Talk:Royal burgh
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[edit] Royal burgh charters
Am I right in thinking all royal burgh charters were modelled on a borough charter of Newcastle upon Tyne? Laurel Bush 12:55, 27 January 2006 (UTC).
Unlikely. Why would it be?
- I didn't spot any reference to it at the Newcastle upon Tyne article. What date was it granted? Rutherglen claims to be one of the first Royal Burghs: 1126.--Mais oui! 19:10, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
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- I take it back. You are correct, assuming that this article is well-sourced, and it certainly appears to be:
- --Mais oui! 22:43, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
Cheers. Think it is something I first read in the book Scotland: A New History by Michael Lynch. Laurel Bush 12:01, 28 January 2006 (UTC).
It's a good point that there is little direct evidence for Newcastle being the source. Howeover, there are a large number of reasons for believing it was; burghal laws are usually modelled on another town, and it is difficult to see where else they could have been modelled on. G.W.S. Barrow wrote that "it is no rash guess that between 1136 and 1157, when they held Newcastle, the Scottish kings transferred the customs of that comparatively young English borough to the their own towns of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Roxburgh, Edinburg and Stirling" (Barrow, Kingship and unity, p. 98) I need to modify the text of this article anyways, since it is about burghs in general rather than royal burghs (which are different). I have an image I made which got superseded from another article; I'll post it. - 01:33, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] City Status
I'm pretty sure that royal burgh status was not revoked on becoming a city. [1] describes "The Freedom of Entry into the City and Royal Burgh of Glasgow" being granted to the Highland Light Infantry and later the Royal Highland Fusiliers (as they had become). Also the 1911 Encclopedia Brittanica describes Aberdeen as "a royal burgh, city and county of a city". Edinburgh is called "The City and Royal Burgh of Edinburgh" in official legislation [2], and so on. Lozleader 17:54, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
