Privy Council of Scotland
Encyclopedia
The Privy Council of Scotland
was a body that advised the King.
In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland
. The council supervised the administration of the law, regulated trade and shipping, took emergency measures against the plague, granted licences to travel, administered oaths of allegiance, banished beggars and Gypsies, dealt with witches, recusants, Covenanter
s and Jacobites
and tackled the problem of lawlessness
in the Highlands
and the Borders.
Like the Parliament, the Council was a development of the King's Council
. The King's Council, or curia regis, was the court of the monarch surrounded by his royal officers and others upon whom he relied for advice. It is known to have existed in the thirteenth century, if not earlier, but has left little trace of its activities.
By the later fifteenth century the council had advisory, executive and judicial functions though surviving records are mainly confined to the last. It is at this period that the 'secret' or privy council makes its formal appearance when, in February 1490, parliament elected 2 bishops, an abbot or prior, 6 barons and 8 royal officers to form the king's council for the ostensioun and forthputting of the King's authorite in the administracioun of justice.
The Lords of Secret Council, as they were known, were part of the general body of Lords of Council, like the Lords of Session and Lords Auditors of Exchequer. After 1532 much of the judicial business was transferred to the newly founded College of Justice, the later Court of Session
. The council met regularly and was particularly active during periods of a monarch's minority. A separate register of the privy council appears in 1545 and probably marks the point at which the secret council split off from its parent body.
After 1603 James VI
was able to boast to the English Parliament that he governed Scotland with my pen. The council received his written instructions and executed his will. This style of government, continued by his grandsons Charles II
and James VII
, was disrupted during the reign of Charles I, the Covenanters and the Cromwellian occupation. There are gaps in the register during the upheavals of 1638–41
when the council was largely displaced by an alternative administration set up by the Covenanter
s and during the Cromwellian
period, the council ceased to act at all.
After the restoration of the monarchy
in 1660, Charles II nominated his own privy councillors and set up a council in London through which he directed affairs in Edinburgh, a situation that continued after the Glorious Revolution
of 1688–9. The council survived the Act of Union but for one year only. It was abolished on 1 May 1708.
Until 1707, The Privy Council met in what is now the West Drawing Room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. It was called the Council Chamber in the 17th century.
The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland (1545–1689) was edited and published between 1877 and 1970 by John Hill Burton
, David Masson
, Peter Hume Brown
and Henry Macleod Paton.
in Scotland. The Lord Chancellor
presided over the Council ex officio, but in 1610 James VI decreed that the President of the College of Justice should preside in the Chancellor's absence, and by 1619 the additional title of President of the Privy Council had been added. The two presidencies were separated in 1626 as part of Charles I
's reoganisation of the Privy Council and Court of Session. The Lord President of the Council was accorded precedence as one of the King's chief officers in 1661, but appeared in Parliament only intermittently.
office abolished
Other links
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
was a body that advised the King.
In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The council supervised the administration of the law, regulated trade and shipping, took emergency measures against the plague, granted licences to travel, administered oaths of allegiance, banished beggars and Gypsies, dealt with witches, recusants, Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
s and Jacobites
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
and tackled the problem of lawlessness
Antinomianism
Antinomianism is defined as holding that, under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation....
in the Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
and the Borders.
Like the Parliament, the Council was a development of the King's Council
Curia Regis
Curia regis is a Latin term meaning "royal council" or "king's court."- England :The Curia Regis, in the Kingdom of England, was a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics that advised the king of England on legislative matters...
. The King's Council, or curia regis, was the court of the monarch surrounded by his royal officers and others upon whom he relied for advice. It is known to have existed in the thirteenth century, if not earlier, but has left little trace of its activities.
By the later fifteenth century the council had advisory, executive and judicial functions though surviving records are mainly confined to the last. It is at this period that the 'secret' or privy council makes its formal appearance when, in February 1490, parliament elected 2 bishops, an abbot or prior, 6 barons and 8 royal officers to form the king's council for the ostensioun and forthputting of the King's authorite in the administracioun of justice.
The Lords of Secret Council, as they were known, were part of the general body of Lords of Council, like the Lords of Session and Lords Auditors of Exchequer. After 1532 much of the judicial business was transferred to the newly founded College of Justice, the later Court of Session
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....
. The council met regularly and was particularly active during periods of a monarch's minority. A separate register of the privy council appears in 1545 and probably marks the point at which the secret council split off from its parent body.
After 1603 James VI
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
was able to boast to the English Parliament that he governed Scotland with my pen. The council received his written instructions and executed his will. This style of government, continued by his grandsons Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and James VII
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, was disrupted during the reign of Charles I, the Covenanters and the Cromwellian occupation. There are gaps in the register during the upheavals of 1638–41
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch...
when the council was largely displaced by an alternative administration set up by the Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
s and during the Cromwellian
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
period, the council ceased to act at all.
After the restoration of the monarchy
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
in 1660, Charles II nominated his own privy councillors and set up a council in London through which he directed affairs in Edinburgh, a situation that continued after the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688–9. The council survived the Act of Union but for one year only. It was abolished on 1 May 1708.
