On 28th November the Jacobite Room in Edinburgh Castle is opening its door to what – in 21st century Scotland at least – appears to be something of an anachronistic event. Dubbed ‘The Feudal Barons Dinner’, to some it conjures up comedy images of portly barbarians gorging on sturgeon, baiting peasants, molesting wenches and throwing the occasional peacock drumstick to faithful hounds waiting below.

To others, however, it is an occasion to aspire to – not as an opportune moment to behave like a medieval megalomaniac, but as a sign of status, refi nement and wealth. For a number of those attending will have paid more than expected for the price of meal, even over the odds for a banquet. That is because some are invited not by accident of noble birth, but thanks to shelling out tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of pounds for the privilege of their name being preceded by the title of Baron or Earl. Although many people accept these mercenary means of achieving such status as merely a mildly distasteful way to spend money, to others it’s an abomination which needs to be stopped.

For

One of the staunchest defenders of the ability to buy and sell Scotland’s feudal baronies and earldoms is – unsurprisingly – the person who has made a considerable profi t from trading in these archaic titles. The Brian of the operation (Brian Hamilton to be precise), is a Wokingborn former welder, who stumbled upon one such title when a mature student at Aberdeen University in the 1980s and has since acquired and sold on roughly 100 such relics.

Hamilton has hit upon a lucrative and legitimate loophole in the Scottish legal system – it is the only country where feudal Baronies and Earldoms can be bought and sold – and one that it is thought to have made him over a million last year alone. Yet it is more than the crafty cockney pensioner who has benefi ted from such transactions.

For, although Hamilton has discovered a number of unclaimed titles, he has also bought them from willing nobility down on their luck. As Sir Houston Shaw-Stewart told The Telegraph, selling a Barony was ‘one of the best things I’ve ever done; and it’s helped to keep the show on the road’ – a reference to the expenses required to maintain his family’s Renfrewshire estate.

Against

Hamilton has not been without his critics, however, and has been dubbed the ‘Raider of the Lost Titles’ as a result of his activities. One former Lord Lyon, King of Arms – the heraldic authority for Scotland who deals with all matters relating to Scottish Heraldry and Coats of Arms – dismissed these ‘paper barons’ as mere seekers of status driven on by social climbing wives. The Lord Lyon in question, Robin Blair, decided to do battle with the new generation of barons. His fi rst move was to disallow them the prestigious red chapeau on their coat of arms. This was swiftly followed up by an attempt to avoid using the new barons’ territorial designations. After a long legal battle the court fi nally ruled in favour of Lyon – as a result the likes of David Ayre, the recently promoted Baron of Kilmarnock, is only referred to as ‘Ayre’.

Perhaps one of the more scandalous incidents involving these so-called ‘paper barons’ centred around ‘Lord’ Tony Willis. It transpired that Willis, an accountant with the Metropolitan Police, purchased the Barony of Chirnside, along with two hotels and a tea room, with funds embezzled from his employers.

Conclusions

Whatever your feelings on the rights and wrongs of brokering titles it seems somewhat shortsighted to be driven into apoplexies of rage by the money-making schemes of the likes of Hamilton. After all, it should be realised that feudal barons were not necessarily the most pleasant of men, as this extract from the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle, which describes the behaviour of those profi ting from the imported Norman system of feudalism, shows: ‘For every great man built him castles and held them against the king…and when the castles were built they fi lled them with devils and wicked men... They hung [their enemies] up by the feet and smoked them with foul smoke... They put them in dungeons wherein were adders and snakes and toads.’ In comparison, the latest batch of feudal Barons seem rather more benign and rather more worthy of their titles. Although some amongst their ranks may be vainglorious social climbers, none – at least to my knowledge – have threatened their subjects with amphibious beasts.

FIELDFACTS

• Baronies used to entitle the holder to the power of ‘pit and gallows’ (ie imprisonment and death).

• Since the abolition of feudalism in 2004 the titles are no longer attached to their original lands, unlike English Lordships of the Manor. • Baronies reach, on average, in the region of £70,000, while Earldoms can reach up to £1m.

• Current titles for sale include The Lordship and Barony of Dudhope and The Barony of Caskieben.

• For more information visit www.baronytitles.com