writs with which many forms of process before the medieval courts were commenced were also in Latin as were the earliest records of the courts themselves The assizes statutes and othe legislative acts of the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries have all come down to us in Latin although it needs to be borne in mind that the surviving manuscripts in which they are recorded are all of significantly later date than the material itself and may not therefore reflect absolutely faithfully the original texts. and finally by and large the treatises and other writings of the medieval common law were composed in Latin as well On the face of it, the Latinity of the Scots common law began to be eroded only in the later fourteenth century. It is at this point that we begin to find formal documents in Scots as well as Latin. The Scots of such documents was ' closely modelled upon the Latin forms which had been current for three hundred years and more; thus, for example, Till al that thir present lettres seis or herys'is the Scots of Universis hac presentes literas visuris vel audituris 23 The sciatis or noveritis with which many formal Latin documents open became ' Be it kenned in Scots ones Latinisms can also be observed in Scots word order-verbs at the end of sentences, adjectives following nouns-and in the use of plural forms of adjectives and pronouns. 4 The Latin treatises of the law Regiam Majestatem, Quoniam Attachiamenta, Leges burgorum, Leges Forestarum and Statuta Gilde -began to be translated into Scots around this time. 2) Some of the vernacular technical terms that become apparent from these translations were evidently derived from the Latin: brieve'or brief for writ is from breve, while spuilzie' seems to come ultimately from the canonist actio spolii. Court and other records were certainly being kept in Scots rather than Latin by the fifteenth century, although the latter was retained for some processes, most notably those involving the use of royal brieves But it is not simply the case that Latin material and material which had formerly been kept in Latin was now presented in Scots instead. The language of legislation shifted also, and evidently this was not simply a matter of translating existing texts or well-known formulae. Thus in 1397 and 1399 legislation of the council general was recorded in Scots, 2 although it was to be another twenty-five years before parliamentary acts ceased to be laid down in Latin. 28 The use of Scots in 1397 was'probably to ensure accurate proclamation and wide understanding, 29an important point to which I shall return R.J. Lyall,"Vernacular Prose before the Reformation, in The History of Scottish Literature: Origins to 1660,edRDS. Jack(Aberdeen, 1988), p. 164 G.G. Simpson, Scottish Handwriting 1150-1650, rev. edn. (Aberdeen, 1986), p. 41 For references see H L MacQueen, Common Law and Feudal Society in Medieval Scotland(Edinburgh 1993), pp. 93-4 and relevant notes Sheriff Court Book of Fife, ed. w.C. Dickinson(Scottish History Society, Edinburgh, 1929); Court Book of le Baronyof Carnwath, ed W.C. Dickinson(Scottish History Society, Edinburgh, 1937) Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland (APS), ed T. Thomson and C. Innes(Edinburgh, 1844-1875),1, pp 570,572 See APs,, passim shif ole A. Grant, Independence and Nationhood: Scotland 1306-1469(London, 1984),p 103. See also on this gislative language, W.D. H. Sellar, "Courtesy, Battle and the Brieve of Right 1368-A Story Continued Miscellany ll(Stair Society, Edinburgh, 1984), p 9writs with which many forms of process before the medieval courts were commenced were also in Latin, as were the earliest records of the courts themselves. The assizes, statutes and other legislative acts of the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries have all come down to us in Latin, although it needs to be borne in mind that the surviving manuscripts in which they are recorded are all of significantly later date than the material itself and may not therefore reflect absolutely faithfully the original texts. And finally, by and large the treatises and other writings of the medieval common law were composed in Latin as well. On the face of it, the Latinity of the Scots common law began to be eroded only in the later fourteenth century. It is at this point that we begin to find formal documents in Scots as well as Latin. The Scots of such documents was ‘closely modelled upon the Latin forms which had been current for three hundred years and more’; thus, for example, ‘Till al that thir present lettres seis or herys’ is the Scots of Universis hac presentes literas visuris vel audituris. 23 The sciatis or noveritis with which many formal Latin documents open became ‘Be it kenned’ in Scots ones. Latinisms can also be observed in Scots word order - verbs at the end of sentences, adjectives following nouns - and in the use of plural forms of adjectives and pronouns.24 The Latin treatises of the law - Regiam Majestatem, Quoniam Attachiamenta, Leges Burgorum, Leges Forestarum and Statuta Gilde - began to be translated into Scots around this time.25 Some of the vernacular technical terms that become apparent from these translations were evidently derived from the Latin: ‘brieve’ or ‘brief’ for writ is from breve, while ‘spuilzie’ seems to come ultimately from the canonist actio spolii. Court and other records were certainly being kept in Scots rather than Latin by the fifteenth century, although the latter was retained for some processes, most notably those involving the use of royal brieves.26 But it is not simply the case that Latin material and material which had formerly been kept in Latin was now presented in Scots instead. The language of legislation shifted also, and evidently this was not simply a matter of translating existing texts or well-known formulae. Thus in 1397 and 1399 legislation of the council general was recorded in Scots,27 although it was to be another twenty-five years before parliamentary acts ceased to be laid down in Latin.28 The use of Scots in 1397 was ‘probably to ensure accurate proclamation and wide understanding’,29 an important point to which I shall return. 23 R.J. Lyall, ‘Vernacular Prose before the Reformation’, in The History of Scottish Literature: Origins to 1660, ed. R.D.S. Jack (Aberdeen, 1988), p. 164. 24 G.G. Simpson, Scottish Handwriting 1150-1650, rev. edn. (Aberdeen, 1986), p. 41. 25 For references see H.L. MacQueen, Common Law and Feudal Society in Medieval Scotland (Edinburgh, 1993), pp. 93-4 and relevant notes. 26 Sheriff Court Book of Fife, ed. W.C. Dickinson (Scottish History Society, Edinburgh, 1929); Court Book of the Barony of Carnwath, ed. W.C. Dickinson (Scottish History Society, Edinburgh, 1937). 27 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland (APS), ed. T. Thomson and C. Innes (Edinburgh, 1844-1875), i, pp. 570, 572. 28 See APS, ii, passim. 29 A. Grant, Independence and Nationhood: Scotland 1306-1469 (London, 1984), p. 103. See also on this shift of legislative language, W.D.H. Sellar, ‘Courtesy, Battle and the Brieve of Right 1368 - A Story Continued’, Miscellany II (Stair Society, Edinburgh, 1984), p. 9