Scots Lawyers, England, and the Union of 1707

Support from the legal profession in Scotland was important in securing parliamentary union in 1707.1 At this time, the membership of the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh was greater than it had ever been, therefore their support, and that of the judges in the Court of Session, was worth gaining. In return, Article XVIII of the treaty protected Scotland’s private law while Article XIX provided advocates, Writers to the Signet and Clerks of Session with a formal career structure for the first time, leading potentially to a place on the bench. A little-known motion in the Scottish Parliament in March 1707 recommended an increase in judicial salaries to take into account rising prices and the fact that the court’s jurisdiction had recently been expanded.