1775
This case addressed the court's jurisdiction to resolve a dispute over fishing rights in the river Tweed, where that river forms the border between Scotland and England. Pursuer James Coutts claimed that defender Sir Francis Blake of Twizell, who possessed a fishing right on the English side of the Tweed, had demolished a portion of Coutts’s dam, causing severe harm to his fishery. Blake claimed that the alleged demolition site was on the English side of the border, and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the Scottish courts. Many local residents are mentioned in case documents.
Documents in this case (1)
- James Coutts v. Sir Francis Blake — Information, 14 Jan 1775January 14, 1775 Information of the defender, arguing that the river Tweed's boundary between England and Scotland bisects jurisdiction and private right, and that the act complained of was committed on English ground.
People & places in this case
People involved
- James Coutts, of Whitsomehill — Pursuer
- Sir Francis Blake, of Twizell, Baronet — Defender
- Andrew Crosbie, Esq., of Holm — Advocate for Defender
- Robert Bruce, of Kennet, Lord Kennet — Lord Ordinary
- John Ainslie — Named in case documents
- Captain William Dickson, of Ednam — Named in case documents
- Rev. Philip Redpath — Named in case documents
- Rev. Robert Lambe — Named in case documents
- John Orde, of Morpeth — Named in case documents
Places
Published Reports
William Morison, The Decisions of the Court of Session (1811), pg. 7375
