72:"to search, seek, take and apprehend the aforesaid persons, rebels and fugitives above-named, wherever they can be apprehended; and if they can be captured, to put them to the knowledge of any assize for the crimes aforesaid and to administer justice upon them and execute them to the death; and, if need be, to raise fire and sword and to burn their houses and slay them in case they make opposition or resistance in the taking and apprehending."
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In an era when the practical reach of central government was limited, the issuing authority (generally the king) would issue a commission to a single individual or a number of individuals authorising and requiring him or them to take steps to deal with the particular problem with which the authority
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and the gentlemen of the king’s chamber for control over the process, resulting in orders by the council in 1587, 1594 and 1598, which cancelled all existing commissions, and in 1608, which cancelled commissions that permitted the bearing of fire-arms. A statute in 1592 also sought to put an end to
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The powers granted under such commissions were extensive and draconian and often included the power to administer summary justice, with no subsequent obligation to account for the steps taken. The archetype was the "commission of fire and sword" which features prominently in clan history in the
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general commissions (as opposed to particular commissions targeted against specific individuals), and the establishment of a register of signet commissions in 1608 is further evidence of the council’s (ultimately successful) campaign to regularise their issue.
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A system of this kind was clearly open to abuse and was not infrequently employed by the great magnates to carry on personal feuds or campaigns of self-aggrandisement. In the late 16th century there was something of a power struggle between the
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was concerned. The problem might consist in a particular crime, a particular criminal or criminals, or wider local disorder.
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One form of commission of justiciary that survived until well into the 17th century was that employed for the purpose of
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in 1596/7, which was intermittently renewed and led ultimately to
Mackenzie’s annexation of Lewis.
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contains characteristic language, authorising a number of individuals:
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Notable examples of commissions of fire and sword include:
188:The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707
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47:, in particular in the 16th and 17th centuries.
60:Highlands. A commission granted in 1649 by the
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204:(Oxford University Press, 2004), at pp.199-200
27:Method of law enforcement employed in Scotland
190:(St. Andrews, 2007), accessed on 9 July 2008
43:was a method of law enforcement employed in
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202:The Government of Scotland, 1560-1625
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137:Sir James MacDonald, 9th of Dunnyveg
217:(Manchester University Press, 2002)
125:in 1681 and 1688, resulting in the
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215:The Scottish Witch-hunt in context
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233:History of the Scottish Highlands
133:Sir Hector Og Maclean, 15th Chief
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55:Commission of fire and sword
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243:Law enforcement in Scotland
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253:17th century in Scotland
248:16th century in Scotland
41:commission of justiciary
32:Not to be confused with
81:Galbraith of Culcreuch
238:Scottish criminal law
121:of Torcastle against
107:against royalists in
62:estates of parliament
123:Macdonald of Keppoch
91:Mackenzie of Kintail
141:Battle of Benbigrie
258:Courts of Scotland
186:K.M.Brown et al.,
66:Earl of Sutherland
148:Political control
139:resulting in the
64:in favour of the
16:(Redirected from
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213:Julian Goodare,
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200:Julian Goodare,
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127:Battle of Mulroy
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168:witch-hunting
162:Witch-hunting
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135:against the
83:against the
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85:Clan Gregor
227:Categories
174:References
119:Mackintosh
18:Justiciary
34:Justiciar
115:in 1640.
95:Macleods
93:against
87:in 1593.
45:Scotland
109:Atholl
113:Angus
99:Lewis
111:and
97:in
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39:A
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