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A sign in Linlithgow, Scotland.
A sign in Linlithgow, Scotland. Linlithgow ( pronounced) ( Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Iucha, Scots Lithgae) is a town and former Royal Burgh in Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain.

A Burgh (pronounced /ˈbʌʀə/) is an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland, usually a town. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan This type of administrative division has existed since the 12th century, when David I created the first Royal burghs. Examples of administrative divisions English terms In many of the following terms corresponding to British cultural influence areas of relatively low mean population David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim ( Modern: Daibhidh I mac Chaluim; b A royal burgh was a type of Scottish Burgh which had been founded by or subsequently granted a Royal charter. Recognition of burgh status today, however, has little more than ceremonial value.

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History of burghs

The first burgh was Berwick. By 1130, David I had established burghs at Stirling, Dunfermline, Aberdeen, Perth and Scone, as well as Edinburgh. Stirling ( Gaelic: Sruighlea, Scots: Stirlin) is a city and former ancient Burgh in Scotland, and is at Dunfermline (Scottish Gaelic Dùn Phàrlain is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife. Aberdeen ( pronounced; Aiberdeen Obar Dheathain is Scotland 's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council Perth (Peairt is a town and former Royal burgh in central Scotland. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow.

Burghs had rights to representation in the Parliament of Scotland. This article is about the pre-1707 parliament The article on the devolved legislative body established in 1999 is at Scottish Parliament. Under the Acts of Union of 1707 many became parliamentary burghs, represented in the Parliament of Great Britain. The Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into The Act of Union 1707 and Pre-Union Scottish legislation provided for 14 Members of Parliament (MPs from Scotland to be elected from districts of The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland

Under the Reform Acts of 1832, 32 years after the merger of the Parliament of Great Britain into the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the boundaries of burghs for parliamentary elections ceased to be necessarily their boundaries for other purposes. The Representation of the People Act 1832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office

Types of Burgh

There were several types of burgh, including;

Modern history

Until 1833, each burgh had a different constitution or "sett". The government of the burgh was often in the hands of a self-nominating corporation, and few local government functions were performed: these were often left to ad hoc bodies. Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means "for this [ Purpose ]"

Two pieces of reforming legislation were enacted in 1833: The Royal Burghs (Scotland) Act (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 76) and the Burghs and Police (Scotland) Act (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 46).

The Royal Burghs Act provided for the election of magistrates and councillors. Each burgh was to have a common council consisting of a provost (or lord provost), magistrates (or bailies) and councillors. Every parliamentary elector living within the "royalty" or area of the royal burgh, or within seven statute miles of its boundary, was entitled to vote in burgh elections. One third of the common council was elected each year. The councillors selected a number of their members to be bailies, who acted as a magistrates bench for the burgh, and dealt with such issues as licensing. The provost, or chief magistrate, was elected from among the council every three years. [1] The Royal Burghs Act was also extended to the 12 parliamentary burghs which had recently been enfranchised. In the United Kingdom (UK, each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly These were growing industrial centres, and apart from the lack of a charter, they had identical powers and privileges to the royal burghs. [2] Royal Burghs retained the right to corporate property or "common good". This property was used for the advantage of the inhabitants of the burgh, funding such facilities as public parks, museums and civic events.

The Burghs and Police Act allowed the inhabitants of Royal Burghs, Burghs of Regality and of Barony to adopt a "police system". A burgh of regality is a type of Scottish town ( Burgh) They were distinct from Royal burghs as they were granted to "lords of regality" leading noblemen A burgh of barony is a type of Scottish town ( Burgh) They were distinct from Royal burghs as the title was granted to a tenant-in-chief a landowner who held "Police" in this sense did not refer to law enforcement, but to various local government activiities summarised in the Act as "paving, lighting, cleansing, watching, supplying with water, and improving such Burghs respectively, as may be necessary and expedient". [3] The Act could be adopted following its approval in a poll of householders in the burgh. Burghs reformed or created under this and later legislation became known as police burghs. A police burgh was a Scottish burgh which had adopted a “police system” for governing the town The governing body of a police burgh were the police commissioners. The commissioners were elected by the existing town council of the burgh, not by the electorate at large. The town council of a burgh could by a three-quarters majority become police commissioners for the burgh. In many cases this led to the existence of two parallel burgh administrations, the town council and the police commissioners, each with the same membership, but separate legal identity and powers. [2] Further legislation in 1850 allowed "populous places" other than existing burghs to become police burghs. [4]

In 1893 most of the anomalies in the administration of burghs were removed: police commissioners were retitled as councillors and all burghs were to consist of a single body corporate, ending the existence of parallel burghs. All burghs of barony and regality that had not adopted a police system were abolished. Councils were to be headed by a chief magistrate using the "customary title" of the burgh[5] In 1900 the chief magistrate of every burgh was to be known as the provost - except in burghs granted a lord provost.

