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The
person wishing to apply for a new Grant of Arms to himself should do
so by submitting a formal Petition to the Lord Lyon King of Arms drawn
up as in the
fictitious specimen. At the top, the Petitioner should state his
Christian names in full and his surname, followed by any rank,
decorations, qualifications and profession or occupation, and end the
paragraph with "residing at" followed by his address. Beneath "HUMBLY
SHEWETH" the Petitioner should set out his ancestry, or as much of it
as he wishes to have included in his Grant of Arms and can prove. The
Petitioner should set out the details of his ancestry in numbered
paragraphs, one per generation. The proofs required are Certificates
of Birth or Marriage for each fact stated, or Certified Extracts from
appropriate Registers, Census Records, Wills, Sasines, etc.
The Certificates should be accompanied by a separate "Schedule of
Proofs", with the Certificates numbered as per the paragraphs in the
Petition and listed according to the facts they prove. A specimen "Schedule
of Proofs" for the specimen petition. The Petition should then be
signed and dated and sent with its accompanying Certificates and
Schedule of Proofs to Lyon Clerk of the Court of the Lord Lyon. It
should be accompanied by a covering letter from the Petitioner,
indicating his views and wishes on the following subjects.
The
Letters Patent, which the Petitioner will eventually receive when the
Arms are granted, is a formal title deed from the Crown. It is
permanent in effect, granting the Arms for ever and protecting them in
the Laws of Scotland. The Arms granted are heritable property, and
will be inherited by the petitioner's heir, normally his eldest son,
and by his eldest son in turn, and so on for ever. Younger children
inherit only a right to matriculate the Arms with a slight difference
added, and they must petition separately for this to be done. The form
and content of the Arms should therefore be very carefully considered
before the Petitioner is permanently committed to them. The Lord Lyon
is pleased to consider the Petitioner's own suggestions, and will
write and discuss them with him once the Petition has been received.
The Petitioner should also carefully consider whom he wishes to
inherit his Arms or a different version of them. His wish is set out
as a "destination" for the Arms, destining them to all his
descendants, or the descendants of the father, or to any other such
limitation. The Lord Lyon will be pleased to discuss this too with the
Petitioner, and will advise him as need be.
When these matters have been agreed, the Lord Lyon will pronounce his
judgement and instruct Lyon Clerk to prepare the Petitioner's Letters
Patent. The Petitioner will then receive from Lyon Clerk a draft text
for the Letters Patent for him to check and approve, and a note of the
fees to H.M. Treasury and the Herald Painter which must now be paid.
Once the draft text has been approved and the
fees paid by
the Petitioner, the Lyon Clerk will in due course send him the Letters
Patent granting the Arms. A copy of the Arms and the text of the
Letters Patent is placed on record in name of the Petitioner in the
Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, and the process
is complete. |
