes the reign of James VI truly new and modern is neither the personnel of his administrations, nor necessarily their administrative services. Quite the contrary, James VI was particularly conservative and traditional in selecting and using his servitors. Far more fundamentally, it is King James's own ideas about the political polity of his commonwealth that is new.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 1988. / Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Department of Scottish History, University of Glasgow, 1988. Print version also available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 1987. / Title from web page (viewed on Mar. 4, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 24, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

"This study ... was accepted by the University of Edinburgh as a thesis for the degree of doctor of letters." / Bibliography: p. [282]-307.

The last several years have seen an increased interest in self-represented litigants in the civil courts, known in Scotland as “party litigants.” Following legal aid reforms in England and Wales, the number of self-representing litigants in that jurisdiction has risen significantly, and many believe that the number of party litigants in Scotland is increasing as well. Views on self-representing litigants can be divisive: some are deeply concerned for their access to justice in a system of courts primarily designed for lawyers, while others view them as a nuisance causing unnecessary delay and expense. On both sides of this spectrum, indications of an increase in the number of party litigants in the courts is cause for concern. However, although an entire chapter of the report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review was devoted to party litigants, there has been a lack of research and little is known about self-representation in Scotland. This thesis makes an original contribution to the knowledge in this area by offering a survey of Scots law as it relates to the party litigant and an insight into how the law functions in practice. Traditional legal research was conducted to establish what the law and rules of court say (and do not say) to assist or regulate party litigants in the civil court process, as well as how judges exercise their discretion in relation to party litigants. Empirical research was also carried out in the form of interviews with judges, solicitors and court staff, as well as court observation, and the thesis considers how the law and rules are applied in practice and both how the civil court process challenges party litigants and how party litigants can disrupt the typical operation of the process. Other aspects of self-representation, including the role of the judge and the adversarial nature of the process, along with the potential impact of self-representation on represented parties involved in cases with party litigants, are also discussed. Finally, a number of conclusions are offered as to the present state of self-representation in the civil courts and the relationship between the law in principle and the law in practice.

No description available.

The distribution, abundance, growth, length-weight relationships and reproductive ecology of whiting, Norway pout and poor-cod populations were studied in inshore and offshore areas around Oban from November 1974 to March 1977. Planktonic stages and mature adults were found only at offshore sites, the inshore areas being nursery grounds for all three species. Immigration occurred between June and December of the O-group when the fish were nektonic, with part of the population pelagiC and part demersal. In whiting the young fish aggregated for a short period inshore, but in other species abundance was always greater offshore. Norway pout and poor-cod remained on the nursery. grounds for between one and two years, whereas few whiting remained longer than one year. In all species shallower sampling sites were vacated more rapidly than deeper ones. The migration of fish offshore is considered in relation to growth, diet and maturation. The ecological significance and management implications of the migrations are discussed. The rate of growth in length and weight varied seasonally, being more rapid in summer and autumn in all species. Differences were found between localities in rate of growth and are thought to be due to a preference by older fish for deeper water. Only the poor-cod spawned in the study area, at Tiree Passage and on the south-west coast of Null. Spawning occurred between January and May, with a peak in April. Females matured at a mean.length of 15.6 cm in the 2-group with only a small proportion of 1-group fish maturing. In males the average age of first maturity was lower (14.0 - 14.6 cm) and a greater proportion of 1-group fish matured, which compensated for a slightly lower survival rate in older fish and equalised the sex-ratio of the spawning popUlation. The success of reproduction was highly dependent on a single year-class, since 83.3% of reproducing females belonged to the 2-group. Although ripe and spent whiting and Norway pout were caught at offshore sites no spawning fish were encountered. The possibility of a spawning migration out of the area and the locality of spawning is discussed for each species. Length-weight relationships were calculated for each species and significant differences were found between males and females in all cases. Seasonal variations in condition were studied by calculation of condition factors and by analysis of monthly length-weight relationships.

Until quite recently it has been argued that the Scottish Reformation of 1560 removed the trappings of Catholicism from the kirk, but retained the old machinery of ecclesiastical government. Since the 1970s, however, this notion has been placed under increasing pressure by an alternative interpretation which suggests the Reformation rejected episcopal government in favour of a conciliar form of kirk polity. This study, by adopting as its basis the more recent interpretation of the Reformation noted above, proposes the view that the genesis of the presbyterian polity of c. 1580 lies in the thought and intent of the reformers of 1560. The prevalent historiographical view that the hybrid polity of 'bishop-in-presbytery (established in 1610) represented a popular restoration - rather than a stoutly resisted introduction - of an erastian episcopate is therefore challenged. In particular, resistance to the new regime emanated from the lairds, merchants and professional classes of Scottish society, and thus the role of this 'middling group in supporting presbyterianism features prominently in this work. The role of women in the events of the period is likewise discussed, as historiography (in Scotland at least) has neglected their important contribution to the maintenance of resistance during these key years. The thought and actions of two prominent Scottish presbyterian exiles - Alexander Leighton and Robert Durie - worried the king on his English doorstep, and the contribution which these two men made to covenanting thought and resistance, particularly in the 1620s and 1630s, is also examined. Archibald Johnston of Wariston played a major role in the revolution of 1637, and the motivations which led him to become the architect of revolution in 1637 are examined. The overall theme of the thesis is one of continuity of thought and resistance, and thus the thesis looks finally in detail at the nature and process of presbyterian protest and petition from c. 1580 to 1637.