The last major legislation to effect burghs came into effect in 1930. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 divided burghs into three classes:

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 formally abolished burghs. The Local Government (Scotland Act 1973 (1973 c 65 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in Scotland Section 1(5) of the Act stated: On 16th May 1975, all local government areas existing immediately before that date, that is to say, all counties, counties of cities, large burghs, small burghs and districts, shall cease to exist, and the council of every such area shall also cease to exist. [6] The use of the title continues in informal use, however.

The common good properties and funds of the royal burghs continue to exist. They are administered by the present area councils, who must make "have regard to the interests of the inhabitants of the area to which the common good formerly related". For local government purposes Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as The use of these assets are to be for the benefit of the inhabitants of the former burgh. [7] Any person or body holding the honorary freedom of any place. . . formerly having the status of a city, burgh or royal burgh continued to enjoy that status after the 1975 reorganisation. [8]

Features of Burghs

The titular head of a burgh is called a Provost. A provost (introduced into Scots from French) is the ceremonial head of many Scottish local authorities. Most royal burghs retain the title for ceremonial purposes, with the notable exception of the Scottish cities. A royal burgh was a type of Scottish Burgh which had been founded by or subsequently granted a Royal charter. Under the Provost are magistrates or baillies who both acted as councillors, and in the enforcement of laws. A magistrate is a judicial officer In Common law systems a magistrate usually has limited authority to administer and enforce the Law. A baillie (alternative spelling bailie, from Old French) was a local civic officer in Scottish Burghs approximately equivalent to the post of As well as general tasks, they often had specific tasks such as inspecting wine, or ale, or other products sold at market. The common citizen of a burgh was a Burgess (pl. Burgess is an English word that originally meant a freeman of a Borough or Burgh. Burgessess). These were freemen, a class which did not include dependants, servants and so on, though freemen might not be wealthy.

Early Burghs were granted the power to trade, which allowed them to control trade until the 19th century. the population of Burgesses could be roughly divided between merchants and craftsmen, and the tensions between the interests of the two classes was often a feature of the cities. Merchants function as professionals who deal with Trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves in order to produce Profit. An artisan, also called a Craftsman, is a skilled manual worker who crafts items that may be functional or strictly decorative including furniture clothing Craftsmen were usually organised into guilds. A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers Merchants also had a guild, but many merchants did not belong to it, and it would be run by a small group of the most powerful merchants. The class of merchants included all traders, from stall-holders and pack-men to shop-holders and traders of considerable wealth.

Etymology

As used in this article, the Scots language word burgh is derived from the Old English Burh. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern In Scotland it refers to corporate entities whose legality is peculiar to Scotland. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society (Scottish law was protected and preserved as distinct from laws of England under the Acts of Union of 1707. Scots law is a unique legal system with an ancient basis in Roman law. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into ) Pronunciation is the same as the English word borough, which is a near cognate of the Scots word. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A borough is an Administrative division of various countries In principle the term borough designates a self-governing Township although in practice Cognates in Linguistics are words that have a common origin They may occur within a language such as shirt and skirt as two English words descended from The identical English word Burgh (in place names such as Bamburgh, Carrawburgh and Dunstanburgh) sounds exactly like the Scots Burgh, with the emphasis on the 'r'. Bamburgh is a large village on the coast of Northumberland, England. Carrawburgh is a village in Northumberland. In Roman times it was the site of a 3½ acre (1 Dunstanburgh Castle lies on a spectacular headland on the coast of Northumberland in northern England, between the villages of Craster and Embleton

