he concept of the Burgess oath belongs - Aberdeen City Council

While the fairs attracted sellers andbuyers from a wide area, the weeklymarket existed primarily for the benefitof Burgesses. All goods had to bedisplayed for sale in open market onfixed days and at fixed hours so thateveryone had an equal chance to buy.Prices, too, were regulated, whether ofhousehold consumables or of rawmaterials for industry. Breaking the coderesulted in a fine.Those from outside the burgh whobrought goods to the market or whobought from it had to pay market tolls.These tolls and fines all went to swellthe Royal coffers, as did the customs ongoods imported and exported throughthe harbour. The King expectedtownsfolk to act as unpaid collectors andas baillies to run the burgh and add tohis income.A number of charters given bysucceeding Kings show how AberdeenBurgesses benefited from their patronageby the granting of trading privileges andexemption from tolls and customs, notonly in the burgh but throughoutScotland.Another privilege granted by KingWilliam gave Burgesses freedom to actas a corporate body with powers to makeits own rules of local government, aprecursor to the establishment of a TownCouncil.A later charter given by William’s son,King Alexander II, dated only Alyth 27February, conferred on Aberdeen rightsand privileges similar to thosepreviously granted by William the Lionto Perth. These included control ofwholesale trade in wool and skinsthroughout the Sheriffdom of Aberdeenand a grant to my Burgesses ofAberdeen, except waulkers and weavers,that they have their merchant guild.Thus, the Guild was established inemulation of the King’s burgh of Perthand of every other burgh withpretensions to overseas trade in cloth.The surprising thing is that this is thelast mention of the merchant guild ofAberdeen - records of burghadministration beginning in the 14thCentury refer simply to the Guild orGuildry of Aberdeen.While craftsmen, even as Burgesses,were restricted to dealing in goods oftheir own manufacture within Scotland,they could import raw materials fromabroad for their own use.Merchant Burgesses, on the other hand,could buy goods from many sourcesthrough the network of local markets,selling them at home and overseas andimporting manufactured goods andagricultural produce. This kind of trade,not based on manufacturing input, wasthe jealously guarded prerogative of theGuild brethren who paid significantlyhigher entry fees to the Town Council.Craftsmen could join the Guild onlyafter forswearing the practice of theircraft and by making up the entry fee tothe higher rate.In the early 15th Century when regularrecords began, every Burgess paid abasic fee, in real terms probably £100,