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

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.