he concept of the Burgess oath belongs - Aberdeen City Council

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he highest honour that the City ofAberdeen can bestow is by grantingFreedom of the City to anindividual or to an organisation, ashappened when the local Regiment, theGordon Highlanders, and the city’sadopted warship, HMS Scylla, weredeemed to merit such an honour.In recent decades those so admitted haveincluded Sir Winston Churchill, QueenElizabeth the Queen Mother, MikhailGorbachev, former President of Russia,and Sir Alex Ferguson, football manager,whose association with AberdeenFootball Club has passed into locallegend.To some general confusion, however,each was admitted not as a Freeman ofAberdeen but as a Free Burgess andGuild Brother (or sister). AlthoughFreedom ceremonies are civic affairsand the decision to admit a Free Burgessis taken by the Town Council, thehonour thus conveyed takes its originfrom the power and prestige of themedieval Guildry.In the time when overseas trading insimple and basic commodities was adriving force in Scotland’s quest foreconomic prosperity, admission withoutpayment to the ranks of the Guildry wasa privilege that few could dream of.From being a mark of gratitude to thosewho had served the burgh faithfully insome particular project or capacity, freeadmission to the ranks of GuildBurgesses rapidly became one of esteemand a means by which the Town Councilstrove to win friends and to exerciseinfluence.The first recorded admission as anHonorary Burgess is that of Robert deErskyne, Earl of Mar, whose entry in theCouncil Register of 28 December 1439reads that he is not bound to Scot andlot, watch and ward, responsibilitiescustomarily laid upon Burgesses. In1451, Andrew Fowler was admitted as aFree Burgess in return for repairing thebell of St Nicholas Church. He,however, was expected to takeresponsibility for Scot and lot, watchand ward.Over time, the convention developedthat honourands - those who, in atranslation of the ornate Latin of theRegister, were admitted in token of themost devoted love and affection and ofthe most distinguished respect - did nottake the Burgess oath.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother admires the FreedomCasket presented by Lord Provost Stephen.Sir Alex Ferguson and Winston Churchill follow the tradition of wearing their BurgessTickets on their hats.A second and much larger categoryadmitted by the favour and good will ofthe Council by the 18th Centuryextended through the social scale, fromjunior officers in marching regiments tominor peers of the Realm. These didtake the Burgess oath on admission andtechnically were entitled to tradingprivileges and obliged to discharge thecivic responsibilities of the Guildry.Trouble arose when stranger merchants,admitted by courtesy, claimed freedomfrom harbour tolls as Burgesses butsomehow forgot about the other side ofthe coin - willingness to be taxed withthe burgh and to stand to its defence intime of need.Originally, all admissions of Burgesseswere recorded in the Council Register,generally collected together on a singlepage just before the record of theMichaelmas Head Court which markedthe beginning of the Council year.From 1632 admissions were recorded asthey occurred during the year in thepages of a separate register. The recordsof entry fees, conditions imposed onentrants and the names of theircautioners, or proposers, can be readdown through the centuries.In 1783 a separate register was openedfor honorary and gratis Burgesses and in1796, when the existing Burgess registerwas completed, new separate registerswere begun for Guild and TradeBurgesses. English replaced Latin as thelanguage of registration for all exceptFree Burgesses in 1777.The last Burgesses admitted gratis by thefavour of the Council were a group ofnaval officers visiting Aberdeen in 1817,and in 1891 Andrew Carnegie, thefamous benefactor, was the first FreeBurgess to have his admission recordedin English.The old register was kept in use until1995 but 200-year-old paper is not goodto write on and the new City Councilcommissioned a new Freedom Registerwhich was inaugurated for Sir AlexFerguson’s Freedom ceremony in April1999.
Page 2 and 3: he concept of the Burgess oath belo
Page 4 and 5: Dean and Assessors with the pre 182
Page 6 and 7: Detail from Plan of Aberdeen 1661
Page 8: We do not know who were the firstBu
Page 11 and 12: ut Guild members had to pay a furth
Page 13 and 14: Although it was agreed that theGuil
Page 15 and 16: BURGESS OF GUILDABERDEEN1214Left to
Page 17 and 18: Royal authority for the formation o
Page 19 and 20: The Dean in full regaliamaintains a
Page 21: Guildries of Scottish burghs. At a
Page 25 and 26: The Dean of Guild andCity Archivist
Page 27 and 28: chosen each year from those who had

he concept of the Burgess oath belongs - Aberdeen City Council

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