Noblesse
In Scotland, the name used for the titled and untitled nobility. The term, derived from the French, remains in use in grants of arms from the Court of the Lord Lyon, the Scottish king of arms. While the word "Nobility" is now generally used in the English language only for the Peers (Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, Barons) and maybe also the Baronets and Knights, all with a "Sir" title, it actually includes also the "untitled" to whom rightly belong the ranks and titles of "Esquire" (not given just as a courtesy to any person from letter writers) and "Gentleman" in the nobiliary sense. The minor nobility is in Scotland often referred to by the French word "Noblesse". In Scotland all legal armorial bearings have by warrant from the Lord Lyon King of Arms been entered in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland and are officially "Ensigns of Nobility", and without such legal Arms it is practically impossible to prove one's nobiliary status. (Cf: Innes of Learney, Sir Thomas (Lord Lyon King of Arms): Scots Heraldry, 2nd ed. p. 20f; 3rd ed. p. 13.)
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