Since Scots-titles.com has been set up by Internet trolls, there is not much in the way of research or references to back their allegations. Clearly, the founding fathers have not bothered too much digging up reliable sources for their allegations (which would be a tough job in any event), most likely hoping that statements like "this is illegal!" and "this is fake!" would appear more legitimate by the use of bold fonts and expletives.
A rather pathetic attempt at mustering some credibility has been made in the lower right corner, where the site has listed some "useful links", inter alia to the Lord Lyon and the 7th Earl of Bradford, clearly hoping that these links will suffice to give the impression that Scots-titles.com is somehow supported by these other sites. Obviously, they are not. Neither the Lord Lyon nor the 7th Earl of Bradford have ever claimed that the Scots souvenir plot sales are illegal - simply because they are not - and you may rest assured that neither the Lord Lyon nor the eccentric 7th Earl of Bradford would wish to be associated with this common mob. Unfortunately, you simply cannot help who is linking to you.
As for the false allegations on the site:
1. "To be a real Scottish Laird (or Baron) you will have to be recognised by some official authority."
False. You can very well be the holder of a Scottish barony without ever having been granted arms by the Lord Lyon, and as for the Laird title it is not protected and can be used by any Scottish landowner.
2. "If you feel someone with a FAKE Scottish Title is using it for fraudulent purposes you should contact The Court of The Lord Lyon."
Using your title for fraudulent purposes is of course illegal as is any other form of fraud (like using your name or address for fraudulent purposes). Using your title for fraudulent purposes would for instance imply using your title to obtain money by deception or to commit an offience. But if you are using your title for strictly personal purposes, then you are not trying to defraud anyone and hence you are not violating the law. The sole purpose of this statement is to scare people away from using their legally obtained titles. Do not let them get away with spoiling something you enjoy.
3. "Please also ‘link to‘ and spread the word about ‘Fake Scots Titles’."
Oh yes, here we go. Since Internet trolls are attention-seekers they would naturally encourage you to give them link love. Whatever you do, do not link to them - this will help promote them in Google's search rank.
4. "Help Stop people becoming victims of this scam “become a Laird, Lord or Lady of your own Highland Estate”."
Well, isn't this touching? All of a sudden they want to protect the 'victims'. The very same "talentless", "mentally debilitated", "sad" "fools" "having some sort of fit" that they just love to abuse on the other pages. We don't know about you, but we feel really touched right now.
5. "Those that visited Scotland were probably blissfully unaware that they were in fact breaking “Scottish Law”."
Again a completely unfounded allegation. You can rely on the fact that if any laws had been broken, Scots-titles.com would have linked to, and qouted from, that particular piece of legislation. However, bereft of that opportunity, just vaguely referring to "breaking the law" is so convenient, isn't it? Especially when you are in fact referring to de lege ferenda (the law as you would like it to be) instead of de lege lata (the law as it actually is).
It is not illegal to use to use the Scottish Laird title and there are no grounds for this claim, neither in statute, common law or in literature. Moreover, it defies common sense. The souvenir plot sales have been going on since the 1980s, and obviously, if such sales - or the use of the title - had been illegal, the authorities would have managed to prosecute at least one of the sellers by now... In fact, both the Lord Lyon and the Procurator Fiscal are well aware that these sales are going on and have never made any attempt to interfere.
Funnily enough, the Scots-titles.com mob have actually tried to report this alleged crime to what they believed to be the appropriate authority on the matter, the Procurator Fiscal of Scotland, but he refused to intervene (in fact he only deals with arms and not with titles, but hey, you can't be expected to know everything, can you?). His reply is posted in their Facebook group. Read and enjoy. Well, I guess that was a minor set-back, but who gives a toss as long as you can scare people off by loosely referring to 'breaking the law'?
6. "The purchase of land in Scotland is not sufficient, per se, to qualify anyone to legally use the title of Laird."
Oh, really? And what did you base that on again?
7. "nor do the purchasers have any ownership rights in the land. It’s a complete Con!"
Scots-titles.com are backing this wildly untrue statement with some muddled gibberish about the sale of souvenir titles being exempt from registration in the Scottish Land Register and hence impossible (?) or even illegal (?) to carry out. It is difficult to follow their reasoning if ever there were any reason behind it. The precondition for the veracity of such a statement would be that any contract of sale were illegal unless the sale could be entered in a public register. That would mean that it is illegal for you to buy milk in the shop every day. Or new clothes. A bicycle. Or any other Scottish souvenirs, for that matter.
Errr...no hang on there a minute, that doesn't sound right? Could it be that a sale may actually be completely legal even if it is not publicly registered? Well, don't take our word for it. Why don't you instead contact a Scottish property solicitor and ask if it is possible to legally buy and sell a souvenir plot? There are actually several ways of going about it legally, including setting up trusts, leases, contract law missives and uninfeft proprietorship.
8. "The Act also states that it is not possible to legally buy such small pieces of land."
Completely untrue, plain and simple. The Act states no such thing and they know it (one hopes...).
