§ MR. FINLAYsaid, he wished to ask the Lord Advocate, Whether he has received a Memorial from certain Proprietors and Road Trustees of the county of Argyll, complaining of the claims made by the Crown to the Foreshores of Scotland and to the property of the solum or ground of the Seashores up to high-water mark; whether he has in consequence communicated with the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, and with what result; and whether the claim by the Crown to the property of the whole Foreshores of Scotland is made in accordance with the advice and opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown in Scotland?
§ THE LORD ADVOCATEIn answer to his hon. Friend he had to state that be bad received a memorial from certain proprietors and road trustees of the county of 728 Argyll, complaining of the claims made by the Crown to the foreshores of Scotland, and to the property of the solum, or ground of the seashores up to high water mark, and he had seen a deputation that waited upon him for the purpose of discussing the matter, although it was not directly in his Department, but in that of the Woods and Forests. He had made inquiry into the particular matters involved in the question, and he found the practice for some years had been to grant licences to take gravel and stone from below high-water mark; those licences were entirely at the pleasure of the Crown, and at a merely nominal rent. With regard to the general question as the claims of the Crown to the foreshores, he was not aware that there was any particular opinion or opinions given by the Law Officers of the Crown in Scotland as to the taking of sand or gravel from the seashore; but the general rights of the Crown as to the foreshores had been the subject of an opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown in Scotland, and the Woods and Forests had substantially acted on that opinion.