Editing Scot and lot

{{Short description|Medieval set of local rights and obligations in British countries}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{English feudalism}}
[[Image:SeriesXrev.jpg|thumb|A sceat]]
'''Scot and lot''' is a phrase common in the records of [[England|English]],<ref>{{1911|wstitle=Scot and Lot|volume=24|page=411|inline=1}}</ref> [[Wales|Welsh]] and [[Lordship of Ireland|Irish]] medieval [[borough]]s, referring to local rights and obligations.

The term ''scot'' comes from the [[Old English]] word ''[[sceat]]'', an ordinary coin in [[Anglo-Saxon]] times, equivalent to the later [[penny]]. In Anglo-Saxon times, a payment was levied locally to cover the cost of establishing drainage, and embankments, of low-lying land, and observing them to ensure they remain secure. This payment was typically a sceat, so the levy itself gradually came to be called ''sceat''. In [[burgh]]s, ''sceat'' was levied to cover maintenance of the town walls and defences.

In [[Norman times]], under the influence of the word ''escot'', in [[Old French]], the vowel changed, and the term became ''scot''. In 19th century [[Kent]] and [[Sussex]], low-lying farmland was still being called scot-land. ''Scot'', though, gradually became a general term for local levies; a person who was not liable for the levy, but received its benefits, ''got off '[[wiktionary:scot-free|scot-free]]'.''

''Lot'' means ''portion''/''share'', hence ''[[lottery]]'', ''[[land lot]]'' and ''[[allotment (finance)|allotment]]''. The phrase ''scot and lot'' thus meant the local levies someone paid, and the share they received of local provisions; more generally, it meant ''rights and obligations'', in respect of local government.

In the medieval [[Lordship of Ireland]], Frenchmen were required to pay scot and lot.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ordeal-of-water-law-to-be-thrown-out-1.1192074|title='Ordeal of water' law to be thrown out|first=Mark|last=Hennessy|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> Scot and lot is also mentioned in a statute of the city of [[Waterford]]: no man could enjoy the liberties of the city unless he was resident there, and paid scot and lot.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VGdCAAAAIAAJ&q=%22scot+and+lot%22+ireland&pg=PA471|title=The History of the Boroughs and Municipal Corporations of the United Kingdom: From the Earlist to the Present Time: with an Examination of Records, Charters, and Other Documents, Illustrative of Their Constitution and Powers|first1=Henry Alworth|last1=Merewether|first2=Archibald John|last2=Stephens|date=August 1, 1835|publisher=Stevens and sons|via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[Parliament]] had evolved from the king's [[court baron|baronial court]], with the [[House of Commons|Commons]] being populated by representatives of the landholders who were too minor to call in person. Burghs were somewhat outside the [[feudalism|feudal system]], making their [[Suffrage|franchise]] ambiguous. Before the mid 19th century, burghs varied in their choice of franchise. In some burghs, the franchise was set at ''scot and lot''; that is, people were only permitted to vote if they were liable for the local levies.

In mediaeval times, this could mean dozens of people, and by the 19th century tens of thousands of people could qualify in a single ''scot and lot'' burgh. In [[Gatton (UK Parliament constituency)|Gatton]], however, only two people qualified under ''scot and lot''; since burghs received two MPs, this meant that each MP for Gatton represented exactly one voter. [[Rotten Borough|The quirks]] of the existing system, such as Gatton, was one of the reasons for the [[Reform Act 1832]]. There were two scot and lot boroughs in [[Wales]]: [[Flint Boroughs (UK Parliament constituency)|Flint Boroughs]] (1727–1832) and [[Haverfordwest (UK Parliament constituency)|Haverfordwest]].

A [[cognate]] term, ''skat'', exists in the [[udal law]] of [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
*[[Danby Palmer Fry]], 'On the Phrase Scot and Lot', in ''Trans. Philological Society'' (1867), pp.&nbsp;167–197; 
*C. Gross, ''Gild Merchant'', i. c. iv.
*Pollock and Maitland, ''Hist. Eng. Law'', p.&nbsp;647.

{{Taxation in medieval England}}

[[Category:English legal terminology]]
[[Category:Local taxation in England]]
[[Category:Government of England]]
[[Category:Feudal duties]]
[[Category:Taxation in medieval England]]
[[Category:Property taxes]]
[[Category:Feudalism in England]]