medieval-atlas/administration/192

Transcription

Sheriffdoms The map shows those sheriffs and sheriffdoms for which there is documentary evidence before 1165, together with the approximate date of the earljest reference to them. There was a sheriff, probably connected with Roxburgh, before the accession of David I (1 12453). In ills reign and that of MaJcolrn IV (1153-65) sheriffs were establj shed at royal demesne centres in the south and east of Scotland. Their functions included the collection and distribution of revenues but there is no evidence of a sheriff court at this period. South ofthe Forth some sheriffs may be associated with royal castles and the enforcement of the obligatjon of castle-guard incumbent upon those holdjng land for knight service. The appearance of a sheriff ofLanarkorClydesdale in the reign ofMal col m IV coincides with the kjng's establishment of a group of Flemish settlers in the area. The sheriffs probably also had functions in connection with the kjng's burghs, especially north ofthe Forth at Perth, Crrul, Dunfermline and perhaps Forfar. Although thus apparently linked with other twelfth-century developments, there are signs of continuity with the established institutions of the shire and thane. South of the Forth some early sheriffs had Anglian names and were connected with shires. The sheriff ofLothian who exjsted in the reign ofDavid I may have been set over the shires ofthat province, with the emergence of sheriffs of Linlithgow, Edinburgh and possibly Haddington being perhaps later events. In the north, except at Perth and Crrul, early sheriffs had Celtic names and at Scone and Forfar local thanes may have been elevated to the statu of sheriff to compensate for the lack of comital authority in the provinces ofGowrie and Angus. Finally the absence of sheriffs from the earldoms and lordships of the north and west should be noted. • Forfar 1162 x 1164 ---J Perth • Scone J 1147 x 1153 1128 x 1136~ Clackmannan • Crail 1141 x 1150 J'v.f' 1154 x 1178 Stirling •• Dunfermfine 1125 x 1147 W:11,61 X ll64 • Lothian Linlithgow • 1159 x 1162 Edinburgh Berwick upon Tweed 1153 x 1162 1124 x 1139 • Clydesdale or Lanark 1161 x 1162 kms ,, , , 100 o 2,5 50 75 • Caput of sheriffdom, with approximate {J o 10 20 30 40 50 60 date of first reference miles Sheriffdoms recorded by 1165 192 HLM

  Transcribers who have contributed to this page.

None