Scottish Parliament and Sanquhar Representation. 119 



The Scottish Parliament and the Sanquhar Representation 

 Therein. By the Rev. W. M'Millan. 



The origin and constitution of the Scottish Parliament are 

 involved in obscurity. Long before the existence of the word 

 " Parliament " the Scottish Kings, like all other feudal monarchs, 

 were accustomed to consult with the Bishops, Abbots, and Barons 

 of their kingdom, and in course of time these councils held by the 

 Kings became what we now term Parliaments. It is impossible, 

 however, to point to any particular reign as seeing the first 

 Scottish Parliament, for while there are in.stances in the reigns of 

 David I., Malcolm IV., William the Lion, and Alexander II. of 

 important public transactions being carried with the aid of a great 

 council of the prelates and nobles we cannot say that these coun- 

 cils were as yet Parliaments. Wyntoun tells us that in the reign of 

 Alexander III. "the King caused a great gathering of the States 

 at Scone for the purpose of settling the succession of the crown," 

 and Fordun, who mentions the same assembly, informs us that it 

 was composed of the prelates and nobles of the realm. The fir.st 

 time the word " Parliament " is used in connection with such 

 gatherings is in 1286 immediately after the death of Alexander 

 III., when, at a council held at Scone, six guardians were 

 appointed to govern the kingdom. Unfortunately, no record of 

 its proceedings has come down to our time nor is its exact con- 

 stitution known. Three years later, however, another Parlia- 

 ment was held at Brigham, a village in Roxburghshire, and this 

 we know was composed of five guardians or regents, ten bishops, 

 twelve earls, twenty-three abbots, eleven priors, and forty-eight 

 barons, who took the title the " Community of Scotland." There 

 were then Royal Burghs in existence, but they do not seem to have 

 had any representation in the " Estates of Scotland " in the earlier 

 gatherings. During the wars of independence, however, the 

 Burghs appear to have taken a share in the government of the 

 country. In the first Parliament of John Baliol there were the 

 " majores populi," who were probably representatives of the 

 Royal Burghs. The famous letter addressed to the Pope and 

 sent in 1320 from Aberbrothock to Rome w^as drawn up in the 

 name of the " Prelates, Earls, Freeholders, and whole community 

 of Scotland." 



In 1326 King Robert held a Parliament at Cambuskenneth, 



