The Court of Sessions is Scotland's highest civil court, it is one of the Supreme Courts of the College of Justice.

The Court of Sessions is the highest civil court that exists in Scotland, it is peered by the High Court of Justiciary, and the Accountant of Court's Office. The Court of Sessions is headed by the Lord President of the Court of Sessions (who concurrently holds the title of the Lord Justice General in the High Court of Justiciary). The judges in the Court of Sessions (and the High Court of Justiciary) are called the Senators of the College of Justice.

The Court of Sessions was first established in 1532 under order of King James V. It was modeled after the Parlement of Paris. One aspect of this is the fact that besides the positions of Lord President and Lord Justice Clerk each member of the thirty four members hold exactly the same rank.

The Court of Sessions is divided into two sections, the Outer and Inner House. The Outer House is the court of first instance, although some appeals can occur there. Typically the Outer Court of the Court of Sessions is presided over by one judge, or a jury of twelve in certain cases. The Inner House of the Court of Sessions is reserved for high-value asset cases, criminal appeals and any other circumstance that would require the seniority of the judges that typically sit in the Inner House.

Joesph Knight was a African born man who was sold as a slave, he was the cause of a court action which saw the effective confirmation that slavery was illegal in Scotland.

Joseph Knight was a relatively unknown figure at his birth, as such there is no contemporary reliable way to know his birth date or place. It is known that he was sold to John Wedderburn of Ballendean in Jamaica in 1769.

Joesph Knight worked in slave labor for three years under John Wedderburn. At this point the Somersett case transpired in England, which set the precedent of slavery being illegal in England. Yet this decision had no standing in the rest of the United Kingdom.

Joseph Knight approached John Wedderburn and demanded wages. Upon his request being denied he ran away. He was arrested at the request of at the request of his owner. The case was brought in front of the Justice of Peace in Perth, Scotland. It was dismissed, but repealed in front of the Sheriff. It was found to be that Joseph Knight was indeed a free man.

Joseph Knight was later brought in front of the Court of Sessions in Edinburgh after John Wedderburn appealed the Sheriff's decision. It was found, by a full panel of judges, that Joseph Knight was indeed a free man as he had never given his natural freedom away. It was also found that the slavery laws of Jamaica hold no dominion in Scotland. In effect, precedent was set making slavery illegal in Scotland.

1696-1782

Henry Home was a Scottish philosopher and a leader of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Henry Home, or Lord Kames as he came to be known, was the author of a number of essays and books. His works dealt mainly with philosophy, specifically concerning the philosophy of society and the evolution of civilization. His major works include Remarkable Decisions of the Court of Session, Essays upon Several Subjects in Law, Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion, Principles of Equity, Introduction to the Art of Thinking, Elements of Criticism, Sketches of the History of Man. In social respects, Henry Home was the epitome of a man of the Scottish Enlightenment, he led his field in thought, he was successful in his career and he was renowned for hosting dinners attended my academic luminaries of the time and he was regarded for his propensity for intense debate and razor wit.

The contribution of Henry Home to modern academia is best described as the foundations of the study of anthropology and sociology. His major thoughts in regard to Scotland included the idea that despite the ideas of the Jacobites, Scottish politics were not based purely on loyalties to any given King, but the land grants and favors that come from the loyalty. Henry Home, using what he saw in Scotland and its history, also deduced that human history is product to four stages. This involved the evolution of food and resources, and their acquisition, and the eventual drawing together and forming of a society that this would necessitate. This was characterized by Scotland's migration from lone hunters to the formation of cities.

Adam Smith was a Scottish moral philosopher and one of the world's famous modern economists.

This article on Adam Smith focuses predominately on his published works. For an insight into the life, family and education of Adam Smith refer to our previously published work.

Adam Smith is credited with some of the most influential works of his time. Adam Smith wrote six main works, although he is believed to have had a store of other wittings which he had destroyed shortly before his death.

