Definition
In Scots law, *tak* is an archaic form of *tack*, meaning a lease or tenancy agreement. The term appears in historical Scottish legal sources as both a noun (the lease instrument itself) and, in verb form, as the act of taking or holding land under such an arrangement. As a noun, a tak granted the holder — the tacksman — a right of possession over land for a fixed term, typically in exchange for rent or service rendered to the landowner.
The term is largely obsolete in modern legal usage, having been displaced by standard English equivalents, but remains essential for reading pre-nineteenth century Scottish legal records, conveyancing documents, and institutional writings.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): An archaic or dialectal form of "to take."
Historical common usage: In older Scots English, *tak* carried the ordinary meaning of taking or receiving, with no necessary legal content.
Editorial note: The gap between common and legal meaning is significant in historical sources. In ordinary Scots English, *tak* simply meant to take or grasp. In legal documents, however, *tak* (or *tack*) denoted a specific conveyancing instrument — a lease — with defined legal consequences for both grantor and tacksman. A reader encountering the word in historical records must determine from context whether it carries its ordinary meaning or its technical legal sense.
Common Confusion
*Tak* and *tack* are variant spellings of the same Scots legal concept and should be treated as equivalent in historical sources. Neither term should be confused with the English law concept of *taking* in the eminent domain or property seizure sense, which carries entirely different legal content. Similarly, *tacksman* is a term of art for the lease-holder under a tak, not a generic term for anyone who takes possession of property.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in Scottish historical legal records — particularly institutional writings, court records, and conveyancing documents from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries — will encounter *tak* frequently. Several navigational points are essential:
First, *tak* and *tack* are interchangeable in the sources. Burrill's entry bridges the two spellings, but older Scottish documents may use either without signaling which is intended. Search strategies should account for both.
Second, the legal status of a tacksman after the expiry of a tak is a recurring issue in historical Scottish property disputes. The Burrill citation to Forbes' Institutes specifically flags the question of peaceful possession after a tack's expiration — a practical problem that generated substantial litigation and commentary. Researchers tracing Scottish tenancy disputes should note that the rights and obligations of a holdover tacksman were contested ground.
Third, the term has essentially no living legal significance. Modern Scottish property law, particularly following the Land Tenure Reform (Scotland) Act 1974 and subsequent legislation, uses contemporary lease terminology. *Tak* is encountered only in historical materials and should not be projected onto modern Scots law.
Fourth, because the term is Scots-specific, English legal dictionaries (including Bouvier and Black's) do not address it. Researchers relying solely on English-language legal dictionaries will find no entry. Burrill's is one of the few general American legal dictionaries that acknowledges Scots institutional sources at all, and its entry here is brief — pointing researchers toward Forbes' Institutes as the primary authority rather than offering independent analysis.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary provides the primary reference point in the Law Mind corpus. The entry is spare, appearing as a cross-reference in the context of a tacksman's rights upon expiration of possession rather than as a standalone definition of the instrument itself. Burrill cites Forbes' Institutes, Part 2, page 153, as the governing authority — pointing readers to John Forbes' *Institutes of the Law of Scotland* as the source for understanding both the tak as a lease and the legal status of the tacksman after expiry.
The institutional writers of Scots law — Stair, Erskine, and Forbes — are the essential historical sources for this term, and Burrill functions here as a gateway to those materials rather than an independent authority. Researchers should treat Burrill's citation as a starting point for deeper engagement with the Scottish institutional literature rather than a complete account of the doctrine.
No other historical dictionaries in the current Law Mind corpus address *tak* directly. English legal dictionaries of the same period treat the concept as outside their scope.
Jurisdictional Note
*Tak* is exclusively a Scots law term. It has no legal significance in English, Welsh, Irish, or American common law traditions. Researchers working in any non-Scottish jurisdiction who encounter the word in a legal document should treat it as an anomaly requiring explanation — most likely a direct quotation from, or reference to, a Scottish source.