Talk:Lord High Constable of Scotland

Edward ?
I removed the second paragraph ("Edward, who served under Alexander I and David I is called chief of David's knights (princeps militae), but the exact nature of the Constable's military role in the 12th century is unclear.") since it's completely unclear to me who this Edward is. -- Ricky81682 (talk) 09:27, 29 November 2005 (UTC) We're talking 12th century, so can't expect his full name, address and inside leg length! This is probably the only reference anywhere to "Edward". We may never know who he was, and it probably doesn't matter. The significance of the entry was that this was the first reference to the role now identified as Lord High Constable. I will rework and reinstate the paragraph.--George Burgess 13:11, 29 November 2005 (UTC)


 * Edward was the son of Siward, son of Aethelgar. Siward was a Mercian thegn and was a large pre-Conquest landholder in Shropshire. He and his brother Ealdred submitted to William the Conqueror in 1067. Siward was a 'thegn and kinsman of King Edward' (the Confessor) and is thought to be have been a great grandson of King Aethelred II, via his daughter Edith and her husband Eadric Streona. See 'The English and the Norman Conquest', p. 95, by Ann Williams (1995): http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Su1IbQKzocsC&pg=PA95 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.169.174.86 (talk) 15:12, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Lord
I recall some dispute over whether Lord Erroll is "Lord High Constable of Scotland" or simply "High Constable of Scotland", since Scottish offices underwent much less of the grandiose addition of meaningless honorifics than their English counterparts (hence the Duke of Rothesay is "Great Steward of Scotland" whilst the chap appointed for coronations is "Lord High Steward of England"). Does anyone know anything about this? Proteus (Talk) 12:29, 30 December 2005 (UTC)


 * As far as I am aware the Earl of Erroll is refered to as "Lord High Constable of Scotland", though many of the historical records mention him only as "High Constable of Scotland" as you observe with the "High Steward of Scotland". See  for a discussion of the Lord High Constable in the House of Lords.  Davidkinnen


 * What reminded me was the recent episode of Julian Fellowes Investigates a Most Mysterious Murder involving the 22nd Earl of Erroll, because it showed his tombstone and it definitely said "Hereditary High Constable of Scotland", so I assume that that was the term in use when he died in 1941. Proteus (Talk) 18:25, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

The title is given as Lord High Constable in the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia of the Laws of Scotland, the main source for this article. It refers also to a confirmation of 1681 refering to the office as a "great constabulary" or "high constabulary", and to its holder as the Lord High Constable, so the present title has been around for a while--George Burgess 18:51, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Assumg the discussion in Lord_Lyon_King_of_Arms is correct and I don't doubt the quotes the Court of claims dropped the 'lord'. So the Article should probably not the say "Court of Claims allowed the right of the Countess of Erroll, as Lord High Constable" Alci12 14:57, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't think that just because the Court of Claims "dropped" the Lord from the Lord Lyon that the same necessarily was done for the Lord High Constable - only reference to the Court of Claims proceedings would show that. --George Burgess 20:24, 17 May 2006 (UTC)