Adam Smith first had his first work, The Theory of Moral Sentiment, in 1759.It is regarded as being an underpinning factor behind all of his future works. As the title suggests, the book focuses on the subject of Moral Philosophy. In it, Adam Smith examines the nature of moral interactions within society and attempts to explain how exactly individuals are able to form moral judgments. Though this book is generally eclipsed in fame by his following book, The Theory of Moral Sentiment has always been believed to be much more favored by Adam Smith. It was revised an additional five times before Adam Smith passed away.

In 1776 Adam Smith published An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Commonly referred to as "The Wealth of Nations", it is by far considered to be Adam Smith's crowning work, in regards to popularity at least. This book came to be known as a classic economics text. Ironically, while Wealth of Nations is often associated with the "invisible hand" of the market, the concept was penned by Adam Smith in his previous work.

Adam Smith also published a small number of lesser known but still highly regarded other texts. In 1764, Adam Smith wrote "A Treatise on Public Opulence", Essays on Philosophical Subjects came in 1795, Lectures on Justice, Police, Revenue, and Arms was first published in 1896, although was first written in 1763.

John of Fordun was a Scottish chronicler; his works are considered to be some of the earliest attempts to create one cohesive continuous account of Scottish history.

John of Fordun is thought to have been born in Fordun, Mearns, on the northeastern side of Scotland. Ironically, while John of Fordun was a chronicler, there is little that is verifiably known about the man himself, leaving much to the realm of speculation and educated guesses. The date of his birth being one such example of unknown information. What is known is that he was most likely a secular priest, that he wrote his books in the latter part of the 14th century and was most probably a member of the clergy serving St. Machar’s cathedral of Aberdeen.

The chronicle works of John of Fordun, entitled Chronica gentis Scotorum, consists of five books. These books are met various degree of acceptance in the historic community. The first three books are not verified by other documents, therefore some doubt is cast upon their nature. Yet they do bare the role of the grounding work that the historical writings of Hector Boece and George Buchanan. The last two books are not doubted as heavily as they were set near the time of the author himself. Their accounts stop in 1153 at the death of King David 1153. Other historians have also used these books as a starting point, interpolating them with their own work to create a longer, possibly more cohesive account.

The Merrow is a creature of Scottish folklore, its closest equivalent is the mermaid.

The Merrow goes by many names in Scottish and Irish folklore. Muir-gheilt, Samhghubha, Muidhuachán, and Suire, are commonly heard, although Merrow is typically preferred. They are described as creatures which have human top halves and are fish from the waist down. Since they are not real, their disposition or description changes at the whims of the story teller describing them. Although it is generally excepted that they are relatively placid and friendly creatures.

Stories of the Merrow do delve into the grimmer side though. It is thought that the male Merrow will drag down the soul of drowned sailors and imprison them in “soul cages”. Female Merrow specimens have also been recorded to display incredible aggression, one example being in the Book of Lecain, where a king of the ancient inhabitants of Ireland was ripped limb from limb by a group of Merrow.

The physical characteristics of a Merrow can change incredibly from example to the next. One example in “Annals of the Four Masters,” has a Merrow of 59 meters in length, and proportionate appendages. There are stories of Merrow marrying humans, which would lead one to believe that they typically were relatively comparative to us in size. Necessarily they were also able to transform their visage into human form. This various from one legend to another but typically involves either an enchanted cape or hat, or simply shedding the Merrow skin.

Taranis was the God of Thunder worshipped within Celtic mythology.

Taranis is commonly represented as a bearded figure that holds a thunderbolt in one hand and a wheel in the other. The wheel and he thunderbolt are both symbols of the god. While the thunder was a sign of his power, the wheel came to be worn as an amulet by his believers, often times even leaving it in their tombs or thrown in rivers as a sacrifice.

