Abandonment of land and the Scottish coal case: was it unprecedented?

Owners of land do not usually wish to abandon it. Land is scarce and is normally a valuable commodity. It seems strange that there might be circumstances where someone would seek to relinquish a slice of Scotland in exchange for no benefit. Notwithstanding, the liquidators of a landowner recently tried to do this in relation to certain sites that had been used for coal mining. In the Scottish Coal case,1 those liquidators petitioned the Court of Session for guidance as to whether it was possible to abandon land and, if so, the proper procedure for doing so. It was ultimately held that it was not competent to abandon land in Scots law.