The English language borough, like the Scots Burgh, is derived from the same Old English language word burh (whose dative singular and nominative/accusative plural form byrig sometimes underlies modern place-names, and which had dialectal variants including burg; it was also sometimes confused with beorh, beorg, 'mound, hill', on which see Hall 2001, 69-70). Burh is an Anglo-Saxon name for a fortified town or other defended site such as a Hill fort. The Old English word was originally used for a fortified town or proto-castle (e. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. g. , at Dover Castle or Burgh Castle) and was related to the verb beorgan (cf. Dover Castle is situated at Dover, Kent and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history Burgh Castle is a Village and Civil parish in the English County of Norfolk. Dutch and German bergen), meaning "to keep, save, make secure". In German Burg means castle, though so many towns grew up around castles that it almost came to mean city, and is incorporated into many placenames, such as Hamburg and Strasbourg),

The word has cognates, or near cognates, in other Germanic languages. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status Toponymy refers to the scientific study of place-names ( toponyms) their origins meanings use and Typology. Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany Strasbourg (Strasbourg stʁazbuʁ Alsatian: Strossburi,; Straßburg) is the capital and principal City of the Alsace région The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. For example, burg in German, and borg in both Danish and Swedish. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the The equivalent word is also to be found in Frisian, Dutch, Norwegian, and Icelandic. The Frisian languages are a closely related group of Germanic languages, spoken by about 500000 members of Frisian Ethnic groups who live on the southern Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. In southern England, the word took the form bury, as in Canterbury (Stewart 1967:193).

A number of other European languages have cognate words which were borrowed from the Germanic languages during the Middle Ages, including brog in Irish, bwr or bwrc, meaning "wall, rampart" in Welsh, bourg in French, borgo in Italian, and burgo in Spanish (hence the place-name Burgos). The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Borgo is an Italian word (plural borghi) cognate with English Borough, German Burg, French bourg, that now usually means the new Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. History Early man of Neanderthal occupied sites around Burgos as early as 800000 years ago

The most obviously derivative words are burgher in English, Bürger in German or burger in Dutch (literally citizen, with connotations of middle-class in English and other Germanic languages). Bürger may refer to Gottfried August Bürger, German poet Heinrich Bürger, German physicist and biologist Rudolf The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. Also related are the words bourgeois and belfry (both from the French), and burglar. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people More distantly, it is related to words meaning hill or mountain in a number of languages (cf. the second element of iceberg). A mountain is a Landform that extends above the surrounding Terrain in a limited area with a peak cf is an abbreviation for the Latin -derived (but also modern English) word confer, meaning "compare" or "consult" An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater Ice that has broken off from a snow-formed Glacier or Ice shelf and is floating in open water [1] [2]

Burgh as an element in placenames

Burgh is commonly used as a suffix in place names, in Scotland, England and other countries to which people of these nations emigrated:

And as a placename on its own, in the West Germanic countries:

See also

References

  1. ^ Royal Burghs (Scotland) Act, 1833 (c. Burgh is a village and Civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal district of Suffolk, England, about 3½ miles north-west of Woodbridge. Burgh by Sands ( IPA /ˈbrʌf/ "bruff" is a village and Civil parish in the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England Burgh Castle is a Village and Civil parish in the English County of Norfolk. Burgh le Marsh is a town to the west of Skegness in East Lindsey, England, on the Lincoln-Skegness A158. Burgh on Bain is a village and Civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Burgh Island ( is a small public Tidal island off the south coast of Devon in England near to the small seaside village of Bigbury on Sea. Burgh and Tuttington is a Civil parish in the Broadland district of Norfolk, England. Fleggburgh is a Village and Civil parish in the English County of Norfolk, sometimes also known as Burgh St Margaret. A burgh (pronounced burruh) is the Scots' term for a town or a municipality England Regis Beeston Regis Bere Regis Bognor Regis Grafton Regis The Five Burghs or more usually The Five Boroughs or The Five Boroughs of the Danelaw were the five main towns of Danish Mercia A borough is an Administrative division of various countries In principle the term borough designates a self-governing Township although in practice 76)
  2. ^ a b Mabel Atkinson, The Organisation of Local Government in Scotland, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 1. (March, 1903), pp. 59-87.
  3. ^ Burghs and Police Act (3 & 4 Will. IV c. 46)
  4. ^ Police (Scotland) Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict. c. 33)
  5. ^ Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892 (1892 c. 55)
  6. ^ Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (1973 c. 65)
  7. ^ Report on the Stirling Burgh Common Good Fund, 9 October 1997
  8. ^ The Local Government Area Changes (Scotland) Regulations 1977 (1977 No. 8) (S. 1)

Dictionary

burgh

-noun

  1. A Scottish borough
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