he concept of the Burgess oath belongs - Aberdeen City Council

We do not know who were the firstBurgesses in Aberdeen nor do we have afirm foundation date for the burgh, butthere are several pointers.The earliest document in Aberdeen cityarchives, a charter of King William theLion from c.1180, claimed that theprivileges of those burghs north of theMounth - a recognised track crossing thehills and leading to south markets - wereestablished by his grandfather, KingDavid, who died in 1153.King David had fought severalcampaigns against old established Celticleaders to extend his Royal authoritythroughout Scotland and one of his actswas to confer on Aberdeen the status ofa Royal burgh which was also a meansof ensuring more taxes being raisedfor his coffers. It also allowed him, inturn, to confer trading privileges onthose who offered their loyalty.The attraction of living and working in aRoyal burgh for anyone with drive andinitiative in the 12th Century is simple tounderstand. Craftsmen and traders werefree men in relation to everyone excepttheir lord, the King. They could callupon the support of Royal officials toprotect them from any oppression bylesser lords, and they could be tried onlyin the King’s court. The downside, ofcourse, was the arbitrary nature of Royaltaxation.The organisation of a burgh in thosedays was quite simple. An area withinrecognisable boundaries was designatedas the burgh, within which a code oflaws geared to the needs ofmanufacturers and traders, as well as tothe maintenance of public order, hadauthority.Within the burgh, a market place wasdesignated, streets laid out and buildingstances created on regular lines alongand between streets. In Aberdeen, theCastlegate contained the largest marketsquare in medieval Scotland. Weeklymarkets and annual fairs wereestablished and alongside them a burghcourt for the speedy resolution ofdisputes between buyers and sellers.