BAND - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

BANDAuthored

The Law Mind • 849 words

Definition

In old Scots law, a proclamation by public authority calling out a military force. The term functioned as a command or summons directed to men subject to military obligation, requiring them to present themselves or their armed retainers before a justice or other designated authority. Closely related to BAN in its proclamatory character, BAND reflects the administrative and military governance practices of medieval and early modern Scotland.

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Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A strip of material used for strengthening, coupling, or binding things together; a narrow strip of cloth on clothing used to bind, strengthen, or ornament it; a strip along the spine of a book where pages are attached.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A fillet, strap, or narrow ligament with which a thing is encircled, fastened, or by which a number of things are tied, bound together, or confined; also a continuous stripe or series of ornaments in architecture.

The common meaning of BAND — a physical strip binding objects together — shares a conceptual ancestor with the legal term but diverges sharply in application. The Scots law usage is administrative and military: a spoken or written proclamation compelling human attendance, not a material fastening. A researcher encountering BAND in an old Scots legal record should not read it through the physical or musical associations the word carries today.

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Common Confusion

BAND and BAN are closely related in Scots legal usage and the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably or in close proximity in historical sources. BAN is the broader proclamatory concept — an authoritative public announcement with legal force — while BAND refers more specifically to the military call-out application of that proclamatory power. Burrill's entry explicitly directs the reader to BAN as the parent concept. In later English legal usage, BAN survived in ecclesiastical contexts (banns of marriage), while BAND in the Scots military sense became obsolete. Neither term should be confused with BOND, a written obligation, though all three share an etymological root in the idea of binding.

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Why It Matters in Research

BAND as a legal term is almost entirely confined to old Scots law sources, primarily criminal trials and parliamentary records from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. Researchers working with Pitcairn's Criminal Trials of Scotland — the source Burrill quotes directly — will encounter the term in its procedural context: failure to comply with a General Band was itself a prosecutable offense. The quoted passage from Pitcairn makes this explicit: men were charged with "contravention of the General Band" for failing to present themselves or their men before the justice.

Three research traps are worth noting. First, Anderson's Dictionary of Law lists BAND without a substantive entry, instead redirecting to UXORICIDE, which is almost certainly a typographical or editorial error in the source and has no relationship to the Scots law term. Researchers should not infer any connection between BAND and homicide doctrine. Second, the term appears in highly archaic spelling in original Scots records — "bande," "band," "ban" — requiring careful attention to context to distinguish the proclamatory meaning from surrounding text. Third, because BAND is obsolete and jurisdiction-specific, it will not appear in modern legal dictionaries without a historical focus; researchers using only contemporary secondary sources will find no entry and may misread the term entirely.

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Historical Dictionary Support

Black's Law Dictionary (both the first and second editions) and Burrill's Law Dictionary are in precise agreement: BAND in old Scots law is a proclamation calling out a military force, and the term is identified as obsolete and jurisdiction-specific. Burrill adds the most value by connecting the definition to a concrete source — Pitcairn's Criminal Trials — and by reproducing an actual passage in period spelling, giving researchers a documentary anchor.

Anderson's Dictionary of Law contributes nothing useful on this term; its cross-reference to UXORICIDE appears to be a cataloging error and should be disregarded. Researchers relying on Anderson alone would be misled.

None of the historical dictionaries address the procedural mechanics of how a General Band was issued, what authorities could issue one, or what penalties attached to non-compliance beyond what can be inferred from the Pitcairn quotation. For that depth, researchers must go directly to Pitcairn and to the Acts of the Parliament of Scotland.

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Jurisdictional Note

BAND in this legal sense is specific to old Scots law and has no recognized equivalent in English common law or other common law jurisdictions. It is a historical term with no modern operative meaning in any jurisdiction. It should not be cited or applied outside the Scots legal historical context.

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BANDmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

In old Scotch law. A proclama- tion calling out a military force. D

BANDmain

Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890

Uxorcide. See HOMICIDE.

BANDmain

Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1867

Sc. [see Ban.] In old Scotch law. A proclamation calling out a military force. "Dilatit of the contravention of the General Band, and of the Actes of Parliament in nocht presenting of thair menne before the Justice or his deputes." 1 Pitcairn's Crim. Trials, part 1, p. 205.

BANDn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

A fillet, strap, or any narrow ligament with which a thing is encircled, or fastened, or by which a number of things are tied, bound together, or confined; a fetter. Every one's bands were loosed. Acis xvi 26. A continuous tablet, stripe, or series of ornaments, as of carved foliage, of color, or of brickwork, etc. In Gothic architecture, the molding, or suite of moldings, which encircles the pillars and small shafts. That which serves as the means of union or connection between persons; a tie. "To join in Hymen's bands." Shak. A linen collar or ruff worn in the 16th and 17th centuries. Two strips of linen hanging from the neck in front as part of a clerical, legal, or academic dress. A narrow strip of cloth or other material on any article of dress, to bind, strengthen, ornament, or complete it. "Band and gusset and seam." Hood. A company of persons united in any common design, especially a body of armed men. Troops of horsemen with his bands of foot. Shak. A number of musicians who play together upon portable musical instruments, especially those making a loud sound, as certain wind instruments (trumpets, clarinets, etc.), and drums, or cymbals. A space between elevated lines or ribs, as of the fruits of umbelliferous plants. A stripe, streak, or other mark transverse to the axis of the body. A belt or strap. A bond [Obs.] "Thy oath and band." Shak. Pledge; security. [Obs.] Spenser. Band saw, a saw in the form of an endless steel belt, with teeth on one edge, running over wheels.

BANDv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To bind or tie with a band. To mark with a band. To unite in a troop, company, or confederacy. "Banded against his throne." Milton. Banded architrave, pier, shaft, etc. (Arch.), an architrave, pier, etc., of which the regular profile is interrupted by blocks or projections crossing it at right angles.

BANDv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To confederate for some common purpose; to unite; to conspire together. Certain of the Jews banded together. Acts xxiii. 12.

Bandname

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

A surname from German.

bandnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling. | A strip of material wrapped around things to hold them together. | A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling. | A narrow strip of cloth or other material on clothing, to bind, strengthen, or ornament it. | A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling. | A strip along the spine of a book where the pages are attached. | A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling. | A belt or strap that is part of a machine. | A long strip of material, color, etc, that is different from the surrounding area. | A strip of decoration. | A continuous tablet, stripe, or series of ornaments, as of carved foliage, of colour, or of brickwork. | A strip of decoration. | In Gothic architecture, the moulding, or suite of mouldings, which encircles the pillars and small shafts. | That which serves as the means of union or connection between persons; a tie. | A linen collar or ruff worn in the 16th and 17th centuries. | Two strips of linen hanging from the neck in front as part of a clerical, legal, or academic dress. | A part of the electromagnetic spectrum. | A group of energy levels in a solid state material. | A bond. | Pledge; security. | A ring, such as a wedding ring (wedding band), or a ring put on a bird's leg to identify it. | Any distinguishing line formed by chromatography, electrophoresis etc | Ellipsis of band cell. | A wad of money totaling $1K, held together by a band; (by extension) $1000, a grand; (by extension) money | A designated range of radio frequencies used for wireless communication.

bandverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

To fasten with a band. | To fasten an identifying band around the leg of (a bird).

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