Ok, so is this a scam or a genuine conservation effort?

[AFS1970]

More than 145K for an acre? No one ever said the Scots were dumb.

At least these plots are big enough to make a landing strip for the Saltire.

As for not being sold out from under you, that is a buyer beware issue, dependent entirely on the scruples of the main estate owners. There is a cemetery not to far from my home that was investigate for reselling the same plots for years. So I can see many different foreigners finding out one day that they had all bought the same square foot of land. At least that would be better than finding out that the whole pasture had been sold for a skyscraper, and you now owned a bit of the basement.

However I do have a mostly serious question, does the number before Laird, as in the 1st Laird of such and such, have to do with a generation or merely a number of how many there are? Are new buyers going to be happy with titles like 407th Laird of somewhere?

[ThistleDown]

More than 145K for an acre? No one ever said the Scots were dumb.

At least these plots are big enough to make a landing strip for the Saltire.

As for not being sold out from under you, that is a buyer beware issue, dependent entirely on the scruples of the main estate owners. There is a cemetery not to far from my home that was investigate for reselling the same plots for years. So I can see many different foreigners finding out one day that they had all bought the same square foot of land. At least that would be better than finding out that the whole pasture had been sold for a skyscraper, and you now owned a bit of the basement.

However I do have a mostly serious question, does the number before Laird, as in the 1st Laird of such and such, have to do with a generation or merely a number of how many there are? Are new buyers going to be happy with titles like 407th Laird of somewhere?

Hmmm. Well firstly you are quoting US law not Scots law. Somewhat different I should think. Secondly the whole thing is, surely, tongue in cheek. Does anyone seriously think they become a laird (or, even better, a lord) for having bought a square yard of turf? And thirdly, I suspect that the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 480th are titles given our lads to themselves and has to do with the order in which they made their turf-buy.

[AFS1970]

Hmmm. Well firstly you are quoting US law not Scots law. Somewhat different I should think. Secondly the whole thing is, surely, tongue in cheek. Does anyone seriously think they become a laird (or, even better, a lord) for having bought a square yard of turf? And thirdly, I suspect that the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 480th are titles given our lads to themselves and has to do with the order in which they made their turf-buy.

I suppose that it does not really matter where the law is from if it is being broken. My point was merely that such deals are at the mercy of the sellers own sense of ethics. Which I have no reason to doubt in this case, just making the point.

As for becoming a Laid by buying a square yard of turf, well if the only real definition is landowner, then I would guess that owning land does indeed qualify you to the title. However as offers like this are likely only known in the Scottish cultural community (like here) it would also seem that anyone to whom it would matter, would also be able to see through such a flimsy title.

Thanks for the answer about numbering, that is what I suspected. Of course if the numbers are not issued by the seller and are instead only traded among Lairds, there is the chance one could run into another 517th Laid of whooseywhatsus. Wouldn't that be embarrassing.

[ccga3359]

Hummm, Jock with his farming hat on, OK, humm, he thinks to himself----- £30 a square yard---- 4840 square yards to an acre-------- hummm where is the calculator? Hummmm £30 X 4840 =£145200 an acre------GULP-------GASP--------HOW MUCH!!!!!!!??????? Good lord, there was a time not so long ago when you could have bought most of Inverness-shire for that!

I've got a feeling that Jock will be selling me a little plot of his land down in the bog. Gives a whole new meaning when Jock says "Grant, I've always had a soft spot for you"!

Laird may be an official title but can one legally use it outside of Scotland? I recall Lord Conrad Black had to renouce his Canadian Citizenship to become a peer (Canadian law) even though the Queen of Great Britain and the Queen of Canada are one in the same. canada does not recognize peerage. I wonder, would I have to do the same if H.M. bestowed me the same title, me being English born.

[Bigkahuna]

Wow!!!! And here I thought I was the 1st Laird of Lochaber. Oh well. At least I'm on the list.

[ThistleDown]

Not to belabour this, but to clarify for everyone. A "laird" is the owner of extensive property in Scotland. As a laird he is not a member of the peerage and is somewhat akin to a squire in England. He is not -- by virtue of his "lairdship" -- a "lord". He may, of course, also be a peer but that's a separate thing.

The owner of a lovely little bungalow in Blackhall or Penicuik is not a laird, and neither is the chap who owns a holiday chalet in Plocton or a semi-detached in Inverness. Some on this Board are; Hamish and The Wiz and Big Mikey and Bigkahuna may call themselves lairds offshore but they are not considered as such in Scotland.

For those who buy their square yard it's all in fun and in aid of good causes; for those who sell it's a very important means of providing capital for conservation and rehabilitation projects. And, in law, it secures the bit of unproductive land forever (or the term of the fine print, at least).

Rex

[ThistleDown]

Hummm, Jock with his farming hat on, OK, humm, he thinks to himself----- £30 a square yard---- 4840 square yards to an acre-------- hummm where is the calculator? Hummmm £30 X 4840 =£145200 an acre------GULP-------GASP--------HOW MUCH!!!!!!!??????? Good lord, there was a time not so long ago when you could have bought most of Inverness-shire for that!

Have you looked at the prices of the flats in the old abbey, Jock? http://www.highlandclubscotland.co.u...y-For-Sale.php