THE abolition of 1,000 years of feudalism in Scotland will lead to a flood of bogus barony titles, the head of one of the country’s oldest noble families has warned, writes Mark Macaskill.

Niall Livingstone, Younger of Bachuil, whose family title dates back to the 6th century, said that the new land reform laws will remove the traditional legal safeguards that confirm their authenticity.

Until now all titles have had to be sold with a parcel of land relevant to the barony. The transactions, including the barony details, have been recorded on the official land registry.

However, the Abolition of Feudal Tenure Act 2000, which came into force today, removes the landowning element of a barony title. Only land transactions will be registered — not the barony, leaving prospective buyers with no way to check the authenticity of the title they are being sold on official records.

Livingstone, who is spokesman for the Convention of the Baronage of Scotland, believes that the change will create a lucrative market for those peddling fake titles.

Barony titles can fetch up to £750,000. He estimates that only 10% of the estimated 2,500 barony titles held in Scotland are genuine.

“There is a strong consensus that this situation has already gone too far,” said Livingstone.

“Separating the title from the land will undoubtedly make it even more difficult to detect dubious claims.”

Unlike English titles, Scottish baronies will continue to be transferable to an heir as ministers decided not to scrap the titles in case it prompted huge compensation claims from owners deprived of a “heritable asset”.

The titles, many dating from medieval times, allow the owner to use the prefix of baron on official documents, credit cards and cheques, but do not confer aristocratic status.

“It won’t make it easier to get a title,” said Brian Hamilton, a broker with Scottish Barony Titles. “I’ve sold 21 titles this year; only one had a substantial amount of land. I don’t think it will cheapen baronial titles. People buy them for the association with Scotland, the genealogy, the historical importance.”

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