De Verborum Significatione

Details of De Verborum Significatione: the exposition of the termes and difficill wordes, conteined in the foure buikes of Regiam Majestatem, and others, in the actes of Parliament, infeftments, and used in practicque of this realme, with diverse rules, and commoun places, or principalles of the lawes

Publisher London : Printed by E.G.
Year 1641
Pages 198
Language English

Preface

Have rather opened and showed one occasion to the grand Reader, to performed this
Make, then exposed, or declared the famine being one matter notch plea and in itself, nor treated by others before: Gif I have pleased to do well or attempted that “quhilkvthers mare accompltfl) and makgperfite
the profile and com modi tie redonndis to thee^ quka at thy
pkafure-t may bigvpon this little ground and fitndamenh
Gifvtherwaies be error or ignorance % lhammchtfatis§ed
thy deft re and expectation % Sit errant i medicina con-
feffio. For ane abfolute memorie^ andperfiteknawltdge*
in na thing erroneous ^ is proper to Cod y and not compt~
tent to man * ghthat cuer J ham done y f did it not to offend
thee or diffkaj&axy man^ bet to provoke vthers to do bet-
ter^ alwaies for thine awinweilj bewarre to reprehend my
doing? fiowand from ane benevolent^ and gude mind* ex-
cept thou be affuredto be reprehended of nama# y qnha ch*
mis after t l*ee and fall cenfure t by doings. I am affray ed of
all Readers^ for ilkjnan hes his amin Judgement O* opini-
on* quhairof their is ah mony contrarieties^ as dtuetffties
ofperfons* Advife therefore^ (J* or (houd) ony thing fafit”
ty y gif thou may? tranfatl and agree rpith all the pojleritie^
that albeit thou doo alfwelas Homer in hh poefte: nane of
them be HRtotlxefucceffor or imitator §j Zoilus:/*? Great Hthevar 7 €iieofingittef} an iiml’m ftims } that nam cm
before frareprehenjtGtt. Reade the cfore> and mukethv
profit* ofgui thmgtt *C or reft mjdeftiie al e rrours , qu ilk*
*re igm&ratfti and mcbt wtifkH* Eikjdmceff^its emit*
ted. Cut awaie al fuperfiaitiet adk&ed. And quhateutr
thou doe tftnme afme 7 as I do* of thee and afal^ to quhafc
kpaxvkdges this my tittle Ubonr fal happen to cum.
Viue^Valetfi. quid neuifti re& ius ifiis,
Candidas imperii ifimn^ his uUre mtcam”

About the Author: John Skene, Lord Curriehill (c. 1543-1617)

In the words of the Tarlton Law Library (University of Texas School of Law):

“John Skene was born into a noble Scottish family. Title page, De verborum significatione, 1597After possibly attending school in Aberdeen, and later King’s College, Aberdeen, he joined St. Mary’s College, St. Andrews, becoming regent in 1565. After seven years in Europe studying law, Skene returned to Scotland and was admitted as an advocate in 1575. In 1594 he was appointed clerk register and began reviewing exchequer records. From 1592, Skene served on a commission to review and print acts of parliament and other laws resulting in the publication of The Lawes and actes of Parliament, maid be King Iames the First, and his successours kinges of Scotland (1597).

The dictionary represents the fifth and final part of The Lawes and actes of Parliament. Skene’s dictionary was the first Scottish attempt to define the language of the law. Perhaps best described as “idiosyncratic,” the work drew extensively on earlier sources. A second edition of the compilation appeared in 1599, and it was rumored that Skene also prepared a third, unpublished, edition. The dictionary is littered with arcane spellings, peculiar grammar, and odd topics. Despite these limitations, the dictionary did fill a genuine lacuna and prompted other Scottish writers to improve upon the original.

In spite of shared borders with England and a common language, in Scotland, legal principles and nomenclature were drawn largely from Roman law rather than Common Law, creating parallel systems with similar ideals, but with substantial jurisprudential differences.”

Resources

See Also

• Scottish Law
• Scotland
• The Interpreter
• One-L Dictionary
• A Dictionary of the Norman or Old French Language
• Termes de la ley
• A New and Complete Law-Dictionary
• Oran’s Dictionary of the Law
• Legal Lexicography
• Pocket Spanish English Legal Dictionary
• Nomo-Lexicon: a Law Dictionary
• Dictionaries

Further Reading

• Athol Murray. “Skene, Sir John, of Curriehill (c.1540-1617).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004