Many of the charters after the time of David I describe, in somewhat vague terms, those who gave their consent and attestation; and their descriptions have been interpreted so as to afford ground for a theory of popular representation in the great council which developed into the Scottish Parliament. Gilbert Stuart convinced himself that he had proved that Scotland possessed a full parliament long before the English burgesses found a place at Westminster.[16] Even the more cautious Hill Burton considered that "these curious intimations stand by themselves, an acknowledgment--sincere or not--of the admission of popular influence in the actions of the government."[17] The claim to have anticipated the mother of parliaments rests, however, upon a misconstruction. The phrases on which it is founded are of three kinds. Some of them are vague words used by chroniclers, into which an exact constitutional meaning has been read. Others are the commonplaces of diplomatic, used without any appreciation of their strict signification.[18] The rest depend upon a misreading of the texts from which they are taken. The most important term which comes under the last-mentioned head is one on which Stuart laid special emphasis. The phrases "all gude men of the kynrik" and "all the community of the kynrik" are frequently found in the assizes.[19] The king statutes "be the counsel of the communite." But there is an assize of William the Lion, which is quite definite as to the meaning of the word. It was made at Perth, on St. Augustine's Day, 1184, and it bound "byschoppis, abbotis, erlis, baronis, and thanys, and all the communyte of the kynrik ... for to seyk and to get all misdoaris."[20] The penalty for disobedience was the loss of a manorial court. "Gif ony of thaim be attayntit of brekand this assyse, he sall tyne his court for evirmar." The whole "community" were lords of manors. The king, the prelates, and the barons, great and small, were "the community of the kingdom."