Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†VALENT, n. Sc. Law: the value or worth of an estate or piece of land. Freq. used attrib. in comb. valent clause, the clause in a retour or special service in which the old and new extent of the lands are specified (Sc. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 1024). See also Retour, I., 4., Extent, Service, 5. Now only hist. [′velənt]Sc. 1752 Bankton Institute IV. i. ii. § 460:
The Valent-clause, whereby the inquest ought to have returned both the old and new extent.Sc. 1773 J. Erskine Institute ii. v. §§ 37, 38:
The old and new extents of lands, of which the valent is not known. . . . Because annualrents arising out of lands had no distinct valuations or extent, therefore they are said in the valent clause of the retour, valere seipsum.Sc. 1813–1946 T. Thomson's Memorial (Stair Soc.) 89, 108:
What was to happen when there was a discrepancy between the cumulo “valent” of a retour and the sum of the individual “valet's”? . . . The identity of feu duty with old extent was not formally asserted in the valent clause regarding Easter Briggs.
