SCOTLAND; 
856 
being whitish, yellow and pink, veined with red; while 
there are also large beds of breccia, nearly resembling many 
of the most highly prized Italian antique breccias. 
Of the domestic manufactures of the Highlands and 
islands, we may enumerate hemp, flax and wool, as the 
sole materials. Yet little or nothing is made for export¬ 
ation, the whole, nearly, being for objects of domestic 
consumption, or for the very limited market at their own 
doors. 
VII. —Government and Political Constitution. 
Previous to the Union, the parliament of Scotland was, 
like England, composed of peers and representatives of 
counties and burghs, with this distinction, that they sat in 
one house. James I. of Scotland attempted to establish a 
house of commons, in imitation of that of England, but his 
subjects maintained the most firm resistance to that en¬ 
lightened measure. At present Scotland is represented in 
the British parliament by sixteen peers and forty-five com¬ 
moners. The sixteen peers are elected for every new par¬ 
liament by the whole body of the peerage duly qualified to 
vote at the period when the election takes place, but are not, 
when once elected, continued for life, as is the case in re¬ 
gard to Irish peers. 
The following Table will give an idea of the diminution 
that has taken place in the members of the Scottish peerage 
since the Union, and their amount at present:— 
Tables of the Scottish Peerage. 
1. Number of the Scotch peers at the Union - - 154 
2. The Duke of Rothsay, when entitled to vote - 1 
3. Added by subsequent orders of the House of Lords 4 
159 
1. Extant, or dormant - - - - - - 41 
2. Merged in, or united to other titles 10 
3. Forfeited - -- -- --23 
77 
Remain 82 
But 4 having been restored, the total is - - - 86 
Of these, 23 (including the Duke of Rothsay) are British 
peers, but who still retain the privilege of voting at elections, 
and even continue eligible; though it can hardly be sup¬ 
posed that these hereditary peers would persuade their 
brethren not enjoying the same privilege to elect them. At 
the election in 1812, there were three minors, three 
peeresses, and two Roman Catholics, consquenily eight 
disqualified from voting. The peers who actually voted 
•were fifty-two, and twenty-two were out of the kingdom, 
or did not vote. 
Of the forty-five commoners, thirty represent counties, and 
fifteen boroughs. 
The county members are elected by freeholders pos¬ 
sessed of £400 Scotch of valued rent, in land held of the 
crown. The only exception to this rule is found in the 
county of Sutherland, where, as the greater part of the 
land is held of the Earl of Sutherland, it became necessary to 
give the vassals of that earldom a right to vote as well as the 
vassals of the crown ; and in consequence of the inconsider¬ 
able number of small proprietors in the county, the qualifi¬ 
cation of the freeholder was reduced to £200 Scotch of valued 
rent. 
The following Table shews the amount of the valued 
rent in each county, as it stood in 1674; also the number 
of pualified freeholders returned in the list drawn up for 
the year 1825, since which there has been very little varia¬ 
tion :— 
.. 
No. of. 
Counties represented. 
Valued Rent in Scotch 
Money. 
Free¬ 
holders 
in 1825. 
1. Aberdeen 
- 
- 
- 
£235,665 
8 
11 
180 
2. Argyll - 
- 
- 
149,595 
10 
0 
74 
3. Ayr - 
- 
- 
- 
191,605 
0 
7 
187 
4. Banff - 
- 
- ' 
79,200 
0 
0 
36 
5. Berwick 
- 
- 
- 
178,366 
8 
6 ft 
126 
6 . Bute and 1 
per 
vices 
15,042 
13 
10 
13 
7. Caithness j 
37,256 
2 
10 
24 
8 Clackmannan 
26,482 
10 
10 
18 
9. Kinross 
-per Vieeb 
20,250 
4 
3§ 
23 
10. Cromarty and • 
11. Nairn L per vices 
12,897 
15,162 
2 7-f| 
10 1U 
18 
19 
12. Dumfries 
- 
- 
- 
158,502 
10 
0 * 
82 
13. Dunbarton 
- 
- 
33,327 
19 
0 
67 
14. Edinburgh 
- 
- 
- 
191,054 
3 
9 
170 
15. Elgin and Moray 
- 
- 
65,603 
0 
5 
34 
16. Fife 
- 
- 
- 
363,129 
3 
7£ 
246 
17. Forfar - 
- 
- 
- 
171,239 
16 
8 
127 
18. Haddington 
~ 
- 
- 
168,873 
10 
8 
105 
19. Inverness 
« 
- 
- 
73,188 
9 
0 
72 
20. Kincardine 
- 
- 
74,921 
1 
4 
75 
21. Kirkcudbright 
- 
- 
114,597 
2 
3 
143 
22. Lanark 
- 
- 
- 
162,131 
14 
6 §f? 
175 
23. Linlithgow 
- 
- 
- 
75,018 
10 
6 ' 
65 
24. Orkney and 
Shetland 
- 
57,786 
0 
50 
25. Peebles 
- 
- 
- 
51,937 
13 
10 
42 
26. Perth - 
- 
- 
- 
339,892 
6 
9 
221 
27. Renfrew 
- 
- 
- 
69,172 
1 
0 
158 
28. Ross 
- 
- 
- 
75,043 
10 
3 
83 
29. Roxburgh 
- 
- 
- 
314,663 
6 
4 
139 
30. Selkirk - 
- 
- 
- 
80,307 
15 
6 
35 
31. Stirling 
- 
- 
- 
108,509 
3 
130 
32. Sutherland 
- 
- 
- 
26,093 
9 
9 
23 
33. Wigton 
- 
- 
- 
67,641 
17 
0 
66 
Total 
- 
- 
- 
3804,157 
19 
2 |i 
3066 
It is to be remarked, that six of these counties are repre¬ 
sented in parliament by only three members; two of them 
united for that purpose, electing a representative alternately ; 
and that the Shetland isles, owing to some defect regarding 
their valuation, though entitled to share in the representa¬ 
tion of Orkney, have as yet no freeholders on the roll. 
Lands holding of the crown to the extent of £400 Scotch of 
valued rent, or, in particular cases, what is called a forty 
shilling land of old extent, entitle the proprietor to a vote, 
and those freeholders only are included in the above table. 
There are in every county more persons who possess freehold 
property below, than such as have land either equal to, or 
above that valuation ; and besides, the nobility are never put 
on the rolls of freeholders, whatever extent of property they 
may possess. This in some measure accounts for the num¬ 
ber of freeholders being so low as 2429. Were there to be a 
voter for every £400 of valuation, the total number would 
be 9511. 
The number of proprietors, are however small: the follow¬ 
ing was the state of property in 1811:— 
Number of 
Proprietors. 
1. Large properties, or estates above 2000/. of 
valued rent, or 2500/. sterling of real rent . 396 
2. Middling properties, or estates from 2000/. to 
500/. of valued rent, or from 2500/. to 625/. of 
real rent . 1077 
3. Small properties, or estates under 500/. of 
valued rent, or 625/. of real rent . 6181 
4. Estates belonging to corporate bodies . 144 
Total number of proprietors in Scotland 7798 
The Civil Jurisdictions of Scotland consist 1. Of 
the 
