Four days have been set aside for the hearing, which will consider whether to confirm the Crown Estate's entitlement to remove unlicensed mooring equipment from the sea bed off Port Bannatyne.
Small boat owners wishing to moor their craft in the b
ay have long argued that the terms of two royal charters, granted to Rothesay in 1400 and 1584, give them the right to establish a mooring without having to pay a fee to the Crown Estate.
But Harry Ellis, who has led local objections to the Crown Estate's application in recent months and is due to be called as a witness by the amicus curiae (an advocate appointed by the court to ensure both sides get a fair hearing], told us this week that he remained unsure as to how the hearing might proceed.
"It all seems to have veered away from the old charters a bit, which I find most puzzling," he admitted.
"I'm really pretty much in the dark - I'm very curious to find out what line the amicus curiae is going to take.
"It might even be all over in a day or so - I really don't know. I just hope it's not going to end up as a gravy train for the legal profession."
John McMillan, the chairman of the Port Bannatyne Moorings Association, which was formed to collect mooring fees on the Crown Estate's behalf but has so far refused to hand over the cash, George McKenzie, formerly Argyll and Bute Council's area corporate services manager, and retired Rothesay solicitor Ian Maclagan are also expected to give evidence at the hearing, which is due to begin this coming Tuesday, November 3.
The story so far...
Boat owners wishing to moor their craft in Kames Bay have argued for many years that the terms of two charters granted to the Royal Burgh of Rothesay, in 1400 and 1584, give them the right to establish a mooring on the sea bed without charge.
The town was established as a royal burgh by King Robert III in 1400 - the first time the phrase had been used in official documents - and was declared a 'free port' by James VI in a Charter of Confirmation granted in 1584.
The latter document states that "we give and grant to the magistrates and inhabitants of the said Burgh, present and to come, a free port and harbour for ships in the bay and station of the said Burth of Rothesay and the Kyles of Bute, the stations of Cumbray and Fairly and Holy Isle, and all others within the foresaid bounds, with free entrance and exit for ships and boats for carrying burdens with all kinds of goods and merchandise not prohibited by our laws and Acts, with all the privileges and liberties of a free port, and receptacle for ships, with power for the support of the foresaid port, to receive and raise off goods, merchandise, ships and boats".
But the mooring owners' fight appeared to have been lost when Argyll and Bute Council admitted defeat in 2006 in its attempt to take on the Crown Estate - though the council was criticised for basing its case on ownership of the sea bed, rather than the right to its use.
That defeat led to most of the bay's mooring holders forming the Port Bannatyne Moorings Association (PBMA) in early 2007, with the association agreeing to collect fees on the Crown Estate's behalf and PBMA members given a discount on their annual dues in return.
But in April 2008, the association said it would not pass on the money unless it saw evidence of the Crown Estate taking action against holders of unlicensed mooring equipment.
The Crown Estate Commissioners raised a petition at the Court of Session in June 2008, seeking a declaration of their entitlement to remove all unauthorised moorings from the bay.
A 'fighting fund' to challenge the Crown Estate's petition was launched in August last year by Mr Ellis, who owns a boat which he moors in Kames Bay but is not a PBMA member.
Shortly before last Christmas the Court of Session agreed to appoint advocate Kenny McBrearty as an amicus curiae to examine the terms of the two royal charters, in a bid to determine whether the Crown Estate had a case.
*Keep an eye on www.buteman.co.uk next week for daily updates from the hearing in Edinburgh.