Faculty members visit Court of the Lord Lyon

Dr Joseph Morrow, Lord Lyon King of Arms, an office dating back to the 14th Century, welcomed the guests and suggested it was important that there continued to be an interest in the area of Scots law dealing with heraldry, coats of arms and genealogy.

“It is still very much part of the law of Scotland and we have to give people access to it and implement it. It raises a lot of energy in some people,” he said.

“We need to keep raising awareness of the work of the Lyon Court and we are trying very hard to make the Court open and available to people. We need to keep it flying high and need to be proud it is part of Scots law.”

A limited number of practitioners have expertise in the Lyon Court where the vast majority of cases are uncontested, although genealogy still requires to be proved.

“My concern is that if we do not keep interest going, when people move off this area of the law, who is going to take on the contested cases?” asked Dr Morrow, who was admitted to Faculty in 2000 and became a non-practising member in 2007.

“We are probably the last jurisdiction of its type in the world. There are chivalry courts elsewhere but they do not sit. We sit regularly.”

Elizabeth Roads, Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records, a veteran of 40 years with the Court, presented a brief history of its work, and Sir Crispin Agnew QC, Rothesay Herald of Arms, gave a talk on “Presenting Petitions in the Court of the Lord Lyon”.