The Lavves and Actes of Parliament, maid be King Iames the First
In this final post by former students of the Mary Queen of Scots module, Fergus reflects on a composite edition of the Acts of the Scottish Parliament.
Prior to the advent of the internet, keeping the public abreast of updated statute was a far greater labour. Though the website www.parliament.scot/bills–and–laws might not have existed in those days, this task was still of vital importance. Resultantly, in 1597, James VI commissioned his secretary, the judge and legal historian, John Skene, to update and compile the Lavves and Actes of Parliament, as part of a multifaceted agenda to facilitate both the smooth running of the Scottish justice system and the bolstering of the king’s royal authority following years of religious dissent. That such a work was to be produced exclusively by the royal printer, Robert Waldegrave, illustrates that the codex was intended as a powerful propaganda tool.
However, that the updated acts were of equal importance to those that purchased them is revealed upon examination of a copy of the Lavves and Actes –– held within University Collections ––whose owner bound it to last. Bound using marbled calf, this book was designed to be used extensively in the day-to-day application of the law.
This was with good foresight as the owner would go on to bind their 1597 copy with James’s successive acts of parliament, passed between 1600 and 1621. This exposes a greater problem within Scotland’s public institutions. Indeed, historians have argued that contemporary legal scholars found accessing legal works of reference particularly difficult in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Thus, to compensate for such deficiencies, this owner bound these items together to create their own ‘D.I.Y’ textbook of Scots Law and updated it accordingly.
Although James may have envisioned this tome as a symbol both of his royal authority and the cultural autonomy of Scotland, as the decoration surrounding his Royal Arms reveals, this was not to be the case in practice.
Indeed, selective damage to The Lavves and Actes shows that contemporaries were less concerned with the king’s propaganda than assessing the legal implications of their own misdemeanours. For example, in the ‘De Verborum’, which was a glossary of terms, a yellow stain – perhaps a thumb print – on the reverse page listing ‘BASTARDVS’ [bastards] may suggest that extra-marital affairs was one such topic frequently consulted.
This would also explain the extensive red wine stains which proliferate the page containing the description ‘FIDELITIE’. The reader would be disappointed to find, however, that the entry outlined only how to give homage rather than how to respect one’s spouse.
Overall, The Lavves and Actes reveals that for the reigning monarch, the publication of the law represented a propagandistic tool. However, the well-thumbed sections of the ‘De Verborum’ convey that for most readers, the law was far more practical. It was for this reason that the codex was of great usefulness to its owners. This is revealed by the presence of scribbled sums on the reverse leaf of the title page. Rather than a direct challenge to James’s authority, this merely shows that the statutes were always kept close to hand.
Fergus Black
Bibliography
Primary Sources
The actis and constitutiounis of the realme of Scotland : maid in Parliamentis haldin be the rycht excellent, hie and mychtie princeis Kingis Iames the First, Secund, Thrid, Feird, Fyft, and in tyme of Marie now Quene of Scottis, viseit, correctit, and extractit furth of the registers be the Lordis depute be hir Maiesteis speciall commissioun thairto : Anno Do. 1566. (Edinburgh, 1566).
The laves and actes of Parliament, maid be King Iames the First, and his successors kings of Scotland: visied, collected and extracted furth of the register: the contentes of this buik, are expremed in the leafe following. Imprint at Edinbvrgh: Imprented be Robert VValde-graue prenter to the Kinges Majestie, 15 Martii. anno Dom. 1597, Copy in St Andrews, University of St Andrews Library, University Collections, TypBE.B97WJ.
Secondary Sources:
Baker, J.H., ‘English law books and legal publishing’, in Barnard, John (ed.) The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain (Cambridge, 2008), pp.474-503.
Foot, Mirjam., ‘Bookbinding’, in Barnard, John (ed.) The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain (Cambridge, 2008), pp.620-631.
Goodare, Julian. The Government of Scotland 1560-1625 (Oxford, 2004).
Goodare, Julian., ‘The Scottish Parliamentary Records, 1560-1603’, Historical Research, 72, (1999), pp.244-267.
MacDonald, Alan R., ‘James VI and the general assembly, 1586-1618’, in Goodare, Julian and Lynch, Michael (eds.) The Reign of James VI (East Linton, 2000), pp.170-186.
McNeill, Peter., ‘ “Our Religion, established neither by Law nor Parliament”: was the Reformation legislation of 1560 valid?’, Scottish Church History Society, 35, (2005), pp.68-89.