Lord/ladyship

[jp_2031]

Okay, on Ebay there is someone selling small parts of scotland (12 inch by 12 inch ) and they claim buying this piece will allow you lord / ladyship, and you will from then on be known as lord or lady then your name, LEGALLY - so it even goes onto your driving licence etc... Now my question is:
How much of this is real and
Whats to stop me claiming lordship over my back garden i bought with my house!

Thanks - here is a link to the ebay item
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Laird-Lord-or-Lady-title -Buy-some-land-in-Scotland_W0QQitemZ3201831703 17QQihZ011QQcategoryZ1467QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrd Z1QQcmdZViewItem

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

I've just checked my driving licence. It's an old-fashioned paper one (without a photo) but it doesn't include any form of 'title'. i.e. there's no 'Mr', 'Miss', 'Mrs', ''Ms', Dr', 'Prof', 'Lord' or anything else. The same is probably true of a photo-style licence.

So the only way you can have 'Lord' or 'Lady' on your driving licence is if it's actually part of your name. In the UK, anyone can call themself anything they like (as long as their is no intent to deceive). I can legally be 'John Smith' on Mondays, 'Amanda Jones' on Tuesdays, 'Darth Vader' on Wednesdays, 'Milly Molly Mandy' on Thurdays, 'Prince Nabooboo Diwanga the Third' on Fridays, 'President of the World' on Saturdays and 'Lord of a One Foot Square Bit of Land' on Sundays. I don't even need any form of documentation, such as a deed poll, but (obviously) some paperwork would help to convince official bodies (such as the DVLA) about the name I intend to use.

It would therefore be perfectly legal for me to call the one foot square bit of land I own in Scotland something like 'Muckshire' and call myself 'Lord of Muckshire'. (Once again, this assumes that there's no attempt to deceive anyone). However, I could still call myself 'Lord of Muckshire' without owning any land anywhere.

[Buenchico]

Richard Bridgeman, the Earl of Bradford (a genuine historic title) has created a website to warn people about fake titles. See here:
http://www.faketitles.com/

Chris

PS(1): I've met a real President. He was a guy serving behind a hotel bar in Norwich who'd simply changed his name (by deed poll) to 'President'.

PS(2): I own a one-foot square piece of land in Scotland (on the Isle of Islay). So can you (totally free) if you join the Friends of Laphroaig. You just need to have the 13-digit bar code number from a bottle of their wonderfully peaty whisky:
http://www.laphroaig.com

[Ice.Maiden]

Be a nice thought, wouldn't it? The reason you can't just claim a title because you own your own garden, is that the Scottish land titles are up for sale. The square foot of land - or whatever - that you'd be buying - also means that hundreds of OTHER people can call themselves by the title that's going, as well! Might just be good for a laugh though.

[linusberry]

I know a guy who did it, and it's genuine (although also rather sad). He became the Lord of Laird, and even had it in his check books etc. What a tw*t.