120 Scottish Parliament and Sanquhar Representation. 



and although the original record of its proceedings has been lost 

 an indenture has been preserved which proves conclusively that 

 besides the Earls, Barons, Bishops, and Freeholders the repre- 

 sentatives of the Burghs sat in this Parliament and formed the 

 third estate of National Council. 



During the whole period of its existence the Scottish Parlia- 

 ment sat as one chamber, lords and commons meeting on equal 

 terms on the floor of the House. Its members belonged to at 

 least five different classes, all of which at one time or another had 

 constitutional access to it. These five classes were : — (1) Officers 

 of State, (2) Higher Clergy, (3) Nobility, (4) Barons, (5) Repre- 

 sentatives of Royal Burghs. The last three groups, however, 

 alone had an unbroken right of attendance. An Act of Parlia- 

 ment of 1427 ordained that " the small Barons and tenants need 

 not come to Parliament nor general councils so that of each 

 sheriffdom there be two or three wise men chosen at the head 

 court of the sheriffdom according to its size." This system of 

 sending representatives kept the Scottish Parliament very small. 

 In 1612 there were 109 members. In April and May, 1641, the 

 numbers fell to 29 and 59 respectively, and not till 1703 did the 

 Roll have over 200 names. There were sixty-seven Burgh con- 

 stituencies in Scotland, and each of these possessed the right to 

 send two members to Parliament, but as a matter of fact rarely 

 Avas more than one sent. The member for a Scottish Burgh was 

 elected annually whether there was any likelihood of a Parliament 

 sitting or not. The election took place annually at Michaelmas, 

 and the commission held good for one year. This was different 

 from the English method, by which a member was elected for each 

 Parliament. The members were elected by the Magistrates and 

 Town Council, not as now by the body of the inhabitants. San- 

 quhar was created a Royal Burgh in 1598, and at once possessed 

 the right to send representatives to the Scottish Parliament, but 

 whether it was the case that the Burghers could not afford the 

 expense of sending a member or whether they were ignorant of 

 their rights or did not trouble themselves about politics, the fact 

 remains that it was not until 1621, twenty-three years after the 

 granting of the charter, that the first Sanquhar representative took 

 his seat in Parliament. This was Michael Cunningham, a native 

 of Dumfries, who was also the Burgh's representatve in the Con- 

 vention of Royal Burghs in that year. The Cunninghams of 



