This is a brief description of the granting of Arms at The Court of the Lord Lyon, New Register House, Edinburgh.
Once Arms have been granted and recorded in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, they are protected under the law of Scotland. Any infringement of a person's armorial rights in Scotland may be drawn to the attention of the Procurator Fiscal to the Court of the Lord Lyon, who may mount any necessary prosecution of the offender.
In return for this permanent legal protection and for the maintenance of the permanent registration of Arms in the Court of the Lord Lyon, Fees are charged to the Petitioner. These fees are made up of the dues to H.M. Treasury, Herald Painter's fees and costs of materials in preparing the Petitioner's Letters Patent. This is his title deed to his Arms, written in a formal script on vellum, illustrating his Arms in full colour, and sealed with the Seal of the Lord Lyon King of Arms. The fees are fixed by Statute, and rise from time to time.When I worked there, I was one of two calligraphers and there were four heraldic painters. We all worked on a self-employed basis; paid by the job and coming and going as we pleased. New Register House is an old building (don't know the date) and the rooms had a distinct "Dickensian" feel to them. All in all, it was a reasonably comfortable environment. It was a fairly flexible set-up, and I occasionally did some heraldic painting and the artists sometimes wrote in the text under their Coats of Arms. At the time, I was privileged to letter below some heraldic painting by an artist by the name of Romilly Squire. His watercolour work was beyond belief and I'm very proud that my calligraphy was associated for all time, with his magnificent artwork.
This was many years ago, but I have every reason to believe that very little, if anything, has changed there. Traditional values can be very powerful!
If anyone is interested, here is a link to New Register House, in Edinburgh.
http://www.heraldry-scotland.co.uk/acquiring-arms.html