Professor Angelo Forte (1949–2012) held the Chair of Commercial Law at the University of Aberdeen between 1993 and 2010. During that time, he made significant scholarly contributions to commercial law, Scots private law and legal history. As a commercial lawyer and a former solicitor, he was committed to the production of high quality research that could engage with the needs of business and commerce. He was also particularly interested in exploring the extent to which legal change had occurred as the result of purely practical considerations, such as alterations in commercial reality. In this regard he advanced our understanding of the influence of English law in eighteenth-century Scotland. Latterly he also advanced our understanding of laws that seem to have been applied among some of the Gaelic-speaking peoples of Scotland almost a thousand years ago. His eclectic writings were highly esteemed both at home and abroad. His rigour as a scholar proved inspirational to several generations of students, and it also led to a wide range of international collaborations.

Professor David Carey Miller (1941–2016) held the Chair of Property Law at the University of Aberdeen, and in that capacity inspired generations of students to explore a range of questions and problems that interested him. Among his eclectic writings, his contributions to comparative law, Scots Property law and to land reform in South Africa were recognised as being of particular importance in his lifetime.

In Northern Lights: Essays in Private Law in Memory of Professor David Carey Miller, colleagues, friends and students of Professor Carey Miller seek to honour his memory by advancing those core lines of enquiry that featured so prominently in his research. Some, writing on comparative law, display the remarkably different consequences that follow from the divergent ways in which the civilian and the common law traditions classify legal questions, problems and claims. Others, writing on land law in South Africa and Scotland, reflect on changing concepts of “ownership”. For example, it is suggested at one point that landowners in Scotland are increasingly expected to do something productive or useful with their land in order to continue as owners. Still other contributors focus on Scots law, a system that has traditionally been seen as “mixed”, that is to say influenced by both the civilian and the common law traditions. Research into Scots Private law draws attention to the merits of rigorous research into core principles of the legal system, so as to facilitate the deduction of answers to new legal questions when they arise. In addition, some writers explore the use of established legal principles to evaluate proposed changes to the law in response to factors such as changing and social commercial reality. All of the essays in the volume seek to pay tribute to a great friend and scholar.