Advocates’ Hats, Roman Law and Admission to the Scots Bar, 1580–1812

Abstract

Abstract The final ceremony for admission as an advocate before the College of Justice in Scotland formerly was the delivery of a speech in Latin on a text of the Corpus iuris civilis from a corner of the bench. The intrant advocate wore a hat for this ceremony. This article discusses the procedures for admission as an advocate to argue that the ritual of wearing a hat had a symbolic meaning central to the aspirations of the Faculty of Advocates. Eventually misunderstood, the ceremony was dispensed with in the early nineteenth century.