reported as being "The Laird and Lady of Balmoral" by the Scottish press in the 1920s and 1930s. Souvenir plots and false titles A contemporary popular view of lairdship titles has taken a unique twist in the 21st century with sales of souvenir plots from sellers who obtain no legal right to the title. A souvenir plot is defined in the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012 as "a piece of land ... of inconsiderable size or no practical utility". Several websites, and Internet vendors on websites like eBay, sell Scottish lairdships along with minuscule "plots of land" – usually one square foot. The Court of the Lord Lyon considers these particular titles to be meaningless because it is impossible to have numerous "lairds" of a single estate at the same time, as has been advertised by these companies. However, despite the law and guidance by the Court of the Lord Lyon, the sellers view the contract purporting to sell a plot of Scottish souvenir land as bestowing the buyer with the informal right to the title of Laird. This is despite the fact that the buyer does not acquire ownership of the plot because registration of the plot is prohibited by Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012, s 22 (1)(b). As ownership of land in Scotland requires registration of a valid disposition under Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012, s 50 (2), the prohibition on registration of a souvenir plot means the buyer does not acquire ownership, and accordingly has no entitlement to a descriptive title premised on landownership. The Lord Lyon, Scotland's authority on titles and heraldry, has produced the following guidance regarding the current concept of a "souvenir plot" and the use of the term "laird" as a courtesy title: See also Forms of address in the United Kingdom Laird (surname) Scottish feudal barony References Sources Perelman, Michael The Invention of Capitalism: Classical Political Economy and the Secret History of Primitive Accumulation Published by Duke University Press, 2000 , External links http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-lairds.html http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/territorial-designation.html 15th-century neologisms Courtesy titles Feudalism in Scotland Scottish society Scottish titles