Lord High Constable of Scotland

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For other uses, see Lord High Constable.

The Lord High Constable is a hereditary, now ceremonial, office of Scotland.

The Lord High Constable was, after the King of Scots, the supreme officer of the Scottish army. He also performed judicial functions as the chief judge of the High Court of Constabulary. From the late 13th century the Court, presided over by the Lord High Constable or his deputies, was empowered to judge all cases of rioting, disorder, bloodshed, and murder if such crimes occurred within four miles of the King, the King's Council, or the Parliament of Scotland. Following James VI's move to England, the jurisdiction of the Lord High Constable was defined in terms of the "resident place" appointed for the Council.

He also held several honorific privileges, such as the right to sit on the right side of the King when he attended Parliament, custody of the keys to Parliament House, the ceremonial command of the King's bodyguards, and precedence above all Scotsmen except the members of the Royal Family and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland. Most of the powers, however, disappeared when Scotland and England combined into Great Britain under the Act of Union 1707. The office, nonetheless, continues as a ceremonial one.

The office became hereditary in the twelfth century and has been held by the Hays of Erroll, later Earls of Erroll, since 1314 (before that, the office was held by the Comyn family, who ended up on the wrong side of the Wars of Scottish Independence). The Constable and the Duke of Hamilton (as Earl of Angus) may sit as assessors to the Lord Lyon King of Arms. The Earl of Erroll, Lord High Constable, is one of three peers entitled to appoint a private pursuivant, with the title of Slains Pursuivant of Arms.

In 1952, the Court of Claims allowed the right of the Countess of Erroll, as Lord High Constable, to be present by deputy at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II