Until 1707, The Privy Council met in what is now the West Drawing Room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. It was called the Council Chamber in the 17th century.
The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland (1545–1689) was edited and published between 1877 and 1970 by John Hill Burton
John Hill Burton
John Hill Burton FRSE was a Scottish advocate, historian and economist. The author of "Life and Correspondence of David Hume", he was secretary of the Scottish Prison Board , and Historiographer Royal ....
, David Masson
David Masson
David Masson , was a Scottish writer.He was born in Aberdeen, and educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and at Marischal College, University of Aberdeen. Intending to enter the Church, he proceeded to Edinburgh University, where he studied theology under Dr Thomas Chalmers, with whom he remained...
, Peter Hume Brown
Peter Hume Brown
Peter Hume Brown was a Scottish historian and professor who played an important part in establishing Scottish history as a significant academic discipline...
and Henry Macleod Paton.
Lord President of the Privy Council
The President of the Privy Council was one of the Great Officers of StateGreat Officer of State
In the United Kingdom, the Great Officers of State are traditional Crown ministers, who either inherit their positions or are appointed to exercise certain largely ceremonial functions. Separate Great Officers exist for England and Scotland, and formerly for Ireland...
in Scotland. The Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a Great Officer of State in pre-Union Scotland.Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower status with the title of Keeper of the Great Seal...
presided over the Council ex officio, but in 1610 James VI decreed that the President of the College of Justice should preside in the Chancellor's absence, and by 1619 the additional title of President of the Privy Council had been added. The two presidencies were separated in 1626 as part of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
's reoganisation of the Privy Council and Court of Session. The Lord President of the Council was accorded precedence as one of the King's chief officers in 1661, but appeared in Parliament only intermittently.
- 1625 John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose
- 1649 John Campbell, 1st Earl of LoudounJohn Campbell, 1st Earl of LoudounJohn Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun was a Scottish politician. He was the eldest son of James Campbell of LawersJohn Campbell married Margaret, the daughter of George Campbell around 1620. Margaret was heir to her grandfather Hugh Campbell, first Lord Loudoun, who resigned his peerage in John's...
- 1660 John Leslie, 1st Duke of RothesJohn Leslie, 1st Duke of RothesJohn Leslie , son of John Leslie, 6th Earl of Rothes, was the 7th Earl of Rothes and 1st Duke of Rothes. He was a descendant of Princess Beatrix, sister of King Malcolm III of Scotland...
- 1663 John Hay, 2nd Earl of Tweeddale
- 1672 John Maitland, 1st Duke of LauderdaleJohn Maitland, 1st Duke of LauderdaleSir John Maitland, 1st Duke and 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, 3rd Lord Thirlestane KG PC , was a Scottish politician, and leader within the Cabal Ministry.-Background:...
- 1681 Sir George Gordon of HaddoGeorge Gordon, 1st Earl of AberdeenGeorge Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen , Lord Chancellor of Scotland, was the second son of Sir John Gordon, 1st Baronet, of Haddo, Aberdeenshire, ; by his wife, Mary Forbes.-Education:...
, later Earl of Aberdeen - 1682 James Graham, 3rd Marquess of Montrose
- 1686 William Douglas, 1st Duke of QueensberryWilliam Douglas, 1st Duke of QueensberryWilliam Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry PC also 3rd Earl of Queensberry and 1st Marquess of Queensberry was a Scottish politician....
(questioned) - 1689 William Lindsay, 18th Earl of Crawford
- 1692 William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of AnnandaleWilliam Johnstone, 1st Marquess of AnnandaleWilliam Johnstone, 2nd Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, 1st Marquess of Annandale KT was a Scottish nobleman. He was the son of James Johnstone, 1st Earl of Hartfell and Henrietta Douglas...
- 1695 George Melville, 1st Earl of MelvilleGeorge Melville, 1st Earl of MelvilleGeorge Melville, 1st Earl of Melville was a Scots aristocrat and statesman during the reigns of William and Mary.In 1643, he succeeded his father as Lord Melville.-Career:...
- 1702 William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of AnnandaleWilliam Johnstone, 1st Marquess of AnnandaleWilliam Johnstone, 2nd Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, 1st Marquess of Annandale KT was a Scottish nobleman. He was the son of James Johnstone, 1st Earl of Hartfell and Henrietta Douglas...
- 1704 James Graham, 1st Duke of MontroseJames Graham, 1st Duke of MontroseJames Graham, 1st Duke and 4th Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish aristocratic statesman in the early eighteenth century....
- 1705 William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of AnnandaleWilliam Johnstone, 1st Marquess of AnnandaleWilliam Johnstone, 2nd Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, 1st Marquess of Annandale KT was a Scottish nobleman. He was the son of James Johnstone, 1st Earl of Hartfell and Henrietta Douglas...
- 1706 James Graham, 1st Duke of MontroseJames Graham, 1st Duke of MontroseJames Graham, 1st Duke and 4th Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish aristocratic statesman in the early eighteenth century....
office abolished
External links
The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland (edited and abridged) – 2nd Series (incomplete)Other links