526 



COURTESY TITLES 



COURT-MARTIAL 



enough to be a frequent source of perplexity to 

 Americans and foreigners, and may be thus ex- 

 plained : Dukes, marquises, earls, and even vis- 

 counts are often in possession of a number of titles 

 belonging to an inferior grade in the peerage, 

 which have in many cases been gradually accumu- 

 lated by the ancestors of the peer in the course of 

 his upward progress in the peerage. Some peers 

 have as many as sixteen inferior titles e.g. the 

 Duke of Athole, who has one marquisate, four 

 earldoms, three viscounties, and eight baronies. 

 While in ordinary parlance a peer is known by 

 his highest title (or titles, if he holds two of the 

 same degree), his eldest son bears by courtesy one 

 of his inferior titles. Thus the eldest son of the 

 Duke of Devonshire is Marquis of Hartington ; of 

 the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, Earl of 

 Dalkeith ; of the Marquis of Bute, Earl of Dum- 

 fries. There is no rule as to which inferior title 

 should be assumed, a lower one being occasionally 

 preferred to a higher ; and the courtesy title may 

 be different in one generation from another. The 

 inferior title of a viscount who is also a baron is 

 never borne as a courtesy title by his son ; but a 

 usage prevails among viscounts and barons ( more 

 properly ' lords ' ) in the peerage of Scotland, of the 

 eldest son designing himself 'master;' thus the 

 eldest sons of Viscount Arbuthnot and Lord Lovat 

 are known as the Master of Arbuthnot and Master 

 of Lovat. Courtesy titles are allowed to the eldest 

 sons of courtesy marquises and earls. Thus the 

 eldest son of Earl Percy, himself eldest son of the 

 Duke of Northumberland, is Lord Warkworth. 

 There are various instances of titles borne by heirs- 

 apparent or grandsons of peers which have no 

 existence among the family honours, or are derived 

 from them by some modifications. While Earl 

 Nelson's inferior titles are Viscount Merton and 

 Baron Nelson, his eldest son is known as Viscount 

 Trafalgar. There are a few cases where, in con- 

 sequence of the inferior title being identical with 

 the higher one, the eldest son substitutes the 

 family surname for the title. The Earl of Gosford, 

 whose family surname is Acheson, is also Viscount 

 Gosford ami Baron Gosford ; and his son adopts 

 the courtesy style of Viscount Acheson. The 

 holders of courtesy titles, not being legally peers, 

 can sit in the House of Commons. 



The younger sons of dnkes and marquises have 

 the courtesy title of ' Lord ' prefixed to their Chris- 

 tian name and surname e.g. Lord Charles William 

 de la Poer Beresford, second son of the late Mar- 

 quis of Waterford ; and the daughters of dukes, 

 marquises, and earls, have ' Lady ' followed by their 

 Christian name and surname, the surname being 

 that of their husband if married, or his courtesy 

 title if he be a courtesy peer. But if a lady enjoy- 

 ing such courtesy title marry a peer ( not by cour- 

 tesy), she only takes her husband's peerage title. 

 Thus the fifth Duke of Buccleuch's second daughter, 

 by her marriage with Donald Cameron of Lochiel, 

 became Lady Margaret Elizabeth Cameron, while 

 the same duke's eldest daughter is Marchioness 

 of Lothian. Lady Emily Somerset, daughter of 

 the Duke of Beaufort, on marrying Viscount 

 Dupplin, eldest son of the Earl of Kinnoull, was 

 known as Lady Emily Dupplin; but on her hus- 

 band succeeding his father as Earl of Kinnoull, 

 diie became simply Countess of Kinnoull, this 

 change of designation involving, curiously enough, 

 a loss of precedency, inasmuch as the rank of a 

 duke's daughter is higher than that of a countess. 

 When, as often happens, a royal warrant is granted 

 to the brothers and sisters of a peer whose father 

 has never been in possession, giving them the 

 precedence of the sons and daughters of a peer, 

 they enjoy the corresponding courtesy titles. The 

 title ' Honourable,' used by sons of earls, viscounts, 



and barons, and daughters of barons, belongs, not 

 of courtesy, but of right, to them in common with 

 all sons and daughters of peers. 



The widow of a peer or a knight is allowed by 

 courtesy to retain the title she acquired from her 

 husband, notwithstanding a second marriage ; the 

 widow of a baronet is legally entitled to do so. 



Along with courtesy titles may be ranked the 

 appellations of the judges of the Court of Session 

 in Scotland, who prefix ' Lord ' either to their sur- 

 name or to a territorial designation. These titles, 

 though given in general society as well as on the 

 bench, are not used in subscribing the judge's 

 name, even to official papers. Hence Lord Med- 

 wyn's signature, 'J. H. Forbes,' and Lord Mure's, 

 ' David Mure.' The wives of judges do not par- 

 ticipate in their husband's titles. See ADDRESS, 

 FORMS OF. 



Court-fool. See JESTERS. 



Court-hand, a name given in England to a 

 modification of the Norman handwriting, as dis- 

 tinguished from the modern or Italian handwriting 

 which was in use in the English law-courts from 

 the 16th century till abolished by law in the reign 

 of George II. See WRITING. 



Court-martial, a court for the trial of all 



Ersons subject to military law or to the Naval 

 iscipline Act. In the army, before the institu- 

 tion of a standing army in 1660, military discipline 

 was maintained by articles of war issued by the 

 crown, to remain in force only so long as the cam- 

 paign continued. These ordinances were adminis- 

 tered by the Court of Chivalry (q.v.), of which 

 the judges were the Lord High Constable and 

 the Earl Marshal. In 1689 the first Mutiny Act 

 (q.v.) was passed by parliament, and, with the 

 articles of war, made by royal prerogative, con- 

 stituted the law under which discipline in the 

 army was maintained. This law, which is now 

 embodied in the Army Act of 1881, provides for 

 the assembly of courts-martial for the trial of 

 offences which are of too grave a character to be 

 dealt with summarily by the regimental com- 

 manders. They are of five kinds general, 

 district, regimental, field-general, and summary. 

 The sovereign issues a warrant authorising each 

 general officer to convene the two first named, and 

 every regimental commander has power, in virtue 

 of his office, to convene the third. The fourth can 

 only be convened in countries beyond the seas, 

 and to try offences against the person or property 

 of an inhabitant when an ordinary general court- 

 martial cannot conveniently be assembled. The 

 last can only be convened on active service under 

 similar conditions, and, with the fourth, has the 

 same powers as a general court-martial. 



A general court must consist of five officers 

 (nine in the United Kingdom, India, Malta, and 

 Gibraltar), including the president, who must be 

 the senior and a field-ofhcer, except in special 

 circumstances, when a captain may preside, and 

 each member must have held a commission for 

 three years. Similarly, a district court must con- 

 sist of three or five officers of two years' service, 

 and a regimental court of three officers of one 

 year's service ; if no captain is available, a lieu- 

 tenant may preside over either of them. All mem- 

 bers must be strictly impartial, and may be chal- 

 lenged by the prisoner on that point. A field- 

 general court must consist of three officers, of any 

 rank, and a summary court of the same number, 

 if available, otherwise two are sufficient ; but in 

 that case it cannot pass sentence of death, and, 

 with three members, all must concur in such a 

 sentence. 



Any of these courts is competent to try any 

 offence, but not any offender; thus an officer or 