Taranis bears many similarities to other gods worshiped by peoples of nearby areas. The most obvious likeness that one would draw would be the Norse god of Thor, who was also a bearded thunder god. Other comparisons that have been made with the Germanic god Donar, the Irish Tuireann, Tiermes from the Sami people, Ambisagrus from a different sect of Celts and the Anglo-Saxon Þunor. Associations have also been made between Taranis and the Greek mythological Cyclops Brontes. One of the earliest mentions of Taranis comes from the Lucan, a Roman poet, who in his poem Pharsalia made reference to the god and the Celtic people making sacrifices to him.

The name Taranis is a dead give away to the deities true nature. The Proto-Celtic dictionary compiled by the University of Wales suggests that the name comes from the original root word “Toranos”, meaning “thunder”. In modern day terms, the word means “to thunder” if translated from Welsh.

Cernunnos was one of the gods worshipped by pagan Celts.

Cernunnos was one of the Celtic pagan gods worshiped by Celtics before their beliefs shifted towards Christianity. As heavy documentation of history was not present outside of the Roman culture at the time, the evidence that is present surrounding Cernunnos is based on a limited number of inscriptions and carvings depicting images of Cernunnos.

From what limited information can be garnered, Cernunnos was a deity associated with the underworld, and horned animals. Images depicting Cernunnos see him surrounded by horned animals like stags, and often times he holds a ram-horned snake. This information is based on the two carvings which have been verified as definitely being Cernunnos. The first of these carvings is named “Pillar of the Boatmen” and is thought to have been carved by Gaulish sailors. The name Cernunnos was carved into the stone, although the first letter was missing. Though linguistic investigation leaves little doubt as to it being “C”.

The other evidence of Cernunnos comes from inscriptions found in what is now Luxembourg. Specifically, the inscription reads, “to the God Cerunincos”.

There are other inscriptions of what is thought to be Cernunnos, although this is pure speculation and educated guesses. As the Celts spread far across Europe,t he locations of the finds are rather varied, some have even been found in Sweden.

The Queen Mary Harp is a Scottish Clàrsach, it is also a much prized relic due to its age, condition and rarity.

The Queen Mary Harp was most probably built in Argyll, in south-west Scotland. The date of its creation is thought to be somewhere between the 14th and 15th century. In the 16th century it was gifted by Mary Queen of Scots to Beatrix Gardyn, sometime in the 16th century. It was later handed to the Robertson family of Lude, in Perthshire. It is believed that the last harp player to have played the instrument, John Robertson of Lude, died in 1729.

There are two surviving harps which compare to the Queen Mary Harp in historic significance. But for most historians and aficionados of the instrument, the Queen Mary Harp is by far the most important. It key point rely heavily on the fact that it is the one in the best condition with discernable traces of the original carvings on it. The carvings do have Christian motifs, indicating that it was originally a commission work for a church. The forepillar of the hard is adorned with an elaborate carving of a double-headed fish. There is also distinctive traces of the original paints.

The Poppleton Manuscript is a compilation of texts with invaluable information regarding medieval Scotland.

Technically speaking, the Poppleton Manuscript is a codex compiled sometime in the fourteenth century. Most likely it was put together by Robert of Poppleton, a Carmelite friar who was the Prior of Hulne, near Alnwick. The Poppleton Manuscript is famous for its unique collection of data, which includes a map of the world from that period of time.

More importantly though, the Poppleton Manuscript contains within it seven separate texts which relate directly to the medieval Scotland. Some of the texts within it can only be found withint he Poppleton Manuscript, of which there is only one known copy (at the Bibliothèque Nationale, in Paris).

The first section of the Pappleton Manuscript is titled “de Situ Albanie”, and it serves as an introductory piece to those following it. “The Chronicles of the Ancient Picts” follows, it seems to be a mix of various pieces of information regarding the Picts and the Celts. The Pictish Kings list is next in the Poppleton Manuscript, as the title suggests, it is a text of Pictish Kings of Scotland. The Chronicles of the Kings of Alba is next. A section on Dal Riatan Kings and Scottish Monarchs follows. The genealogy of William I is the last piece in that logical following, and the Poppleton Manuscript then ends with an account of the foundation of St Andrews.